On Tuesday, January 4th, at the age of 57, veteran chess player and promoter Frank Creasey died of complications from open-heart surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.

Frank was a native of Roanoke, Va. Frank was generous with his time in promoting the Royal Game. He variously served as President, Vice-President and Secretary of the Roanoke Valley Chess Club for over 15 years.

He was a VCF Delegate to the USCF Open business meeting, and a Certified Tournament Director. Frank was the chief T.D. for many open tournaments. He was selected to direct the prestigious Virginia Masters-Experts Invitational tournament a record four times. The vast majority of these events were directed without pay, with Frank often digging down deep into his own pocket to help defray the costs of running a tournament.

He had an OTB USCF rating in the 1850 – 1900 range and was an avid postal player.

He will be remembered by all who knew him as a true chess lover and as a kind, friendly, easy-going fellow, and as someone who never forgot who his friends were in life.

I certainly count myself lucky to say that he was one of the very best friends that I ever had in my life. He is sadly missed by all of us who knew him.

He is survived by 3 sisters and his wife Sharon.

This information was provided by Russell Potter, National Master