Bernard Cafferty: key obituary facts
Is Bernard Cafferty dead? Yes. Bernard Cafferty died on November 4, 2026, at age 92.
Cause of death: Bernard Cafferty's cause of death has not been publicly confirmed.
What was Bernard Cafferty known for?
He was a British chess player.
More about Bernard Cafferty
Born: 27 June 1934.
Place of birth: Blackburn.
Gender: male.
Occupation: chess player, translator, journalist, editor.
Nationality: United Kingdom.
Education: University of Birmingham.
Title: FIDE Master (1984).
Bernard Cafferty, the English chess master, writer and editor, died in Hastings, Sussex, on November 4, 2026, aged 92.
Born in Blackburn, Lancashire, he became one of England’s leading players in the late 1950s and 1960s, ranking among the country’s top ten in 1959 and 1960. His early successes included a joint British Boys’ Championship in 1952 and the British Junior Championship in 1954.
He won the British Correspondence Chess Championship in 1959–60 and was awarded the FIDE Master title in 1984. Cafferty studied at the University of Birmingham, which he entered in 1951, and later taught at St Philip’s Grammar School in Birmingham. His subjects included geography, Latin and mathematics, and from 1964 Russian. In 1981 he moved to Hastings to become general editor of British Chess Magazine. Alongside his work as a player and editor, he wrote and translated on chess. His books included Tal’s Hundred Best Games, The Soviet Championships and Play the Evans Gambit. His career brought together competitive chess, teaching, journalism and editorial work, with a particular focus on presenting chess games and ideas to readers.