C. Richard Rostrom (1923 – 2013)
C. Richard Rostrom passed away at 90 years of age. Dick was a dedicated chess player and advocate of the game. Dick led the Sioux Falls chess club for the past decade and was missed at the SD teams this year. Dick always played in the team championship and was known for putting together a strong team. Dick had a long chess career and was written about in the Chicago Tribune when he was ten and seemed to be a promising chess prodigy. Dick’s last tournament was the South Dakota State Championship Oct. 2012 were he won his round 3 and lost most others on time. The most recent tournament victory was when Dick won his last round in Fargo thus winning the traveling trophy for Team South Dakota in 2011. The trophy was created in the eighties to settle the chess border dispute between ND and SD. Dick had a distinguished military career in the Air Force as a bombardier. He was awarded the flying cross for his thirty plus missions flown over German in WW II. Dick enjoyed the Philidor or Modern Defense as black and played c4 (the English) as white to avoid the Sicilian. Dick would have several chess boards set up around the house with different positions and always read his Chess Life and New in Chess magazines each month. Dick’s flag had dropped for the final time on July 14th in Sioux Falls. If you would like to share your photos or games of Dick then please email them to info@sdchess.org
See Dick’s game archive at:sdchess.org/chess-games/dick-rostrom