The chess veteran still going strong aged 93

"Chess is like life. It's marvellous but also very cruel," according to 93-year-old John Eddershaw.

He should know. The veteran player from Sheffield has certainly lived a full life - and perhaps sometimes it has felt cruel.

A man of faith, Eddershaw's father, a vicar, died when he was young. He went on to serve in the Army, represent Great Britain in race walking and manufactured steel tools.

But the one constant in his life has been the game of chess.

Having just returned from the British Chess Championships in Coventry, the nonagenarian is still enjoying the game as much as he was when his father first taught him when just eight years old.

The summer of 1941, when he first rubbed his fingers over the smooth ridges of the wooden pieces that formed part of the family chess set, still presents a vivid memory because it was only six months before his father died.

"I never had enough of a father really," he reflects.

Unmarried but with two younger brothers, Eddershaw now lives alone just five minutes from where his father served as the vicar of St Augustine's Church on Brocco Bank.

Despite multiple appearances at major chess tournaments across the UK over the years, Eddershaw has not been competing at the top end of the game against Grand Masters in smart hotel conference halls.

"I'm just an average player," he says, modestly.

Instead, his regular battle grounds have been the pubs and working men's clubs of South Yorkshire where pints of ale and packets of salt and vinegar crisps are carefully placed aside to make way for the square boards.

Colin Reid, 46, is the captain of the C-team for Ecclesall Chess Club and has played alongside Eddershaw at the Abbey Pub in Woodseats for 10 years.

They most often take part in six-player games where each team of six sits in two lines facing an opponent.

The strongest ranked player will be pitted against the strongest rival and so on, with the supposedly weakest players facing off in the sixth chairs.

Reid jokes that he and Eddershaw are "nowhere near the top" , usually side by side in chairs "four and five".

At the recent British championships where the Sheffield veteran was the oldest participant, Eddershaw competed in the intermediate category with a ranking of 1,450.

Those competing for the top prizes have rankings over 2,500.

The military man performed admirably though, winning two games and drawing the other two. He had to forfeit his first game though as he was late to the venue.

"I got on the wrong bus," he admits.

Despite his status as the most senior player of the tournament, Eddershaw still frequently travels to games by public transport.

According to Reid the respect he garners from fellow competitors is clear.

"John's appetite for the game is extraordinary. He plays for just the sheer enjoyment of it. He's just so inspiring," he says.

"Every club knows John because he's been around for so long. He's loved around here."

Eddershaw's quiet and gentle manner belies a naturally competitive nature, possibly honed in the Army where he served as part of the Suez Campaign in the 1950s.

"You have to be able to persevere and you go on forever," he says.

"The discipline of the Army certainly helped me where chess is concerned."

That fierce determination has served him well in other sporting pursuits too.

A love of long-distance running led to a successful amateur career representing Great Britain and Wales (through his father's side) as a race walker.

So how did he cope mile after mile dragging aching legs and sore feet over hard roads?

Eddershaw again turns to his days in the Army, and quotes Churchill.

"Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never - in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense."

His love of chess blossomed when he set up a club at his manufacturing employer, Dormer Tools on Cemetery Road which he joined after leaving the Army.

He worked there as a machinist and later an inspector for more than 30 years, helping to oversee the production of steel cutting tools.

It was a time, in the 1970s and 80s, when the Sheffield chess league was dominated by works teams, many from the manufacturing industry, all battling for the Woodhouse Cup.

Eddershaw looks back at the time fondly.

"At the time you had 30 teams, three divisions of 10 teams and we also had the association that would be such as working men's clubs or societies who were always the strongest."

While many works teams have since disbanded, other regional chess clubs have formed and the game has grown in popularity in recent years.

"Young players are far better now than I was," says Eddershaw.

"Computers and the internet has changed everything."

So how does the 93-year-old feel when he comes up against a precocious young talent?

"It's definitely an object in humility," he chuckles.

"I lost to a young lady from Norwich in Coventry this summer. She was 10. I shook her hand. She was brilliant."

Eddershaw says chess has "without a doubt" kept him mentally sharp and feeling young.

"It's about getting something out of life, not growing fat and lazy and a burden to other people," he says.

He recalls a recent conversation with one of his younger brothers.

"He said 'you should have someone to clean your house for you' but why should I?

"If I'm cleaning the toilet or doing the bathroom floor at three o'clock in the morning, does it matter?

"Life doesn't earn you a living."

Eddershaw is now awaiting confirmation of the location of next year's British Chess Championships.

In the meantime, he will next compete at the Hilton Hotel in Sheffield in December.

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