The USCF's October volunteer of the month, Duncan Oxley died on September 2. The USCF deeply appreciated Duncan's work as a moderator on our issues forum at uschess.org. We extend our condolences to his family. Here we print in advance Duncan's bio planned for the October Chess Life Magazine, which he wrote just two weeks ago. John Donaldson edited the following.

I first learned the game in 1972 when I was 11 years old. The Fischer-Spassky match was all over the media and my dad went to the five-and-dime and bought a cheap chess set—a set probably similar to the one Bobby Fischer's sister bought for him.

I didn't play much after entering my teens but many years later, when I moved to Salinas, California, I was bitten by the bug again. Lucky for me not far away was Ted Yudacufski who ran the Monterey Chess Center, open six days a week! It was there I met my good friend Tom Thrush who encouraged me to give back to the game I love by volunteering. Ted was a great example. He not only found time to run the chess center but was also a regular director at the LERA tournaments in Silicon Valley. These were big events and it was here I learned to be a tournament director under his tutelage. It was "old school" with pairing cards for hundreds of players, not like today when pairings can be made with one finger. Around the same time I founded and ran the Salinas Chess Club where I learned a tremendous amount from the best player in Monterey County, California: Rex Wilcox.

When the Salinas club folded, the city council members of my town (Marina) asked me to help out at the local K-4 school with an after-school program for disadvantaged children. This intrigued me, and soon I was a regular there from 3-5 p.m., three days a week, teaching for over two years until my health forced me to stop.

The past seven years I have been a volunteer administrator for the Internet Chess Club where I have run almost 10,000 tournaments, including Dos Hermanos. This usually has over 2,000 players competing for the largest cash prizes of any online event. Some of my proudest moments have been the ICC side of several important USCF-rated Internet events. Why? Because I was the assistant tournament director to International Arbiter Carol Jarecki, unarguably the top tournament director in the United States! Since the beginning of the year I have been busy serving as the moderator for the USCF Forums.

I am 46 with a degree in automotive technology, certified to repair brakes and automatic transmissions. Health issues keep me from working currently. My son, married with two children, works as a chef in a three-star restaurant in Reno.

Donation in memory of Duncan Oxley can be made to:
Friends of Marina Library
PO Box 493
Marina, California 93933