Many people have paid tribute to the generosity of Tony Miles. I recall two examples from my own experience. The first gift was not altogether welcome. In fact it was Greek. In the mid-1970s Tony visited my chess club to give a simultaneous display. After barely a dozen moves had been played he glided to my board and flashed out Bxh7+, to the visible relief of my schoolmates who were thereby saved the ignominy of being the first to lose.
The second gift hit my doormat more than 10 years later, not long after I had begun editing Kingpin. It was an article Tony had written about Karpov. This was a genuine coup. That a player of Tony's stature should make an offering to such an obscure, small circulation publication was truly a mark of his generous spirit. It gave the magazine a tremendous boost. Although the article is short, it is characteristic of the acerbic wit, intelligence and keen sense of the absurd which he gave to all his writing. It appeared in the April 1986 issue of Kingpin (No.9) and can be seen here.
After his next contribution, a stinging critique of Raymond Keene (Kingpin No.15, Summer 1989), he wrote for the magazine all too infrequently although he did pen some pungent book reviews (two of which are displayed on this website). I shall miss not only his writing but also his phone calls which, like many of his articles, were hilarious commentaries on the latest absurdity in the chess world. He once called me from his bath(!) to report that he had been reading Kingpin and had laughed so much that he had just dropped it in the water. I don't think that the magazine has ever been paid a finer compliment.Jonathan Manley
A full appreciation of Tony Miles will appear in Kingpin No.35