IN THE rivalry-ridden world of international chess Simon Webb, a grandmaster of postal chess and an over-the-board international master, stood out as one player who had no enemies.

Long after his teens he retained his youthful looks, enthusiasm and charm. Quietly spoken and unobtrusively ambitious, he had no harsh words for anyone, least of all his opponents.

It was ironic, therefore, that his one lasting contribution to chess literature was Chess for Tigers (1978). In it he developed his chess philosophy based on how to dominate the opponent psychologically and how to win, rather than how to find the best move. He advocated self-belief and self-esteem as vital to chess success.

It was precisely the quality of tigerishness which, on the surface, Webb seemed to lack in his own play. Yet, if one dug deeper, it became clear that here was a player with his own style, afraid of no one, who was never intimidated into deviating from his own path. His deceptively quiet opening systems often deluded potential victims into thinking that they were fondling a minor feline rather than facing deadly attack from a major predator.

Webb learnt to play chess at the age of 7. His early promise led to steady success. In 1966 he won the British Under-18 Championship. Three years later he shared first place in the British Universities Championship with Richard Eales. A play-off was necessary since the victor would qualify for the British Chess Federation (BCF) student team due to compete against the world’s best in Dresden that year. Webb emerged victorious and took his place in the international squad. Thereafter he became a frequent member of BCF international teams.

His annus mirabilis was 1973: he began by sharing first place with the Yugoslav master Karaklaic at the international tournament in Strasbourg, then shared third place in prize in the World Open in New York, and towards the end of the year he played with distinction in the first grandmaster-level tournament held in London since 1946. Further honours followed, first prize, again shared, at Hamburg 1977, award of the coveted World Chess Federation (FIDE) international master title and fourth place in the 1978 British Championship and second prize in the powerful international tournament in Warsaw. During this tournament Webb became engaged to his wife to be of 27 years, Anna.

Two years later at the European Team Championship in Sweden, he met the up-and-coming genius Garry Kasparov. A complicated game left Kasparov the winner, but on the plus side Webb found the host country so congenial that he moved there from the UK, set up a family and switched from the precarious life of a chess professional to the more sedate security of being quality control manager of a Swedish company. The Webb family took up residence in the Stockholm suburb of Kalhaell where they raised one daughter and one son. The latter was to turn out to be Simon’s nemesis.

Webb now found that the best outlet for his desire to continue playing chess while pursuing a more conventional off-board career to support his family was to turn to correspondence or postal chess. In this he became supremely successful, swiftly establishing himself as a grandmaster. He won team gold ahead of the USSR in the 9th Correspondence Chess Olympiad which finished in 1987; the individual gold medal in the 11th Correspondence Olympiad Final which began in 1992, and won the first official Email Championship in 1997.

At his death he was rated No 1 among English Correspondence grandmasters. Amid all this chess activity he also found time for international bridge, partnering his younger brother Roger.

Simon Webb was murdered by his son. Returning home around 1am from a chess match, he was confronted by his 25-year-old son, who, under the influence of drugs, stabbed him 20 times with a kitchen knife. Simon died in the arms of his wife who had been woken by sounds of screaming.

Simon Webb, postal chess grandmaster, was born on June 10, 1949. He died on March 14, 2005, aged 55.