John Littlewood was the patriarch of an extraordinary chess-playing family. His brother Norman represented England in several chess olympiads, took high prizes in the annual British championship and notched a number of notable grandmaster scalps at the traditional Hastings tournament. Meanwhile, John’s son Paul won the British championship in 1981, beating a formidable field.

John Littlewood was for many years a leading British player, winning the title of British Senior Champion in 2006. It was said that his most famous game, however, was the one he lost against the world champion Mikhail Botvinnik at the Hastings International Chess Congress 1961-62. Littlewood launched a fierce attack that Botvinnik was able to defend only by means of a deeply concealed tactical resource. Botvinnik went on to include this defensive masterpiece in his autobiographical Best Games 1947-1970, a clear mark of the high regard that he felt for Littlewood’s attacking skills.

Few of those who witnessed the original foresaw Botvinnik’s subtle defence. When Littlewood recoiled from playing an apparently devastating blow against the champion, there was universal lack of comprehension at the refusal to take the plunge. Only Littlewood himself, suddenly realising the hidden danger, and Botvinnik, the epitome of chessboard profundity, had fully comprehended the true situation.

John Littlewood was born in Sheffield, Yorkshire in 1931. He was the fourth of 11 brothers and sisters. He did not learn to play chess until he was 13, when he was introduced to the game by a friend, thus making him a late starter by the standards of most players who went on to carve out a serious competitive career.

At the University of Sheffield, he won three university tournaments and the Sheffield Championship. However, in spite of this promising debut, Littlewood never devoted himself entirely to chess, even though it was evidently his first love and he spent as much time as he could at tournaments when not occupied with his professional obligations. As a teacher, his chosen career, he taught a range of subjects including modern languages, especially French, but also mathematics. He taught at Skegness Grammar School from 1955-67 and Millbank College of Commerce, Liverpool, 1967-86. As well as chess, he enjoyed amateur dramatics, singing baritone in the local choir, poetry at the folk club and the composition of limericks. At the same Hastings tournament where he played the famous game against Botvinnik, Littlewood encountered the American grandmaster Arthur Bisguier, whom he crushed with the black pieces in a miniature but violent game. After being roundly destroyed, his opponent said famously: “What do they feed this guy on? Raw meat?”

Littlewood represented England at two olympiads, Varna 1962 and Skopje 1972, at several Anglo-Dutch matches, as well as European and World seniors tournaments. He participated in four consecutive Hastings tournaments from 1960-1964, where his victims included the Yugoslav world title candidate Svetozar Gligoric. He was proud to have also defeated the German grandmaster Wolfgang Uhlmann on two occasions. In the British Championship he was placed fourth in 1959 and third in 1962 and 1969.

Aside from playing chess he also managed the national blind chess team and was at one stage the director of Junior Chess for the British Chess Federation.

At the Varna Olympiad 1962, representing England, Littlewood played 13 games, won 6 and lost 7 with no draws: the record aptly sums up his aggressive and uncompromising style at the chessboard. In the opinion of many experts, he would have been more successful if he had played a little more cautiously.

John Littlewood was outright winner of the British Senior Chess Championship in 2006 and finished equal first in 2008, when the contest was held in St George’s Hall, Liverpool. To be eligible to compete, participants must be 60 and above; in 2008, at 77, he was older than most of the other players taking part. He also took part in the 2009 British Championship main section, and aged 78 was one of the oldest competitors ever to have played in the championship.

Apart from being a fierce over the board contender, Littlewood was also noted as an author and translator of chess books. In his latter years, he wrote a regular monthly chess column called “Littlewood’s Choice”, in the English Chess Federation magazine. Typically the games he chose for publication were tactical mêlées requiring detailed notes and variations in order to explain the ideas and calculation behind the moves played. This sort of thing was meat and drink to Littlewood’s fertile brain.

He lived latterly in Skelmersdale, Lancashire, and is survived by his wife, Jean, and seven children.

John Littlewood, chess champion, was born on May 25, 1931. He died of kidney failure on September 16, 2009, aged 78