Expert Isaac Braswell died last Friday, March 2. His cheerful good humor and ability to instantly light up a room will be missed by all who knew him.

Isaac's family will hold a memorial service for him on Thursday, March 15 at 3:30 p.m. at A.A. Rayner Funeral Home, 318 E. 71st Street, Chicago.

Isaac lived at the Lawson YMCA in downtown Chicago. About 100 people attended the memorial service held there on the morning of March 13. His family, his many friends, members of the chess community and fellow Lawson residents all came out to speak about how kind, generous and friendly Isaac was, as well as what a tough (but fun) competitor he could be, whether it was at chess, dominoes or basketball. Isaac played in 154 rated events, and reached a lifetime regular rating peak of 2104. He also played in the Chicago Industrial Chess League, and we feature his last CICL game in the Illinois Chess Blog.

If you'd like to include a note or tribute to be included in this article or a game you played with Isaac, you can email it to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Please put En Passant in the subject line and include your full name in the note. Also, please send any games as an electronic file attachment.