In Memory Peter Long, 1961-2025
In Memory Peter Long, 1961-2025
Surprising news to share today—I’ve just learnt that Peter Long Chay Boon, a fellow chess journalist, passed away suddenly this morning in Rangoon, Burma, while participating in the Yangon Summer Friendship Chess Tournament. Peter was 64, far too young to be taken away.
When I first met him, he was still in secondary school in Petaling Jaya. Later, I learnt that he had moved to the Philippines for further studies.
How will history judge him? Like me, he had an insatiable urge to tell chess stories in the newspapers. For some time in the 1980s, he contributed to the New Straits Times. But his impulsiveness and outspokenness often put him at odds with the Malaysian Chess Federation. His sharp criticism of certain chess personalities eventually led to his column being suspended—a big example of his foolhardiness. But it wasn’t an isolated case; it was a streak that ran deep in him. He was a tinderbox, always ready to ignite, always wanting things his way. While I respected his frankness and brazenness, I also knew his refusal to hold back would land him in trouble sooner or later. I tend to be diplomatic in my writing, but not him. Peter never hesitated to call a cad a cad—and that was what brought him down.
He was very full of himself. A big ego which was bigger than almost anyone else in the Malaysian chess community, save for one or two others. I’d even dare say he could count his true local chess friends on only one hand. Acquaintances and friends among the foreigners, though—he had plenty. While I was still contributing to the newspapers, we were always respectful of one another as fellow chess journalists. But in the last decade or so, a certain aloofness descended on him—a refusal to acknowledge the presence of many of his fellow local chess players. It was as if he’d outgrown them, or at least thought he had. Yes, he never learnt to be humble, nor did he ever seem to want to.
His passing in a foreign land is a sobering reminder that death can strike at any time. This year alone, I’ve learnt of three people who passed away overseas. A classmate of mine died while on holiday in South Korea on the fourth of January. Then, on the 22nd of February, the son of a doctor friend passed away in Okinawa. And now, Peter, in Burma. Such tragedies bring immense strain to their loved ones—so much red tape to unravel before their remains can be brought home, not to mention the costs involved.
At this time, my thoughts are with Peter’s family. May they find comfort in knowing that, in his final days, he was doing what he loved most—playing chess and surrounding himself with chess people from anywhere but home.
By : Logendra2711
