British chess star Ian Wells had a fatal accident in 1982 a day after he finished an international junior chess tournament in Brazil. Wells, 17, went swimming with a group of chess players at the famous Copacabana beach and got caught in an undertow. Rescued by lifeguards, he never regained consciousness and died after six days in a coma. Wells gained worldwide attention by defeating Soviet chess grandmaster Alexander Kotov in a short match (2-1) in 1979. He qualified for the FIDE master title at the 1981 Benedictine Open in Manchester, then tied for first with grandmasters John Nunn and Anthony Miles at the Islington Open. Harry Golombek, dean of British chess, described ...

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