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Our friend Mario Viola has left us

On the afternoon of Tuesday 24 September our friend Mario Viola sadly passed away prematurely, struck by a heart attack at the age of 69. It is a great loss for all the friends of Club 64 and for chess in Modena. He leaves a wife and a daughter. Mario was a long-standing member of our association and came to the world of chess even before Club 64 was founded (in 1987), already playing from the late 1970s at the Sandrone in Modena. We remember him as an extremely helpful and cooperative figure, of great stature and fundamental to the growth of Club 64 through countless initiatives. Mario was always close to our young players, offering himself as a teacher and instructor for decades, always free of charge. He also ran several courses for adults. We remember him as the driving force and promoter of the magazine "Scacchi e Dintorni" for no fewer than 4 years (from 2005 to 2008), where he showed great professionalism and great creative talent. In the Modena area the magazine was particularly appreciated and every new issue was awaited with great anticipation and curiosity, proof of the quality of Mario's work. We remember him as a passionate composer of studies and problems, disciplines that always attracted him and that he explored in depth under the guidance and advice of his friend Marco Campioli. We remember him as "Vaiolo", the amusing pseudonym with which he liked to sign his studies and compositions. We remember him as a regular at the San Faustino sports club and as a valuable collaborator, always ready to "set the table" for the chess players and to do the honours of the house. We remember him as a strong chess player and as a humble Candidate Master, a category he earned by playing only the Modena provincial championship in several editions, a tournament that crowned him overall provincial champion in 2004. We remember him as the driving force and immovable first board of Modena Senior in the Italian Team Championship. We remember his great hospitality and the summer dinners organised in the courtyard of his home, always spent in great harmony between a laugh and the inevitable blitz game. We remember his great energy on the board and his famous exchange sacrifices, which forced his opponents to play on the defensive for most of the game. He leaves a great void. Goodbye Mario.