Craig Van Tilbury

Craig Van Tilbury Leo ( born July 30, 1957 in Cedar Rapids ( Iowa); † August 13, 2010 in Tampa ) was an American guitarist and chess players.

As a guitarist he played throughout his musical career in various bands and stood among others, Steve Winwood and Barry Gibb on stage. In the late 1980s he toured with Joey Dee & the Starliters.

In chess, Van Tilbury bore the title of FIDE Master. He played in ten Chess Olympiads each on top board from 1978 to 1990 for the U.S. Virgin Islands from 1994 to 2008 for the British Virgin Islands. At the Chess Olympiad in 1984, he won a gold medal for his score of 9.5 points from 11 games. Among its successes in individual tournaments included victories at Washington DC Open in 1977 and the Jamaican Open 1981. His last Elo rating was 2280th

Van Tilbury spent his youth in Washington, DC and moved in 1978 to Saint Croix. He left in 1992, down in Tampa, where he worked as a chess teacher. He died at the age of 53 of a heart attack, leaving behind his companion and a born daughter in 2009.