International Master and Former US Co-Champion John Grefe died yesterday at 12:25 just after noon on December 22, 2013. It had been known for at least five days that he was going to die. He was on life support in the Veterans Hospital in San Francisco. It was just a question of when they were going to turn off the machine. His best result was the 1973 US Championship where he was the lowest rated player but almost swept the field, defeating Benko, Browne, Bisguier and Donald Byrne, among many others. He tied for first and it was just a fluke that he was not awarded the title. However, his results after that were less spectacular. He never got the grandmaster title. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Grefe
May he rest peacefully