Currently President of the New Zealand Chess Federation, Bob Smith has been involved in chess at the top level - both playing and in administration - for close to three decades. He has represented New Zealand at eight Olympiads, from Israel in 1976 to the most recent, in Turkey last year.

Bob became a NZ Chess Master in 1993 and won the NZ title in 1996, gaining the FIDE Master title in the same year. He is also a NZ Correspondence Chess Master and a former NZ Corrrespondence Champion. Bob shares the record for the most North Island Championship titles, winning the tournament seven times, most recently in 1999. He is currently ranked fifth in New Zealand.

On the local front, Bob is club President and has served on the committee for more than 25 years. In the club championships he has set a record that is unlikely to ever be broken - twenty-two titles in a row. Bob initiated what has become New Zealand's biggest weekend tournament - the Waitakere Licensing Trust Chess Open - and has been the principal organiser of the event for nearly a quarter of a century.

He also organised the recent 108th NZ Chess Congress, hosted by Waitemata Chess Club. The Congress has been generally acknowledged as one of the best ever held.

Bob started Waitemata's Junior Chess Club eight years ago and has been volunteering his time to run the junior sessions and teach children almost every week since then. He has also done a substantial amount of work in promoting chess within local schools.

Bob is married to Viv Smith, the current New Zealand Womens' Champion, who is no mean player herself. Viv has represented New Zealand 10 times and is one of Waitemata's top players. She has also put in a lot of work for the club - notably in junior chess - and is currently Treasurer. On the national scene, she is a NZ Chess Federation Councillor and Convenor of the Female Chess Committee.

Bob and Viv have three children. Outside chess Bob is a freelance television news producer, while Viv is a personnel systems contractor.