Jack Karnehm

Jack Karnehm (b. 18 June 1917, Tufnell Park, north London, England; died: 28 July 2002, Crowthorne, Berkshire) was a British snooker commentator, who was regularly heard on the BBCClarifyme|date=August 2008 from 1978 until 1993, and a former amateur world champion and professional national champion at the game of English billiards.

Besides his commentary, perhaps his major contribution to the game was his development of the swivel-lens glasses,Clarifyme|date=August 2008 which enabled Dennis Taylor to win the World Snooker Championship in 1985.

Despite being best-known to snooker audiences, Karnehm's passion was billiards. As a non-professional player, he was a ten-time London Amateur Billiards Champion, and also won the English Amateur Billiards Championship in 1969. That October, he took the World Amateur Champion title.

Karnehm turned professional in 1970, reaching the world finals in 1971 and 1973, losing to Leslie Driffield and Rex Williams respectively.

In 1980, Karnehm beat Williams to win the UK Billiards Championship, his only professional title.

In 1994, he produced an instructional video, "Understanding Modern Snooker".Cite video
title=Understanding Modern Snooker
people=Karnehm, Jack
id=ASIN|B00004CK8J
publisher=Beckmann
year=1994
location=UK
format=VHS PAL]

References

* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4474138,00.html Obituary in The Guardian]
* [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/jack-karnehm-650000.html Obituary in The Independent]
* [http://www.eaba.co.uk/mags/bqr/1994/04/conversationWithJackKarnehm.html Interview with Jack Karnehm]