Henk Mostert (1925) started his first correspondence games during the war in 1942, due to the imposed curfew in the Netherlands, under the guidance of the Dutch Chess Federation. After the war he kept on playing, and in 1956 he joined ICCF and became tournament leader for the European Master class for 10 years.

Unhappy with the way the Dutch Chess Federation treated correspondence chess, he decided together with Barthold Perfors, Jan Zaagman, Dick Smit and Henk Sarink to start their own association for correspondence chess (NBC) in the Netherlands, starting with about 160 members. He started as the overall tournament leader, and in order to make it a success, he cancelled his ICCF-activities as tournament leader. The NBC flourished and grew in the next decades till about 1500 members. For 27 years he organized all the Dutch Championships.

From 1966 onward, he also was ICCF-delegate for the NBC and took part in the yearly Congresses, starting in 1967 in Krems. There the NBC became a member of ICCF and Henk Mostert became its Vice-President, playing that role until 1983. In those years the aristocratic Hans-Werner von Massow was the face of ICCF, but Henk Mostert was the guy behind the scenes solving conflicts. His ability to speak German, English and French helped him a lot, simultaneously translating for his colleagues during these Congresses.

In 1971, he organized the first Ladies Olympiad, and additionally became tournament leader for the European Championships.

In 1983 Henk Mostert became Secretary-General, and in 1987 he was elected ICCF President during the Congress in Bloemendaal (NED), succeeding Hans-Werner von Massow. He had a very clear view on ICCF-matters, and with his humour and de-escalating skills he became a very important ICCF-president. He announced his resignation in 1996. He was then awarded unanimously Honorary President of the ICCF for his long-standing performance. With the introduction of computers, chess engines and new ways of communicating, it became time for a new ICCF-President to lead the way in this world of new possibilities. But with 40 years of work for ICCF, Henk Mostert has done a perfect job for the correspondence community.

ICCF Honorary President, Mr. H. J. Mostert who died peacefully on 29th July 2002, in Haarlem, Netherlands.