He earned degrees from Auckland University and Harvard Law School. He was employed by the University of Auckland Law School and in 1980 became a full professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Otago in Dunedin. At Otago he served on two occasions as dean of the faculty. He became an emeritus professor in 2005.
He was the New Zealand champion in 1962–63, 1970/71 and 1971–72. In the 1962/63 championship he held Ortvin Sarapu to a draw in the last round and so the two were declared co-champions. He won the other championships outright.
He represented New Zealand at the 1966 Zonal tournament in Auckland and the 1972 Olympiad in Skopje, Yugoslavia.
Sutton was also a correspondence player of renown. He was the New Zealand Correspondence Champion in 1970 and in 1975 he lost to Jorn Sloth in the final of the world CC championship.
He was a foundation trustee of the Chess Friends of New Zealand Trust and the founder of the Otago Chess Club. In addition to holding the FM title with FIDE, Sutton also held the Master title in both New Zealand and the United States. Sutton lost his battle with cancer and passed away in Dunedin, New Zealand in 2009.
His scrappy attacking play is seen the following wild game that was played in the 1961/62 New Zealand Championship.
[Event "61-62 New Zealand Champ, Wellingtom"]
[Site "Wellington NZL"]
[Date "1962.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Richard Sutton"]
[Black "Christopher A Evans"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C35"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 16"]
[PlyCount "53"]
[EventDate "1962.??.??"]
{C35: King's Gambit Accepted} 1. e4 e5 2. f4 {Boris Spassky beat Fischer with
the King’s Gambit at Mar del Plata in 1960. That defeat caused Fischer to
begin analyzing it and he calimed toi have discovered a bust. He even claimed
that the King's Gambit loses by force.} exf4 3. Nf3 Be7 {Fischer advocated 3...
d6 and wrote, "This is the key to a troublesome position, a high-class
"waiting move. At Mar Del Plata, 1959, I played 3...g5 against Spassky, but
this is inexact because it gives white drawing chances in the ensuing ending."
Fischer went on to show analysis and concluded by saying, "Of course white can
always play differently, in which case he merely loses differently."} 4. Bc4
Nf6 (4... Bh4+ {is frequently played, but it leads nowhere after} 5. Kf1 (5. g3
{is risky because after} fxg3 6. O-O (6. hxg3 {should be avoided.} Bxg3+ 7. Kf1
d5 8. exd5 Bg4 {White; position is no fun to play.}) 6... d5 7. exd5 Bh3 8.
Re1+ Kf8 {black has an aggressive position.}) 5... d5 6. Bxd5 {and black's
position is rather harmless because he has no forceful followup.}) 5. Nc3 {
This routine move gives black a clear advantage.} (5. e5 Ng4 6. d4 d5 {with
equal chances.}) 5... Nxe4 6. Ne5 (6. Nxe4 {favors black.} d5 7. Bxd5 Qxd5 8.
d3 Bf5 9. Qe2 Nc6 10. Bxf4 O-O-O {with an active position.}) (6. O-O O-O 7.
Nxe4 d5 8. Bd3 dxe4 9. Bxe4 {Black is slightly better. Sogaard,S (2270)
-Pedersen,N (2295) Aarhus DEN 1995}) 6... Ng5 {This well played move gives
black a promising position.} (6... Nd6 {is sold and it, too, leaves black with
slightly the better of it, but Evans' move is more aggressive.} 7. Bb3 Nc6 8.
d4 O-O 9. Bxf4 Na5 {Black's slight advantage didn't mean much in Honfi,
K-Pogats,J Budapest 1955 though because white went on to win.}) 7. d4 d6 {
[%mdl 32]} 8. Nd3 {Black is clearly better.} c6 9. Nxf4 d5 10. Bd3 Ne6 11. O-O
O-O (11... Nxd4 {allows white too much play...} 12. Qh5 Qd6 13. Nfxd5 g6 14.
Qh6 cxd5 15. Qg7 Rf8 16. Qxd4 {and white has at least succeeded in equalizing.,
}) 12. Nce2 Nd7 {The strange looking retreat 12...Nc7 was better because it
would not have allowed black to get a backward e-Pawm.} 13. c3 (13. Nxe6 {
keeps the balance.} fxe6 14. Nf4 {Black's e-Pawn has become a target and so
white can be considered to have equalized.}) 13... Nf6 14. Ng3 Nxf4 15. Bxf4
Be6 16. Qc2 g6 {While this can hardly be considered bad, it contains a bad
seed...a weakened K-side.} (16... c5 17. dxc5 Bxc5+ 18. Kh1 h6 {is a better
line.} 19. Qd2 d4 20. Bxh6 {Tempting, but it's harmless.} dxc3 (20... gxh6 {
loses of course.} 21. Qxh6 Ne4 22. Bxe4 f5 23. Qxe6+ Rf7 24. Nxf5) 21. Qxc3 {
The best defense.} (21. Qg5 Ne8 22. Bh7+ Kxh7 23. Qxc5 Qd6 {Black is safe.} (
23... gxh6 24. Qxf8)) 21... Qd4 22. Bg5 Ng4 {Surprisingly, black's position is
far from overwhelming! AFter} 23. Ne4 Bb6 24. h3 Ne5 25. Bc2 {Black's attack
has been beaten back.}) 17. Rae1 {Black's position has drifted from promising
to no more than equal after, say, 17...Qd7, but white's last move contains a
drop of poison that Evans is unaware of!} Ne8 {This is bad!} 18. Bxg6 {Luckily
for black, so is this!} (18. Rxe6 {This is the correct sequence.} fxe6 {
and now...} 19. Bxg6 Ng7 20. Bxh7+ Kh8 21. Bd3 {and black's position is
precarious at best.}) 18... hxg6 19. Rxe6 fxe6 {[%mdl 8192] Finally, black
makes a fatal error.} (19... Qd7 {and black stays safe.} 20. Re3 Nd6 {Black's
position holds and white has no forced win.}) (19... Ng7 {also proves
sufficient.} 20. Re2 Bd6 {with equal chances.}) 20. Qxg6+ {Now black has no
escape, but only if white's play is precise.} Ng7 21. Nh5 {And precise it is!}
(21. Be5 {Threatening mate is really bad.} Rxf1+ 22. Nxf1 Qf8 {and white is a
R down.}) 21... Rf7 22. Nxg7 Rxg7 23. Qxe6+ Kh7 {Does white have enough to
finish off his opponent?} 24. Qh3+ {He does, but not with this mvoe!} (24. Qh6+
Kg8 25. Be5 Bf8 (25... Rh7 26. Qg6+ Rg7 27. Qxg7#) 26. Qe6+ Kh7 27. Rf3 {
wraps it up.}) 24... Kg8 {[%mdl 8192] In his turn, black counter-blunders!} (
24... Bh4 {and black is quite safe.} 25. Bg3 Qg5 26. Rf4 Re8 27. Rxh4+ Kg8 28.
Rh8+ Kf7 29. Rxe8 Kxe8 30. Qc8+ Qd8 {The result from this position could be
anything.}) 25. Be5 {[%mdl 8192] White counters black's counter-blunder with
yet another blunder!} (25. Qe6+ {was the only winning move.} Kh8 26. Be5 Bf8
27. Rf6 {Black has no move}) 25... Bf8 {[%mdl 8192] Will the blunders ever
cease?!} (25... Qc8 {not only avoids disaster, but secures what should be (or
should it be might be?) a winning position.} 26. Rf5 (26. Qxc8+ Rxc8 27. Bxg7
Kxg7 {with what amounts to a theoretical win.}) 26... Bf8 27. Bxg7 Bxg7 28. Qg4
Qc7 29. Rg5 Re8 {with a theoretical win.}) 26. Qe6+ {Finally! After this any
more blunders are unlikely.} Kh7 27. Rf3 {Black resigned. Spirited, if
inaccurate, play by both sides.} 1-0
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