William Ewart Napier
Encyclopedia
William Ewart Napier was an American
chess master
of English
birth.
and came into contact with some of the best chess players of the country. He had his first successes with simultaneous games, among other things winning in December 1894 versus the acting United States Chess Champion
Jackson Whipps Showalter
. At the beginning of 1896 he, despite his young age, became a member of the Brooklyn Chess Club and won the club championship later that year, at the age of 15. In the same year he defeated the later grandmaster Frank James Marshall in a match, winning 7:1 with 3 draws. 1897 saw him win a tournament game against ex-world champion Wilhelm Steinitz
.
At the beginning of 1899 Napier traveled to Europe
, in order to study music there, and visited the chess clubs of London
, Paris
and Berlin
. In 1900 he returned to the USA and established himself in Pittsburgh
. There he wrote the chess column of the newspaper Pittsburgh Dispatch
. In 1901, he won a master tournament in Buffalo
versus Eugene Delmar
, placing behind tournament winner Harry Nelson Pillsbury
, but still above Marshall. This success encouraged him to participate in the following years in some international master tournaments. He played in Monte Carlo
and Hanover
in 1902 as well as in Cambridge Springs in 1904. He won none of those tournaments, but in each case received a special prize for brilliantly played games, for example winning the Rothschild Brilliancy Prize for his game against Mikhail Chigorin
. In July 1904, he visited Great Britain and won a well-attended tournament in London
against Richard Teichmann
, Joseph Henry Blackburne
and Isidor Gunsberg
. Subsequently, he participated in the British championship in Hastings
, where he was, because of his English birth, entitled to take part, and won the tournament against Henry Atkins
, whom he defeated in the pass fight with 2.5-1.5, to become the first British Chess Federation Champion
. Thereafter, Atkins became the most dominant player in the history of the British Championship, winning the next nine championships in which he competed. In 1905 Napier played two matches: against Jacques Mieses
the match was undecided (4-4 with 2 draws), against Teichmann he lost 1-5 with 4 draws.
Afterwards Napier withdrew from the international tournament arena. He gained American citizenship in 1908 and began a career at an insurance company, becoming vice president of the Scranton Insurance Company. He married Florence Gillespie (Pillsbury's niece), with whom he later had two daughters. Although he still participated in chess, he played no more important tournaments. When he died at the age of 71, his chess career was nearly forgotten.
His best historical Elo number
was 2662. He was, at the time, 11th place in the world.
Emanuel Lasker
at Cambridge Springs 1904 the best of his career. The game showed great tactical skill by both players. Napier was particularly impressed by how Lasker kept his composure in severe time pressure. Lasker said afterwards to his young opponent: "It is your brilliancy, even though I won it."
Lasker - Napier
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nf3 g6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Bg7 6.Be3 d6 7.h3 Nf6 8.g4 O-O 9.g5 Ne8 10.h4 Nc7 11.f4 e5 12.Nde2 d5 13.exd5 Nd4 14.Nxd4 Nxd5 15.Nf5 Nxc3 16.Qxd8 Rxd8 17.Ne7+ Kh8 18.h5 Re8 19.Bc5 gxh5 20.Bc4 exf4 21.Bxf7 Ne4 22.Bxe8 Bxb2 23.Rb1 Bc3+ 24.Kf1 Bg4 25.Bxh5 Bxh5 26.Rxh5 Ng3+ 27.Kg2 Nxh5 28.Rxb7 a5 29.Rb3 Bg7 30.Rh3 Ng3 31.Kf3 Ra6 32.Kxf4 Ne2+ 33.Kf5 Nc3 34.a3 Na4 35.Be3 1-0
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
chess master
Chess master
A chess master is a chess player of such skill that he/she can usually beat chess experts, who themselves typically prevail against most amateurs. Among chess players, the term is often abbreviated to master, the meaning being clear from context....
of English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
birth.
Life
His parents emigrated to the United States when he was five years old. From 1895 he lived in BrooklynBrooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
and came into contact with some of the best chess players of the country. He had his first successes with simultaneous games, among other things winning in December 1894 versus the acting United States Chess Champion
U.S. Chess Championship
The U.S. Chess Championship is an invitational tournament held to determine the national chess champion of the United States. Since 1936, it has been held under the auspices of the U.S. Chess Federation. Until 1999, the event consisted of a round-robin tournament of varying size...
Jackson Whipps Showalter
Jackson Showalter
Jackson Whipps Showalter was a five-time U.S. Chess Champion: 1890, 1892, 1892–1894, 1895-1896 and 1906–1909.-Chess career:...
. At the beginning of 1896 he, despite his young age, became a member of the Brooklyn Chess Club and won the club championship later that year, at the age of 15. In the same year he defeated the later grandmaster Frank James Marshall in a match, winning 7:1 with 3 draws. 1897 saw him win a tournament game against ex-world champion Wilhelm Steinitz
Wilhelm Steinitz
Wilhelm Steinitz was an Austrian and then American chess player and the first undisputed world chess champion from 1886 to 1894. From the 1870s onwards, commentators have debated whether Steinitz was effectively the champion earlier...
.
At the beginning of 1899 Napier traveled to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, in order to study music there, and visited the chess clubs of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. In 1900 he returned to the USA and established himself in Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
. There he wrote the chess column of the newspaper Pittsburgh Dispatch
Pittsburgh Dispatch
The Pittsburgh Dispatch was a leading newspaper in Pittsburgh, PA, operating from 1846 to 1923. After being enlarged by publisher Daniel O'Neill it was reportedly one of the largest and most prosperous newspapers in the United States...
. In 1901, he won a master tournament in Buffalo
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
versus Eugene Delmar
Eugene Delmar
Eugene Delmar , was one of the leading US chess masters of 19th century and the four-time New York State champion in 1890, 1891, 1895 and 1897. He won a match against Robert Henry Barnes with only a single draw .-External links:...
, placing behind tournament winner Harry Nelson Pillsbury
Harry Nelson Pillsbury
Harry Nelson Pillsbury , was a leading chess player. At age 22, he won one of the strongest tournaments of the time , but his illness and early death prevented him from challenging for the World Chess Championship.- Early life :Pillsbury was born in Somerville, Massachusetts, moved to New York City...
, but still above Marshall. This success encouraged him to participate in the following years in some international master tournaments. He played in Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo is an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco....
and Hanover
Hanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
in 1902 as well as in Cambridge Springs in 1904. He won none of those tournaments, but in each case received a special prize for brilliantly played games, for example winning the Rothschild Brilliancy Prize for his game against Mikhail Chigorin
Mikhail Chigorin
Mikhail Ivanovich Chigorin also was a leading Russian chess player...
. In July 1904, he visited Great Britain and won a well-attended tournament in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
against Richard Teichmann
Richard Teichmann
Richard Teichmann was a German chess master.He was known as "Richard the Fifth" because he often finished in fifth place in tournaments. But in Karlsbad 1911, he scored a convincing win, crushing Akiba Rubinstein and Carl Schlechter with the same line of the Ruy Lopez...
, Joseph Henry Blackburne
Joseph Henry Blackburne
Joseph Henry Blackburne , nicknamed "The Black Death", dominated British chess during the latter part of the 19th century. He learned the game at the relatively late age of 18 but quickly became a strong player and went on to develop a professional chess career that spanned over 50 years...
and Isidor Gunsberg
Isidor Gunsberg
Isidor Arthur Gunsberg began his career as the player operating the remote-controlled chess automaton Mephisto, but later became a chess professional....
. Subsequently, he participated in the British championship in Hastings
Hastings
Hastings is a town and borough in the county of East Sussex on the south coast of England. The town is located east of the county town of Lewes and south east of London, and has an estimated population of 86,900....
, where he was, because of his English birth, entitled to take part, and won the tournament against Henry Atkins
Henry Atkins
Henry Atkins may refer to:* Henry Atkins * Henry Atkins * Sir Henry Atkins, 3rd Baronet of the Atkins Baronets* Sir Henry Atkins, 4th Baronet of the Atkins Baronets...
, whom he defeated in the pass fight with 2.5-1.5, to become the first British Chess Federation Champion
British Chess Championship
The British Chess Championship is organised by the English Chess Federation. There are separate championships for men and women. Since 1923 there have been sections for juniors, and since 1982 there has been an over-sixty championship. The championship venue usually changes every year and has been...
. Thereafter, Atkins became the most dominant player in the history of the British Championship, winning the next nine championships in which he competed. In 1905 Napier played two matches: against Jacques Mieses
Jacques Mieses
----Jacques Mieses was a German-born Jewish chess Grandmaster and writer. He became a naturalized British citizen after World War II.p258-Chess career:...
the match was undecided (4-4 with 2 draws), against Teichmann he lost 1-5 with 4 draws.
Afterwards Napier withdrew from the international tournament arena. He gained American citizenship in 1908 and began a career at an insurance company, becoming vice president of the Scranton Insurance Company. He married Florence Gillespie (Pillsbury's niece), with whom he later had two daughters. Although he still participated in chess, he played no more important tournaments. When he died at the age of 71, his chess career was nearly forgotten.
His best historical Elo number
Elo rating system
The Elo rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in two-player games such as chess. It is named after its creator Arpad Elo, a Hungarian-born American physics professor....
was 2662. He was, at the time, 11th place in the world.
Lasker
Napier called a game he lost to reigning World ChampionWorld Chess Championship
The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the board game chess. Men and women of any age are eligible to contest this title....
Emanuel Lasker
Emanuel Lasker
Emanuel Lasker was a German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher who was World Chess Champion for 27 years...
at Cambridge Springs 1904 the best of his career. The game showed great tactical skill by both players. Napier was particularly impressed by how Lasker kept his composure in severe time pressure. Lasker said afterwards to his young opponent: "It is your brilliancy, even though I won it."
Lasker - Napier
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nf3 g6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Bg7 6.Be3 d6 7.h3 Nf6 8.g4 O-O 9.g5 Ne8 10.h4 Nc7 11.f4 e5 12.Nde2 d5 13.exd5 Nd4 14.Nxd4 Nxd5 15.Nf5 Nxc3 16.Qxd8 Rxd8 17.Ne7+ Kh8 18.h5 Re8 19.Bc5 gxh5 20.Bc4 exf4 21.Bxf7 Ne4 22.Bxe8 Bxb2 23.Rb1 Bc3+ 24.Kf1 Bg4 25.Bxh5 Bxh5 26.Rxh5 Ng3+ 27.Kg2 Nxh5 28.Rxb7 a5 29.Rb3 Bg7 30.Rh3 Ng3 31.Kf3 Ra6 32.Kxf4 Ne2+ 33.Kf5 Nc3 34.a3 Na4 35.Be3 1-0
Quotes
- "Of Chess it has been said that life is not long enough for it. But that is the fault of life, not Chess"
- "MasonJames Mason (chess player)James Mason was a famous chess player and writer. He was born in Kilkenny in Ireland. His original name is unknown: he was adopted as a child and only took the name James Mason when he and his family moved to the United States in 1861...
had the unique quality of competently simmering through six aching hours, and scintillating in the seventh. Others resembled him, but forgot to scintillate." - "The Pawn move is a capital investment. Every one of the forty-eight should, from the beginning, be spent as if it were one of the last forty-eight apprehensive and responsible dollars between yourself and starvation."
External links
- a page detailing Napier's games
- some of Hilbert's notes on William Ewart Napier
- Edward WinterEdward Winter (chess historian)Edward Winter is an English journalist, archivist, historian, collector and author about the game of chess. He writes a regular column on that subject, Chess Notes, and is also a regular columnist for ChessBase.-Chess Notes:...
, The Chess Wit and Wisdom of William Ewart Napier (2002) - comparative analysis of the Lasker-Napier game
- fictional story, illustrating Lasker-Napier