William Norwood Potter

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William Norwood Potter

William Norwood Potter (born August 27, 1840 in London , † March 13, 1895 in Sutton, Surrey ) was an English chess master .

origin

Potter grew up in London as one of five siblings. His parents separated in 1849, his father William Norwood Potter Sr. emigrated to Australia. The children remained under the care of their mother, who had converted to Catholicism. His sister Mary Potter (1847-1913) founded the Congregation of Little Company of Mary , which to this day is devoted to nursing. Mary Potter was awarded the title of Venerable Servant of God by the Catholic Church in 1988 , which is considered a preliminary step to beatification .

Chess career

Potter was a legal clerk. He became known around the age of thirty as a strong English chess master who turned primarily to chess journalism. This is how Potter edited the Westminster Papers (1868–1879). From 1874 to early 1876, Potter published the City of London Chess Magazine . He also wrote several articles for the Encyclopædia Britannica .

His commentaries on the game were widely appreciated. It is worth highlighting Potter's friendly relationship with Wilhelm Steinitz . In the correspondence chess competition between London and Vienna (1872-74) he and Steinitz represented the London side. In 1875 Potter lost a match against Johannes Zukertort after winning games with 2: 4 (= 8). A match against James Mason , which also took place in London, ended in a draw in 1879 (5: 5, = 11).

Connection with the Saavedra study

After Potter's death, Georges Emile Barbier wrote an obituary for the Glasgow Weekly Citizen on April 6, 1895 . Three weeks later, Barbier reconstructed the interesting final position of a game of Potters against Richard Henry Falkland Fenton . The erroneously slightly modified position led to the famous Saavedra study two decades after the game .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Mary Potter biography ; Edward Winter: Chess Notes , No. 5936 .
  2. ↑ Tim Harding: A History of The City of London Chess Magazine (Part 2) , ChessCafe.com (English)
  3. ↑ P. Feenstra Kuiper: One Hundred Years of Chess Combat 1851-1950 , Amsterdam 1967, p. 91

literature

  • Harrie Grondijs: No Rook Unturned. A Tour Around the Saavedra Study. The Hague 2004. ISBN 90-74827-52-7 . Pp. 84-85.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Potter, William Norwood
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English chess player
DATE OF BIRTH August 27, 1840
PLACE OF BIRTH London
DATE OF DEATH March 13, 1895
Place of death Sutton, Surrey