John Owen (chess player), Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death
TweetJohn Owen (chess player)
English cleric and chess player
Date of Birth: 08-Apr-1827
Place of Birth: Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom
Date of Death: 24-Nov-1901
Profession: chess player
Zodiac Sign: Aries 
About John Owen (chess player)
- John Owen (8 April 1827 – 24 November 1901) was an English vicar and strong amateur chess master.
- He ranked among the world's top ten chess players for certain periods of the 1860s..
- He was a major figure in English chess from the mid 1850s to the 1890s. Owen was born in Marchington, and obtained his early schooling at Repton School, Derbyshire.
- In 1850 he graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge, and received his M.A.
- from Cambridge three years later.
- He was ordained by the Church of England in 1851, and served as Vicar of Hooton, Cheshire from 1862 to his retirement in 1900.In 1858 he won a chess game against the young American master Paul Morphy, the world's best player, who was then touring Europe.
- This led to a match between the two.
- Despite being given odds of pawn and the move (meaning he started the game with an extra pawn and always moved first), Owen lost the match 6–1, never winning a game. His performance in the very strong 1862 London tournament, the first international round-robin event (in which each participant plays every other) was more impressive.
- He finished third, ahead of future world champion Wilhelm Steinitz, and was the only player to win against the eventual tournament winner, Adolf Anderssen.
- Louis Paulsen placed second.
- This result was arguably Owen's top lifetime chess achievement.
- Owen continued to play frequently and often successfully in British tournaments into the 1890s, and performed strongly in several matches against top British players, who were essentially chess professionals.
- He never competed outside the British Isles.
- He died in Twickenham. Owen is the eponym of Owen's Defence, a chess opening characterised by the moves 1.e4 b6.
- Owen was the first strong player to play this frequently, including in his victory over Morphy.
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