Preston Ware

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This article uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves.

Preston Ware Jr. (August 12, 1821 – January 29, 1890), was a U.S chess player.[1] He is best known today for playing unorthodox chess openings. Ware was born in Wrentham, Massachusetts, and died in Boston, Massachusetts.[1]

He was an influential member of the "Mandarins of the Yellow Button" in Boston. The "Yellow Button" was a pin worn in the hats of Chinese imperial officials to indicate high rank in the civil service. The Boston Mandarins were a group of chess players in the late 19th century, including John Finan Barry, L. Dore, C. F. Burille, F. H. Harlow, Dr Edward Mowry Harris, C. F. Howard, Major Otho Ernst Michaelis, General William Cushing Paine, Dr H. Richardson, C. W. Snow, Henry Nathan Stone, Franklin Knowles Young, and Preston Ware. The group was the foundation of what would become the modern Deschapelles Chess Club in Boston.[2]

Contents

[edit] Tournaments

Ware versus Steinitz, 1882
Image:chess zhor 26.png
Image:chess zver 26.png a8 b8 c8 d8 e8 f8 g8 kd h8 Image:chess zver 26.png
a7 b7 c7 qd d7 e7 f7 g7 pd h7
a6 b6 c6 d6 nd e6 f6 pd g6 pl h6
a5 pd b5 c5 d5 bd e5 f5 pl g5 h5
a4 b4 c4 pd d4 pl e4 pd f4 ql g4 h4
a3 bd b3 c3 pl d3 e3 nl f3 g3 bl h3
a2 pl b2 rd c2 bl d2 e2 f2 g2 h2
a1 b1 c1 d1 e1 f1 rl g1 kl h1
Image:chess zhor 26.png
Position after 37. Ne3.

Ware was an avid tournament player and played in the Second International Chess Tournament[3], Vienna 1882, the finest chess tournament of its time. He finished in sixteenth place of eighteen scoring a total of 11 points out of 34, but he did beat Max Weiss and the winner of the tournament, Wilhelm Steinitz[4] in a game lasting 113 moves[5]. At the time, Steinitz had not lost or drawn a game for 9 years prior to this tournament[3] and was the unofficial World Champion. Ware also competed in the first, second, fourth and fifth American Chess Congresses.

[edit] Openings

Ware's other claim to fame was his eccentric opening play. He used the Ware Opening (then known as the Meadow Hay Opening), the Corn Stalk Defence (sometimes known as the Ware Defence), and the Stonewall Attack. Around 1888 he reintroduced the Stone-Ware Defence to the Evans Gambit, named also for Henry Nathan Stone (1823–1909). (It had originally been played by McDonnell against La Bourdonais in 1843.)[6]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Gaige, Jeremy (1987), Chess Personalia, A Biobibliography, McFarland, p. 456, ISBN 0-7864-2353-6 
  2. ^ Brace, Edward R. (1977), An Illustrated Dictionary of Chess, Hamlyn Publishing Group, pp. 177, 302, ISBN 1-55521-394-4 
  3. ^ a b Second International Chess Tournament, Vienna 1882 at Chessbase.com
  4. ^ Whyld, Ken (1986), Chess: The Records, Guinness Books, p. 38, ISBN 0-85112-455-0 
  5. ^ Ware's winning game against Steinitz at Chessgames.com
  6. ^ Hooper, David & Whyld, Kenneth (1992), The Oxford Companion to Chess (2 ed.), Oxford University Press, p. 399, ISBN 0-19-280049-3 

[edit] External links