Amos Burn was an English Chess writer and player who played from the year 1866 through 1920, most commonly known for being the eponym of the Burn Variation of the French Defense.
Full Name: Amos Burn
Place of birth: Kingston Upon Hull, England
Born: November 25, 1925
Ratings
There are no recorded Elo ratings for Burn due to the time period he played in. Only a couple centuries before FIDE was established.
Profiles
Most Frequently Played Openings
With The White pieces
- Ruy Lopez
- Orthodox Defense
- Queen’s Gambit
With The Black pieces
- Ruy Lopez
- French Defense
Biography
Amos Burn was a chess Master born on April 8, 1827, in Kinston Upon Hull, England. Burn was an English chess player and chess writer who was one of the global highest players at the end of the nineteenth century. As a young teen, Owen relocated to Liverpool and apprenticed to a shipowner and merchant company. Burn only discovered how to play chess when he was 16 years old. Subsequently, in London, Burn studied chess with potential global victor Wilhelm Steinitz and, same as his instructor, became recognized for his outstanding defensive prowess. Burn was labeled one of the globe’s six best and most exciting defensive players by Aron Nimzowitsch in his book The Praxis of My System. Burn died on November 25, 1925.
The Beginning
Burn’s prime contest was a handicap championship at the Liverpool Chess Club in 1867/1868. Burn conveniently triumphed in the second tier, where he obtained pawn and move odds from the four best players while giving up knight odds to the other players, 24/25 points.
Burn’s first major championship was the British Chess Association’s Third Challenge Cup held in London in 1870, where he amazed the columnists by sharing first place with John Wisker, ahead of Joseph Henry Blackburne and others, however, ended up losing in a semifinal to Wisker. Burn’s most recent appearance was in Breslau 1912, where he placed 12th out of 18 contestants, scoring 7.5 points out of a potential 17.
Notable Achievements
Burn’s best tournament outcomes were a tie for first with Isidor Gunsberg in London 1887 ahead of Joseph Henry Blackburne and Johannes Zukertort, first in Amsterdam 1889 ahead of a young Emanuel Lasker, second in Breslau 1889 behind Siegbert Tarrasch, and first in Cologne 1898 ahead of Rudolf Charousek, Mikhail Chigorin, Carl Schlechter, David Janowski, and Steinitz.
Burn also competed in Hastings 1895, the most prestigious tournament up to that point, finishing in joint twelfth place with 9.5/12.
Notable Games
Amos Burn vs John Owen – Craigside Amateur Congress Round 5, Llandudno WLS – January 06, 1898
Edmund MacDonald vs Amos Burn – Offhand game – Liverpool ENG, January 1910
Mikhail Chigorin vs Amos Burn – Ostend Round 18 – Ostend BEL – July 07, 1905
Did you enjoy reading about Amos Burn? If you did, you might be interesting in reading other influential players from the past, such as Paul Morphy, and Kermur Sire De Legal.
Sources