Eugene Ernest Colman (11 October 1878, Merton, England – 20 July 1964) was an English

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

master. The son of the architect Ernest Gershom Colman (1851-1935) he graduated from

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

with a law degree and entered service in the

Malay States The monarchies of Malaysia refer to the constitutional monarchy system as practised in Malaysia. The political system of Malaysia is based on the Westminster parliamentary system in combination with features of a federation. Nine of the state ...

. When he retired, he stayed on in Malaysia and set up youth clubs throughout the peninsula. He tied for 9-10th in the Hamburg 1910 chess tournament (the 17th

DSB Congress The ''Deutscher Schachbund'' (DSB) was founded in Leipzig on 18 July, 1877. When the next meeting took place in the Schützenhaus on 15 July 1879, sixty-two clubs had become member of the chess federation. Hofrat Rudolf von Gottschall became Chairm ...

, ''Hauptturnier A'',

Gersz Rotlewi Gersz (Georg, George, Gersh) Rotlewi (Rotlevi, Rotlevy) (1889 – 1920) was a Polish chess master. Biography In 1906, Rotlewi tied for 5-6th in Łódź (Akiba Rubinstein won). In 1907, he took 3rd, behind Rubinstein and Dawid Daniuszewski, in Lod ...

won), tied for 6-7th at Oxford 1910, took 10th at London 1910, shared 3rd at Tunbridge Wells 1911, tied for 10-11th at London 1919, and took 7th at Margate 1923. His name is attached to the Colman Variation of the

Two Knights Defense The Two Knights Defense is a chess opening that begins with the moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. Nf3 Nc6 :3. Bc4 Nf6 First recorded by Giulio Cesare Polerio (c. 1550 – c. 1610) in the late 16th century, this line of the Italian Game was extensiv ...

(1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Na5 6.Bb5+ c6 7.dxc6 bxc6 8.Qf3 Rb8) but the most remarkable thing about it were the circumstances under which it was first analysed. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Colman was interned in Changi Civilian Internees Camp in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

(1942–1945) and his opening analysis helped take his (and his fellow prisoners’) mind off the horrors of the prison (about 850 POWs died in

Changi Prison Changi Prison Complex, often known simply as Changi Prison, is a prison in Changi in the eastern part of Singapore. History First prison Before Changi Prison was constructed, the only penal facility in Singapore was at Pearl's Hill, beside ...

during the Japanese occupation). He returned to England and lived in

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

where he was an active member of the Wimbledon Chess Club. Coleman called his variation "The Wimbledon Defense."

References

1878 births 1964 deaths English chess players Chess theoreticians People from the London Borough of Merton Alumni of the University of Cambridge {{England-chess-bio-stub