Henry Edward Bird (14 July 1829A date of 1830 has been given, but baptismal records indicate 1829. – 11 April 1908) 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 ...

player, author and accountant. He wrote the books ''Chess History and Reminiscences'' and ''An Analysis of Railways in the United Kingdom''. Although Bird was a practising accountant, not a professional chess player, it has been said that he "lived for chess, and would play anybody anywhere, any time, under any conditions."Harold C. Schoenberg, ''Grandmasters of Chess'', W.W. Norton & Co., New York, Rev. Ed. 1981, p. 66.

Tournament play

At age 21, Bird was invited to the first international tournament, London 1851. He also participated in tournaments held in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. In 1858 he lost a match to Paul Morphy at age 28, yet he played high-level chess for another 50 years. In the New York tournament of 1876, Bird received the first ever awarded, for his game against

James Mason James Neville Mason (; 15 May 190927 July 1984) was an English actor. He achieved considerable success in British cinema before becoming a star in Hollywood. He was the top box-office attraction in the UK in 1944 and 1945; his British films inc ...

Legacy

In 1874 Bird proposed a new

chess variant A chess variant is a game related to, derived from, or inspired by chess. Such variants can differ from chess in many different ways. "International" or "Western" chess itself is one of a family of games which have related origins and could be co ...

, which played on an 8×10 board and contained two new pieces: ''guard'' (combining the moves of the rook and

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

) and ''

equerry An equerry (; from French 'stable', and related to 'squire') is an officer of honour. Historically, it was a senior attendant with responsibilities for the horses of a person of rank. In contemporary use, it is a personal attendant, usually upon ...

'' (combining the

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...

and knight). Bird's chess inspired

José Raúl Capablanca José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera (19 November 1888 – 8 March 1942) was a Cuban chess player who was world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. A chess prodigy, he is widely renowned for his exceptional endgame skill and speed of play. Capabl ...

to create another chess variant,

Capablanca Chess Capablanca chess (or Capablanca's chess) is a chess variant invented in the 1920s by World Chess Champion José Raúl Capablanca. It incorporates two new pieces and is played on a 10×8 board. Capablanca believed that chess would be played out i ...

, which differs from Bird's chess only by the starting position. It was Bird who popularised the

chess opening A chess opening or simply an opening is the initial stage of a chess game. It usually consists of established theory; the other phases are the middlegame and the endgame. Many opening sequences have standard names such as the "Sicilian Defen ...

now called

Bird's Opening Bird's Opening (or the Dutch Attack) is a chess opening characterised by the move: :1. f4 Bird's is a standard flank opening. White's strategic ideas involve control of the e5-square, offering good attacking chances at the expense of slightly ...

(1.f4), as well as Bird's Defence to the

Ruy Lopez The Ruy Lopez (; ), also called the Spanish Opening or Spanish Game, is a chess opening characterised by the moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. Nf3 Nc6 :3. Bb5 The Ruy Lopez is named after 16th-century Spanish priest Ruy López de Segura. It is one ...

(1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nd4). Bird's Opening is considered sound, though not the best try for an opening advantage. Bird's Defence is regarded as slightly inferior, but "".

Bibliography

*Bird, H. E. ''Chess Masterpieces'' (London: Dean, 1875) *Bird, H. E. ''The Chess Openings, Considered Critically and Practically'' (London: Dean, 1877; New York: Lockwood, 1880, 1886) *Bird, H. E. ''Chess Practice'' (London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington, 1882; Sampson Low, Marston & Company, 1892) *Bird, H. E. ''Chess History and Reminiscences'' (London: Dean, 1893) *Bird, H. E. ''Chess Novelties and Their Latest Developments'' (London, New York: F. Warne, 1895)

Notes

References

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External links