Amos Burn

Amos Burn was born in Hull, England in 1848. At the age of 21, he moved to London and took chess lessons from future World Champion Wilhelm Steinitz. Like his teacher, he became known for his superior defensive ability, although he was never a professional player.

In 1887, Burn tied for 1st in a tournament in London with Isidor Gunsberg (ahead of Joseph H. Blackburne and Johannes Zukertort). In 1889, he finished 1st at Amsterdam (ahead of Emanuel Lasker) and 2nd at Breslau (behind Siegbert Tarrasch). He also played at Hastings in 1895, the strongest tournament held up to that point. He finished in join 12th with 9.5/21. In 1898, he finished 1st at Cologne (ahead of Rudolf Charousek, Mikhail Chigorin, Carl Schlechter, David Janowski and Steinitz).

Burn is the eponym of the Burn Variation of the French Defence (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 dxe4). He was not the first to play the line, but he was the first prominent player to use it frequently. In 1913, he began editing the chess column of The Field. He held this position until he died in 1925.

Download 129 chess games by Amos Burn

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