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 , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

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 states ...

. 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 Hamburg 1910 chess tournament (the 17th DSB Congress) was organized by Walter Robinow, the President of the Hamburg Chess Club (''Hamburger Schachklubs''). Masters Tournament Eighteen masters started but Franz Jakob withdrew after round 6. ...

(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 Rudolf Got ...

, ''Hauptturnier A'', Gersz Rotlewi 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 (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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

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, borde ...

(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 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