James Thompson (23 September 1804, London – 2 December 1870, New York) was an American chess master.

Early life

Born in London, he arrived in New York, where formed the New York Chess Club in 1839.

Chess career

He participated in the

First American Chess Congress The American Chess Congress was a series of chess tournaments held in the United States, a predecessor to the current U.S. Chess Championship. It had nine editions, the first played in October 1857 and the last in August 1923. First American Ch ...

at New York 1857, and lost a match to

Paul Morphy Paul Charles Morphy (June 22, 1837 – July 10, 1884) was an American chess player. He is considered to have been the greatest chess master of his era and is often considered the unofficial World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he was ...

(0 : 3) in the first round. He also lost other matches to him; casual (0 : 5) in 1857, two formal (3.5 : 5.5) in May/June 1859 and (6 : 10) in October 1859, and casual (1 : 3) in 1860 (Morphy gave odds of a knight in three latter matches). He drew a match with Charles D. Mead (1.5 : 1.5) in 1857, and played several times in New York Chess Club tournaments, losing to Frederick Perrin in 1854, 1857, and 1859, and James A. Leonard in 1860/61.Edo Historical Chess Ratings - Thompson, James
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Death

Thompson died in 1870 in New York City.

References

External links

Chessgames.com - James Thompson
1804 births 1870 deaths English chess players American chess players 19th-century chess players {{US-chess-bio-stub