Joseph Henry Blake (3 February 1859,

Farnborough, Hampshire Farnborough is a town located in the Rushmoor district of Hampshire, England. It has a population of around 57,486 as of the 2011 census and is an important centre of aviation, engineering and technology. The town is probably best known for it ...

– 11 December 1951,

Kingston-upon-Thames Kingston upon Thames, colloquially known as Kingston, is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, south-west London, England. It is situated on the River Thames, south-west of Charing Cross. It is an ancient market town, notable as ...

) was an English

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

master. Blake won many tournaments played in England toward the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. He won at Stamford 1887, Oxford 1891 (joint), Brighton 1892, Cambridge 1893, and Salisbury 1898 (joint). He also took 5th at Manchester 1882, tied for 3-4th at Birmingham 1883 (''Section B''), took 4th at Bath 1884, tied for 6-8th at London 1889 ( Henry Bird won), took 2nd at Cambridge 1890, tied for 3rd-4th at Woodhall Spa 1893, shared 2nd at Craigside 1895, took 3rd at Hastings (''Amateur'') 1895, took 2nd, behind Henry Ernest Atkins, at Bristol 1896, and won at Folkestone 1901. He took 2nd in an international correspondence tournament organised by ''Le Monde Illustré'' in 1895, shared 1st in the 1909 British Championship in Scarborough but lost to Atkins the play-off, and shared 1st at London 1911. He was British correspondence champion in 1922. Blake represented England in cable matches against the United States in 1902, 1909 and 1910. His best achievement was victory, ahead of

Géza Maróczy Géza Maróczy (; 3 March 1870 – 29 May 1951) was a Hungarian chess player, one of the leading players in the world in his time. He was one of the inaugural recipients of the Grandmaster (chess), International Grandmaster title from FIDE in 1 ...

, George Alan Thomas, Frederick Yates and

Boris Kostić Borislav Kostić (24 February 1887 – 3 November 1963) was a Serbs, Serbian chess Grandmaster (chess), grandmaster and a popularizer of the game. He was one of the best players in the world during the early part of the 20th century and in 1950 w ...

, at Weston-super-Mare 1922. He shared 2nd at London 1922 (''Major Open''), tied for 7-8th at

Hastings International Chess Congress The Hastings International Chess Congress is an annual chess tournament which takes place in Hastings, England, around the turn of the year. The main event is the Hastings Premier tournament, which was traditionally a 10 to 16 player round-robin t ...

1922/23 (

Akiba Rubinstein Akiba Kiwelowicz Rubinstein (1 December 1880 – 14 March 1961) was a Polish chess player. He is considered to have been one of the greatest players never to have become World Chess Champion. Rubinstein was granted the title International Grandma ...

won), took 2nd, behind Thomas, at London 1923, took 5th at Liverpool 1923 (

Jacques Mieses Jacques Mieses (born Jacob Mieses; 27 February 1865 – 23 February 1954) was a German chess player. Mieses, who was Jewish, fled the Nazi regime in 1938 and later became a British citizen. Hooper, David and Kenneth Whyld 1996. ''The Oxford comp ...

won), tied for 7-8th at Hastings 1923/24 (

Max Euwe Machgielis "Max" Euwe (; May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch chess player, mathematician, author, and chess administrator. He was the fifth player to become World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, a title he held from 1935 ...

won), tied for 6-7th at Weston-super-Mare 1924 (Euwe won), took 2nd, behind R.P. Michell, at London 1925, took 4th at London 1926 ( Victor Buerger won), and tied for 7-9th at Weston-super-Mare 1926 (Euwe won). He was the author of ''Chess endings for beginners'' (London 1900).Litmanowicz, Władysław & Giżycki, Jerzy (1986, 1987). ''Szachy od A do Z''. Wydawnictwo Sport i Turystyka Warszawa. (1. A-M), (2. N-Z)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blake, Joseph Henry (Chess Player) 1859 births 1951 deaths English chess players People from Farnborough, Hampshire