Joseph Henry Blake (3 February 1859,

Farnborough, Hampshire Farnborough is a town in northeast Hampshire, England, part of the borough of Rushmoor and the Farnborough/Aldershot Built-up Area. Farnborough was founded in Saxon times and is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. The name is formed fro ...

– 11 December 1951,

Kingston-upon-Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...

) 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. 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 Henry Ernest Atkins (20 August 1872 – 31 January 1955) was a British chess master who is best known for his unparalleled record of winning the British Chess Championship nine times in eleven attempts. He won every year from 1905 to 1911, and ...

, 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 title International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950. Early career ...

George Alan Thomas Sir George Alan Thomas, 7th Baronet (14 June 1881 – 23 July 1972) was a British badminton, tennis and chess player. He was twice British chess champion and a 21-time All-England badminton champion. He also reached the quarterfinals of the ...

, Frederick Yates and

Boris Kostić Borislav Kostić (24 February 1887 – 3 November 1963) was a Yugoslav chess grandmaster and a popularizer of the game. Life and chess Borislav Kostic was born in Vršac, Kingdom of Hungary, at the time part of Austria-Hungary. His father D ...

, 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-born British chess player. He was one of the inaugural recipients of the title International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950. He became a naturalized British ci ...

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 Champion, a title he held from 1935 until 1937. He served as ...

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 Victor Buerger (Berger) (29 January 1904 – 1996) was a Ukrainian–British chess player. Biography Buerger was born in Mykolaiv, Ukraine (then Russian Empire) and became a member of London Chess Club. Tournament results In 1923, Buerger tied ...

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