Remembering William Ewart Napier: The English-born Wonder of Brooklyn, New York (January 17, 1881 – September 6, 1952)

by Eugene Manlapao
10/20/2023 – Like Henry Ernest Atkins, whom Eugene Manlapao featured in September, William Ewart Napier was an exceptional master, but is now almost forgotten. In this article, Eugene explores the life of Napier, who burned brightly in his short career as a chess player.

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Perhaps, only in a collection of classic games can one come across William Ewart Napier today. His famous game against Emanuel Lasker in Cambridge Springs, 1904, seems about the only footprint he has left in chess history. Yet, he was a very strong master who far surpassed expectations of him as an amateur. He was a loss to chess when he left the game permanently for another career.

Napier was born in East Dulwich, Surrey, England on January 17, 1881. His parents migrated to the United States when he was five. From 1895, the Napiers lived in Brooklyn, and William met the best chess players of the country.

Napier scored his earliest successes in simultaneous games, beating, among others, Jackson Showalter, then the United States Champion. In 1896, he became a member of the Brooklyn Chess Club and won the club championship of that year. Later that same year, he played a race to seven match against Frank Marshall. Marshall, the New York State Junior Champion, was four years older than Napier, but Napier overcame Marshall’s edge in experience and reputation, dominating the match, 7-1.  In a triangular tournament among Napier, Wilhelm Steinitz, and Samuel Lipschutz in 1897, Napier won one of his two games against Steinitz. 

Traveling to Europe in 1899 to study music, Napier visited the chess clubs of London, Paris, and Berlin. He returned to the United States in 1900, establishing himself in Pittsburgh and running a column in the newspaper, Pittsburgh Dispatch. The following year, he finished joint second behind Harry Nelson Pillsbury in the New York State Chess Association Congress' master's event held in Buffalo, New York. Marshall, the other prominent American master participating in the double round-robin event, placed second to the last, four points below Napier.

Napier's success encouraged him to participate in international events. In Monte Carlo in February 1902, he placed 11th among twenty of the world's leading masters, but scored wins against David Janowski, Mikhail Chigorin, Jacques Mieses, and Adlof Albin. His game against Chigorin, in particular, won the tournament's brilliancy prize. Janowski had won the event's first edition in 1901.

In July that year, Napier finished a strong fifth in the 13th Congress of the German Chess Association in Hanover, Germany, behind the winner, Janowski, Pillsbury, Henry Ernest Atkins, and Mieses. This time, it was his win over Curt von Bardeleben that won the brilliancy prize. He also derailed Pillsbury in his fight for first place with Janowski, defeating him in their individual encounter.

Napier also participated in one of the greatest tournaments ever held on American soil, Cambridge Springs 1904. The event included all the leading players of the world, except Siegbert Tarrasch and Geza Maroczy. Napier's fellow-American, Marshall, unexpectedly won.

Pillsbury's game against the world champion, Emanuel Lasker, won the brilliancy prize, with Napier's own against John Finan Barry awarded the second prize. However, Napier's game against Lasker may have been the tournament's most memorable encounter. It is an immensely complex one, a labyrinth that has been analyzed and interpreted differently by generations of annotators. Modern computer analysis has found flaws in them, but it is as well-played as humanly possible.

Despite the loss, Napier considered the game the best he ever played. The story goes that Napier and Lasker proposed the game to the organizers for the brilliancy prize. Lasker supposedly told Napier: "It is your brilliancy, although I won."

Napier sitting at the chessboard | Source: https://chesshistory.com/winter/extra/napier.html

Shortly after the Cambridge Springs tournament, Napier returned to Europe and played in the National Tournament of the City of London Chess Club of 1904. The field included experienced players such as Richard Teichmann, Joseph Henry Blackburne, and Isidor Gunsberg, but it was Napier who took first place on the strength of his 9 wins, 7 draws, and no losses.

Merely ten days after the London event, Napier participated in the 1904 British Championship in Hastings, where, by virtue of his English birth, he was entitled to take part. Napier tied for first with Henry Ernest Atkins after eleven rounds, both of them a point and a half ahead of Blackburne. The tie had to be broken with a four-game match between Napier and Atkins.

The British championship ended in September 1904, but the match took place in January 1905, more than three months later. The Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer, in its January 3, 1905 issue, announced: "At a meeting of the British Chess Federation in Hastings in August, the title of chess champion of England, together with a gold medal, could not be conferred as there was a tie between Napier and Atkins. These two masters have now again met at Hastings to decide the tie by a series of four games."

Prior to this meeting, Napier and Atkins played each other twice--once in Hanover 1902, and once also in the British Championship itself. As both games had ended drawn, the play-off promised to be a close one. Indeed, it was, with Napier scoring the lone win in the second game. Napier thus became the first British Chess Federation Champion. Atkins thereafter became one of the most dominant players in the history of the British Championship, becoming national champion nine times.

1905 proved to be Napier's last significant year in chess. He played two matches, one with Mieses, which ended drawn at 4-4, and another with Teichmann, which he lost, 5-1. He also played a Rice Gambit themed-match with his old rival, Marshall, which he won, 3-1. At 24, he then withdrew from competition and began a career in the insurance business. He became an American citizen in 1908 and rose to the vice-presidency of the Scranton Insurance Company. Later, he married Florence Gillespie, the niece of his competitor, Pillsbury, with whom he had two daughters.

According to Chessmetrics, Napier achieved his highest rating of 2662 in 1906, and reached a remarkable performance rating of 2725 in his 1905 themed match against Marshall. Yet, when he passed away at 71, his chess career was nearly forgotten.

Aside from being a strong chess player, Napier was also an excellent writer. He authored a book entitled "Napier's Amenities and Background of Chess-Play," published in three parts between 1934 and 1935. If he had continued playing, he would have been as witty and as highly quotable as Savielly Tartakower. Here are some quotations that appear in his book:

  • ‘In the laboratory, the gambits all test unfavorably, but the old rule wears well, that all gambits are sound over the board.’
  • ‘Once I asked Pillsbury whether he used any formula for castling. He said his rule was absolute and vital: castle because you will or because you must; but not because you can.’
  • ‘John McCutcheon, of Pittsburgh and undying fame for his research in the French Defense, often said about opening moves, “Not new, but old enough to be new.”
  • [On James Mason] ‘As player, he had the unique quality of competently simmering through six aching hours and scintillating in the seventh. Others resembled him but forgot to scintillate.’
  • ‘I never see a King’s Bishop Opening without thinking of the first of several lessons I took, when a youngster, from Steinitz. He said, “No doubt you move your knight out on each side before the bishop? And do you know why?” I was stuck for an intelligent answer. He went on to say, “One good reason is that you know where the knight belongs before you know that much of your bishop; certainty is a far better friend than doubt.”’

The quote above is often attributed to Napier, but as the chess historian Edward Winter said in an extensive and informative article about the origin of the quote, "we do not recall seeing it in Napier’s writings".

Napier was a huge loss to chess. If he kept competing, he would have peaked in the second to the third decade of the 20th century, chess' golden age. What more might he have achieved? As it was, his career was short, but he burned brightly and took himself as far as he could with his talent that was one of the finest of his period.

References

Games

Lasker vs. Napier, Cambridge Springs, Round 3, April 28, 1904

Napier’s famous game against Lasker. In a Sicilian Dragon, Lasker launches a kingside attack but leaves his king in the center. Napier breaks the center open and a tactical melee ensues.

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1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nf3 g6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Bg7 6.Be3 d6 7.h3 Nf6 8.g4 0-0 9.g5 Ne8 10.h4 Nc7 11.f4 e5 ! 12.Nde2 d5 12...Bg4 ?! 13.f5 ! gxf5 14.exf5 Bxf5 15.Ng3 Be6 16.Bd3 d5 17.Qh5 e4 18.Ncxe4 dxe4 19.Nxe4 ! 12...exf4 ? 13.Nxf4 Ne5 13.exd5 Nd4 14.Nxd4 Nxd5 15.Nf5 15.Nxd5 exd4 ? 15...Nxc3 16.Qxd8 Rxd8 17.Ne7+ 17.Nxg7 ? Nd5 18.0-0-0 Bg4 -?+ 17...Kh8 18.h5 18.bxc3 exf4 19.Bd4 Bxd4 20.cxd4 Re8 18.Nxc8 Nd5 ! 18...Re8 18...Nd5 19.Nxd5 Rxd5 20.Bc4 P 18...Bf8 19.hxg6 Bxe7 20.Rxh7+ Kg8 21.bxc3 P 18...gxh5 19.f5 P 19.Bc5 P gxh5 ! 19...exf4 20.hxg6 fxg6 21.Bc4 ? ?g6# Bf5 22.Bf7 Ne4 20.Bc4 20.bxc3 ? Bf8 21.Bb5 Rxe7 22.Bxe7 Bxe7 ? 20...exf4 20...Be6 21.Bxe6 fxe6 22.bxc3 Bf8 23.Rxh5 Bxe7 24.Bxe7 Rxe7 25.fxe5 Rc8 26.0-0-0 Rxc3 27.g6 P 21.Bxf7 Ne4 22.Bxe8 Bxb2 23.Rb1 Bc3+ 24.Kf1 Bg4 25.Bxh5 Bxh5 26.Rxh5 Ng3+ 27.Kg2 Nxh5 28.Rxb7 a5 29.Rb3 Bg7 30.Rh3 Ng3 31.Kf3 Ra6 32.Kxf4 Ne2+ 33.Kf5 Nc3 34.a3 Na4 35.Be3 Bf8 36.Bd4+ Bg7 37.g6 1–0
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Lasker Emanuel (GER)-Napier William E (ENG)-1–01904B34It

Napier vs. Chigorin, Monte Carlo, Round 20, March 10, 1902

The game that won the brilliancy prize in Monte Carlo 1902. Napier’s central superiority combined with the open g-file leads to a decisive attack.

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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Ba5 6.d4 exd4 7.0-0 d6 8.cxd4 Bb6 9.Bb2 Na5 10.Nc3 Ne7 11.Bd3 0-0 12.d5 Ng6 13.Ne2 c5 14.Qd2 Bg4 15.Ng3 Bxf3 16.gxf3 Nh4 17.Qf4 Ng6 18.Qf5 Rc8 19.Bc3 Rc7 20.Kh1 f6 21.Rg1 Rcf7 22.Bf1 c4 23.Bh3 Bxf2 24.Ne2 Ne5 25.Rg2 Be3 26.Nf4 Bxf4 27.Qxf4 g5 28.Be6 Kh8 29.Qd2 b6 30.Bxf7 Rxf7 31.f4 gxf4 32.Qxf4 Nb7 33.Rag1 Nc5 34.Bxe5 dxe5 35.Qg4 h6 36.Qh5 Qf8 37.Rg6 Kh7 38.Rxh6+ 1–0
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Napier William E (ENG)-Chigorin Mikhail I (RUS)-1–01902C51It

Von Bardeleben vs. Napier – Hanover, Round 10, August 1, 1902

Napier sacrifices a piece to leave Bardeleben’s King weak, and his pieces uncoordinated. He then exploits his initiative beautifully.

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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.d3 Bd7 7.Ne2 g6 8.c3 Bg7 9.h3 Qe7 10.Be3 d5 11.Bc2 Be6 12.Qc1 dxe4 13.dxe4 Bc4 14.b3 Bxe2 15.Kxe2 0-0 16.g4 Rad8 17.b4 Nd4+ 18.cxd4 exd4 19.Bxd4 Nxe4 20.Qe3 Bxd4 21.Nxd4 Qxb4 22.Bxe4 Rxd4 23.Bd3 Qa4 24.Kf1 Re8 25.Qf3 Rf4 26.Qd1 Qd4 27.Rh2 Qd6 28.Rg2 Rd4 29.Rg3 Rd8 30.Ke2 c5 31.Qb3 Rxd3 32.Rxd3 Qe5+ 33.Re3 Qxa1 34.Re7 c4 35.Qxc4 Qd1+ 36.Ke3 Qe1+ 37.Qe2 Qc3+ 38.Kf4 Rd4+ 39.Re4 Qc7+ 40.Kg5 f6+ 41.Kxf6 Rd6+ 0–1
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Von Bardeleben Kurt (GER)-Napier William E (ENG)-0–11902C77It "13th German Congress"

Barry vs. Napier, Cambridge Springs, Round 1, April 25, 1904

The game that won the second brilliancy prize in Cambridge 1904. Napier was a highly skilled positional as well, as this game shows.

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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Be7 7.0-0 Nc6 8.Re1 Bg4 9.Bxe4 dxe4 10.Rxe4 Bxf3 11.Qxf3 Nxd4 12.Qc3 Ne6 13.Nd2 0-0 14.Nf3 Bf6 15.Qe1 Qd5 16.Rb4 a5 17.Re4 Rad8 18.c3 Nc5 19.Re2 Nd3 20.Qf1 a4 21.a3 c5 22.Rb1 Rd7 23.Be3 Rfd8 24.Rd1 Qb3 25.Rb1 h6 26.Nd2 Qd5 27.Nf3 b5 28.Rd2 Qb3 29.Re2 b4 30.Nd2 Qd5 31.cxb4 cxb4 32.Nf3 Qb3 33.axb4 Qxb4 34.Bd2 Qb3 35.Ba5 Ra8 36.Nd2 Qd5 37.Bc3 Bxc3 38.bxc3 Nf4 39.Ree1 Qxd2 40.Rbd1 Ne2+ 41.Kh1 Qxd1 42.Rxd1 Rxd1 43.Qxd1 a3 44.Qd5 Rb8 45.g3 Nxc3 46.Qe5 Rb1+ 47.Kg2 a2 48.Qe8+ Kh7 49.Qxf7 a1Q 50.Qf5+ Kg8 51.Qc8+ Kf7 52.Qd7+ Kf6 53.Qd6+ Kf5 54.Qd7+ Ke4 55.Qg4+ Kd3 56.Qd7+ Kc2 57.Qf5+ Kb2 0–1
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Barry John-Napier William E (ENG)-0–11904C42It

Marshall vs. Napier, Brooklyn, New York, Round 1, October 8, 1896

Napier demolishes Marshall out of the opening.

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1.e4 e5 2.f4 Nf6 3.Nc3 d5 4.fxe5 Nxe4 5.Nxe4 dxe4 6.d4 exd3 7.cxd3 Nc6 8.Nf3 Bg4 9.Qa4 Bxf3 10.gxf3 Qd5 11.Be2 Qxe5 12.Bf4 Qxb2 13.Qe4+ Be7 14.Kf2 0-0 15.Rab1 Qxa2 16.d4 Bh4+ 17.Bg3 Rae8 18.Qd3 Nxd4 19.Bxh4 Rxe2+ 20.Kg3 Rg2+ 21.Kh3 Rg6 22.Bg3 Rh6+ 23.Kg4 Qe6+ 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Frank James Marshall-William Ewart Napier-0–11896C29Napier - Marshall1

Addendum: This is a slightly modified version of the original article that appeared yesterday, 19 October 2023. After publication, Edward Winter and Olimpiu G. Urcan were kind enough to point out some errors in the text, which have been corrected.

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Eugene holds a degree in Bachelor of Arts, Creative Writing, which he obtained from the University of the Philippines, Diliman. Chess and writing are his passions, and one often completely absorbs him that he totally neglects the other. His other interests include classic literature, biographies, powerful memoirs, sports, and the visual arts. He spends his spare time doting on his two lovely daughters.

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