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John Wisker (30 May 1846 in Kingston upon Hull, England – 18 January 1884 in Richmond, Victoria) was an English chess player and journalist. By 1870, he was one of the world's ten best chess players, and the second-best English-born player, behind only Joseph Henry Blackburne.[1]
Biography
[edit]Born and educated at Hull, England, Wisker moved to London in 1866 to become a reporter for the City Press and befriended Howard Staunton. His proficiency at chess improved rapidly, and he won the 1870 British Chess Championship after a play-off against Amos Burn, ahead of Joseph H. Blackburne, the defending champion. He won again in 1872 after a play-off against the first British champion, Cecil Valentine De Vere. After this second victory, the British championship was not resumed until 1904.[2][3]
Wisker edited chess columns for The Sporting Times and Land and Water. From 1872 to 1876, Wisker was Secretary of the British Chess Association and co-editor of The Chess Player's Chronicle.[4][5]
After learning that he had contracted tuberculosis, Wisker emigrated to Australia in the autumn of 1876 to try to regain his health. In Australia, he wrote a chess column for the Australasian. In 1884, aged 37, Wisker died from bronchitis and tuberculosis in Melbourne. He is buried at the Boroondara General Cemetery.[6]
References
[edit]- ^ Brace, Edward R. (1977), An Illustrated Dictionary of Chess, Hamlyn Publishing Group, p. 304, ISBN 1-55521-394-4
- ^ Gaige, Jeremy (1987), Chess Personalia, A Biobibliography, McFarland, p. 467, ISBN 0-7864-2353-6
- ^ Golombek, Harry, ed. (1977), Golombek's Encyclopedia of Chess, Crown Publishing, p. 344, ISBN 0-517-53146-1
- ^ Boroondara Cemetery
- ^ Hooper, David; Whyld, Kenneth (1992), The Oxford Companion to Chess (2 ed.), Oxford University Press, p. 450, ISBN 0-19-280049-3
- ^ Boroondara General Cemetery: John Wisker
External links
[edit]
- John Wisker player profile and games at Chessgames.com
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