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John Owen

Amos Burn (left) and Rev. John Owen circa 1885.

JOHN OWEN (born Apr-08-1827, died Nov-24-1901, 74 years old) United Kingdom [what is this?] Rev. John Owen Born: Marchington, East Staffordshire, England Died: Twickenham, London, England In 1851, he was ordained and became a vicar (Reverend) of Hooton, Cheshire from 1862 to 1900. He was recognized as one of London's strongest amateurs. He played chess and wrote under the pseudonym ‘Alter'. He popularized the opening 1.e4 b6, Owen's Defense. In 1857, he won the minor section of the first British Chess Association Congress in Manchester. The major section was won by unknown player. In 1858, he tied for 3rd-4th in the 2nd British Chess Association Congress in Birmingham. In 1858, he lost a match to unknown player in London (+2-7=2). In 1860, he tied a match with Ignatz von Kolisch in Manchester (+4-4=0). In 1862, He took 3rd place in the 1st British Chess Federation Congress in London (the first round-robin event), behind Adolf Anderssen and Louis Paulsen. In 1868-1869, he took 3rd-4th in the 2nd British Chess Association Challenge Cup in London. In 1870, he took 3rd in the 3rd British Chess Association Congress in London. In 1874, he tied a match with Amos Burn in Liverpool (+4-4=0). In 1875, he lost a match with Amos Burn in London (+11-6=3). In 1876, he tied for 2nd-4th in the 12 British Counties Chess Association Congress in Cheltenham. In 1878, he lost a match with Johannes Zukertort (+0-8=3). In 1881, he took 2nd in the 16th British Counties Chess Association Congress. In 1888, he defeated Amos Burn in a match in Liverpool (+5-3=0). In 1890, he tied for 3rd-4th in the 23rd British Counties Chess Association Congress. In 1894-1895, he took 2nd-3rd in the 3rd Craigside Tournament in Llandudno, Wales. notes: John occasionally played consultation chess on the teams of Staunton / Owen, John Owen / Thomas Barnes, John Owen / Johann Lowenthal & S Burnell / J Owen / E Pindar. Wikipedia article: John Owen (chess player) https://mannchess.org.uk/People/Owe... Last updated: 2025-09-10 19:15:53

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page 1 of 7; games 1-25 of 163  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. S Burnell vs J Owen   1-0 23 1853 Match C53 Giuoco Piano 2. J Kipping vs J Owen   1-0 35 1855 Match C01 French, Exchange 3. J Owen vs J Kipping   0-1 17 1855 Match C20 King's Pawn Game 4. J Kipping vs J Owen   1-0 31 1855 Match C52 Evans Gambit 5. J Owen vs J Kipping   0-1 31 1855 Match C53 Giuoco Piano 6. J Owen vs Lowenthal   0-1 38 1855 Odds game (Pf7) 000 Chess variants 7. S Boden vs J Owen 0-1 38 1856 Casual game A00 Uncommon Opening 8. J Owen vs S Boden   0-1 27 1856 Casual game C41 Philidor Defense 9. J Owen vs T Barnes 1-0 22 1857 London C52 Evans Gambit 10. J Owen vs S Boden 0-1 41 1857 Casual game C41 Philidor Defense 11. J Owen vs T Barnes 1-0 27 1857 Casual game C27 Vienna Game 12. J Kling vs J Owen   0-1 52 1857 1st BCA Congress, General, Manchester C41 Philidor Defense 13. J Owen vs G Medley   1-0 37 1857 1st BCA Congress, General, Manchester C41 Philidor Defense 14. J Owen vs A M Francis   1-0 42 1857 1st BCA Congress, General, Manchester C60 Ruy Lopez 15. J Owen vs T Barnes   1-0 31 1858 Casual game B21 Sicilian, 2.f4 and 2.d4 16. S Boden vs J Owen 1-0 39 1858 Boden - Owen B00 Uncommon King's Pawn Opening 17. J Owen vs S Boden 0-1 33 1858 Boden - Owen A00 Uncommon Opening 18. S Boden vs J Owen   1-0 25 1858 Casual game B00 Uncommon King's Pawn Opening 19. J Owen vs S Boden 0-1 35 1858 Casual game C00 French Defense 20. J Owen vs S Boden   1-0 18 1858 Casual game C42 Petrov Defense 21. S Boden vs J Owen 1-0 55 1858 Boden - Owen A07 King's Indian Attack 22. S Boden vs J Owen 1-0 30 1858 Boden - Owen B00 Uncommon King's Pawn Opening 23. J Owen vs S Boden   0-1 45 1858 Boden - Owen C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical 24. Morphy vs J Owen 1-0 35 1858 Casual game B00 Uncommon King's Pawn Opening 25. J Owen vs Morphy 0-1 47 1858 Casual game D32 Queen's Gambit Declined, Tarrasch  page 1 of 7; games 1-25 of 163

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< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 1 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing> Nov-07-04    Leviathan: His favourite defense was 1.e4 b6 and he often opened with 1.e3. Can we call him a pre-hypermodern? Dec-30-04    Knight13: He was a strong British player. Jun-29-05    Knight13: In my opinion, this game is Owen's best game ever played: Morphy vs Owen, 1858 Jul-26-05    Newsie777: Rev. John Owens (1827-1901). British amateur chess player, born in Staffordshire. Owen was ordained in 1851 and became vicar of Hooton, Cheshire from 1862 to 1900. He was a member of George's Chess Club and was recognized to be one of London's strongest amateurs. In 1858 be played seven games with Morphy who gave him odds of pawn and move. His best tournament result was third place at London (1862) ahead of Steinitz, Lowenthal, and Blackburne. Owen was also a popular chess columnist and wrote under the pseudonym of 'Alter'. Jan-24-06    jackmandoo: My Great-great grandfather played Mr. Owens in a casual game in Hastings. He said of Owens, "You could imagine my surprise when he responded "1..B3" Mr. Owens then crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, giving me a very sarcastic and coy smile. I tossed the chees board onto the floor stating I didn't play with children and for him to be on his way." (My father and I found this annotated game in my great great grandfathers computer. It was a wooden box with drawers, another name they used for computer back then was "dresser." While I played through this game on my pocket set my dad was shadowboxing somebody in the mirror of the bathroom. I think a good match would be my dad and the jolly green giant. My dad is much larger than the giant, but he is terrified of cartoons and asparagus so it would be a good fight.) Jan-24-06    Jim Bartle: 1...b3 would be a heckuva theoretical novelty. Jan-27-06    jackmandoo: Yea, that's too bad heckuva isn't even a word! Jim you silly Goose! Jan-28-06    SBC: My favorite John Owen quote is a comment he made prior to his match with Morphy at odds of Pawn and the move. The stakes were a set of ivory Staunton men, but Owen, as confident of his own skill as he was certain of Morphy's reputation being over-rated, said, "Were it not for my position [that of religious leader] I would willingly play for £1000." Morphy won +5-0=2 As a side note, one of the conditions of the match was that if Owen won, Morphy would play a second match even, but if Owen lost, he would accept from Morphy the greater odds of Pawn and two. Owen, however, was able to avoid the promised match. Owen's photograph can be seen at http://batgirl.atspace.com/morphybi... Jan-28-06    morpstau: Hey SBC how much American dollars is that sum equivelent to? 1000 Jul-01-06    BIDMONFA: John Owen OWEN, John http://www.bidmonfa.com/owen_john.htm _ Jul-01-07    brankat: Nice to see such a detailed Biography of Mr.Owen Much more detailed than those of most of the leading GMs of the 20th century!? Jul-01-07    alter: Good to see Rev J.Owen being made player of the day. He isn't as well known as he should be - he had wins against Morphy, Anderssen & Steinitz to his credit. Also, Owen's Defence (1.e4 b6) is well worth a try in blitz games, it's much better than it's reputation. Jul-01-07    SwitchingQuylthulg: Yes, I think 1...b6! practically refutes 1.e4. Jul-01-07    Wilson H. L.: Probably the strongest amateur player in London, since he was able to beat some of the strongest player of his time. His win against Anderssen is a good example : Owen vs Anderssen, 1862 Also, the game Owen vs. I R Nelson from 1986 was certainly played by another Owen. Jul-02-07    alter: The interesting thing about John Owen is that he had a good understanding of ideas that were well ahead of his time, e.g. the importance of centre pawns and the bishop pair. But despite his impressive wins it has to be admitted that some of Owen's games are not very good . All in all he is a bit of a conundrum, the Basman of his day. As a fellow b6 fan I'd hope that SwitchingQuythulg will agree that Christian Bauer's book "Play 1...b6" is one of the best opening books available. Jul-01-08    FSR: Owen was an a--h---. He was completely obnoxious to Morphy, even when he was supposedly serving as a second to Morphy (not chosen by Morphy, weirdly enough) in Morphy's match against Lowenthal. When Morphy won, he would tell Morphy how lucky he had been, and offer encouragement to Lowenthal. Jul-01-08    gus inn: <alter> how come you are able to post from the <2nd> of July ?? There are different timezones , but still .. :) Jul-01-08    xenophon: <gus inn: <alter> how come you are able to post from the <2nd> of July ?? There are different timezones , but still .. :)> another place another year Jul-01-08    Once: <gus inn> You might also ask how <alter> managed to post from beyond the grave ... I suppose there are some advantages to being a vicar, but I never imagined that it would include the ability to kibitz from the afterlife. Jul-01-09    WhiteRook48: Hsppy birthday dude Aug-02-09    myschkin: . . . @ <morpstau> Hey SBC how much American dollars is that sum [£1000] equivelent to? >> http://www.measuringworth.com/calcu... http://www.x-rates.com/calculator.h... Apr-08-11    Penguincw: Happy Birthday John Owen. Jul-01-11    kdogphs: Because of this man, I have to tell my students that 1)...b6 is not a good response to 1) e4!!! Jul-01-11    SwitchingQuylthulg: <kdogphs: Because of this man, I have to tell my students that 1)...b6 is not a good response to 1) e4!!!> It is. Jul-01-11    keypusher: <SwitchingQuylthulg: <kdogphs: Because of this man, I have to tell my students that 1)...b6 is not a good response to 1) e4!!!> It is.> You're making a believer out of me... search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 1 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing>

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