Henry Bird - Definition and Overview

Henry Edward Bird (1830 - 1908) was an English chess player. He was born in Portsea in Hampshire.

Bird was invited to an international tournament in London at the age of 21. He also participated in tournaments held in Vienna and New Jersey. He lost to Paul Morphy at the age of 28 (1858), yet he played chess for another 50 years.

In 1874 Bird proposed a new chess variant, which played ob 8x10 board and contained two new pieces, Guard (Rook+Knight) and Equerry (Bishop+Knight). This Bird's Chess inspired Capablanca to create another chess variant, Capablanca Chess, which differs from Bird's Chess only by starting position.

Bird was also an outstanding author and accountant. He wrote a book on chess entitled Chess History and Reminiscences. He also wrote a book entitled An Analysis of Railways in the United Kingdom.

It was Bird who popularized the chess opening now called "Bird's Opening" (1. f4).

External links

• Chess History and Reminiscences (http://www.gutenberg.net/etext/4902) - the full text of a Bird's book on the chess history