Julius Leigh Jacobsen
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 28 May 1862 |
| Died | 1 June 1916 (aged 54) |
| Chess career | |
| Country | Australia |
| Title | Australian Chess Champion (1897) |
Julius Leigh Jacobsen (28 May 1862 – 1 June 1916) was an English-born, Australian chess player who won the Australian Chess Championship in 1897 and the New South Wales Championship in 1901.[1][2][3] He was also the tutor of William Samuel Viner, who later became the Australian Chess Champion himself.[4]
Jacobsen's chess prowess first came to public attention when he was fourteen, when he defeated some very strong English players, leading Wilhelm Steinitz to dub him the "boy prodigy".[4][5] At the age of sixteen, he defeated Henry Bird (+4 -2 =1) in an April 1879 match. He then stopped playing chess and moved to what is now South Africa the following year; he arrived in Australia about six years later. In Australia, he resumed playing chess and became the country's national champion in 1897.[6]
