William Norwood Potter
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William Norwood Potter (27 August 1840 – 13 March 1895) was an English chess master and writer. He is primarily remembered for the quality of his chess journalism, and for his association with Wilhelm Steinitz, the first winner of a world chess championship match.
Potter was born in London on 27 August 1840[1] to William and Mary Anne (Martin) Potter. He had three brothers and a sister, Mary Potter.[2][3]
A barristers' clerk by trade, Potter first appeared in London chess circles in 1867 and rose quickly from obscurity, winning the 1870 City of London Chess Club handicap tournament, in which he defeated Joseph Henry Blackburne and Cecil Valentine De Vere on even terms.[4] From 1872 to 1874 the City of London Chess Club contested a two-game correspondence chess match with Vienna: the other London team members eventually dropped out, leaving Potter and Steinitz to continue the match by themselves, which they ultimately won by a score of 1.5–0.5. Steinitz would later point to this match as the beginning of the "systematic analytical development of modern ideas" in chess.[4] In 1875 Potter lost a hard-fought match against Johannes Zukertort, scoring two wins and four losses with eight draws.[5] In 1879 he drew a match against James Mason, both sides scoring five wins apiece with eleven draws.[4]
Potter was a chess columnist for the Westminster Papers from 1868 to 1879.[6] From 1874 to 1876 he produced his own periodical, the City of London Chess Magazine, which featured contributions from Zukertort and Steinitz.[7][8] Subsequently, he became the last chess editor at Land and Water from 1877 to 1885.[4] He also contributed the well-reviewed article on chess in the ninth edition of Encyclopædia Britannica.[4][9][10]
After 1885 Potter retired from the London chess scene.[11][5][12] He died in his home in Sutton on 13 March 1895.[6]
