Henry Ernest Atkins
| Henry Atkins | |
|---|---|
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| Full name | Henry Ernest Atkins |
| Country |
 England
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| Born |
20 August 1872 Leicester, England |
| Died | 31 January 1955 (aged 82) Huddersfield, England |
| Title | International Master (1950) |
Henry Ernest Atkins (20 August 1872 – 31 January 1955) was a British chess master who is best known for his unparalleled record of winning the British Chess Championship nine times in eleven attempts. He won every year from 1905 to 1911, and again in 1924 and 1925. A schoolmaster, Atkins treated chess as a hobby, devoting relatively little time to it and playing in only a handful of international tournaments. He was an extremely gifted player who would likely have become one of the world's leading players had he pursued the game more single-mindedly. FIDE, the World Chess Federation, awarded him the International Master title in 1950 in recognition of his past achievements.
Born in Leicester, Atkins was educated at Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys. In 1890, he went to Peterhouse, Cambridge as a mathematical scholar. He was mathematical master at Northampton College from 1898 to 1902 and at the Wyggeston School from 1902 and 1909. He was then appointed principal of what later became Huddersfield New College in 1909, serving in that position until 1936.
Atkins died on 31 January 1955 in Huddersfield, England.
Atkins is considered by many to be Britain's most talented player ever. A schoolmaster who played chess only in his spare time, he nonetheless became one of the strongest amateur players. He made a deep study of the games of Wilhelm Steinitz, and modeled his play so closely on Steinitz's that he became known on the European continent as "der kleine Steinitz" ("the little Steinitz").
Atkins learned chess from one of his brothers, and joined the Wyggeston School Chess Club at age 10. One of his sisters gave him a copy of Howard Staunton's treatise The Chess-Player's Handbook, which he closely studied. At 15, he joined the Leicester Chess Club and within two years was playing on first board. While in college, he also played on first board for Cambridge University. In four years playing for Cambridge he only lost one match game.
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