John Owen (chess player) 1862 to his retirement in 1900. In 1858 he won a chess game against the young American master Paul Morphy, the world's best player, who was then touring Europe. This led to a match between the two. Despite being given odds of pawn and the move (meaning he started the game with an extra pawn and always moved first), Owen lost the match 6–1, never winning a game. His performance in the very strong 1862 London tournament, the first international round-robin event (in which each participant plays every other) was more impressive. He finished third, ahead of future world champion
William Lewis (chess player) William Lewis (chess player) William Lewis (1787–1870) was an English chess player and author, nowadays best known for the Lewis Countergambit and for being the first player ever to be described as a Grandmaster of the game. Born in Birmingham, William Lewis moved as a young man to London where he worked for a merchant for a short period. He became a student of chess player Jacob Sarratt, but in later years he showed himself to be rather ungrateful towards his teacher. Although he considered Sarratt's "Treatise on the Game of Chess" (1808) a "poorly written book", in 1822 Lewis