David Joseph

David Joseph  (21.02.1896-23.08.1984)

Chess composer of a famous endgame study

David Joseph was a modest English chess player, born 125 years ago, of whom little more is known than a simultaneous game played against Capablanca (which he lost) and a handful of studies included in Harold van der Heijden's collection of studies.                                                                                                                                                                                John Roycroft wrote in 1972 that Joseph composed about 50 chess studies, but did not bother to publish them because he only composed for his own pleasure. The fact that he, who was not aiming for any public impact, nevertheless became famous is due to a single chess study which he quickly conjured up on the board during a train journey in 1921 and which somehow found its way into the public domain in an uncomposed version on 27 December 1921 - incidentally without giving the author's name, which was only mentioned two months later in the British Chess Magazine.

Others: 6 endgame studies are shown on the Dutch Website arves.org (editor Peter Boll).

Source: ARVES.org