John Wisker

     John Wisker (May 30, 1846 - January 18, 1884) was an English player and journalist. In his youih Wisker received little schooling, but by his own efforts educated himself and by the time he was 19 he was contributing articles to the Fortnightly Review. 

     In 1866, he moved to London to report for the City Press and was introduced to London chess circles by Howard Staunton. His play rapidly improved, and by 1870 he was one of the top ten players in the world and in England only Joseph H. Blackburne was better. 

     In 1870 Wisker won the British Championship ahead of Blackburne (the previous title holder) after a play-off against Amos Burn. He repeated as champion in 1872 after a play-off against Cecil De Vere. By winning twice in succession Wisker retained the trophy and the championships ceased until 1904 when William E. Napier won. 

     Wisker played a total of six matches against two contemporaries: Bird in 1873 (+6 -6 =1) and (+4 -7 =3) and 1874 (+10 -8 =3) and (+3 -5 =1) for a total result of +23 -26 =8 MacDonnell in 1873 ( +0 -3 = 1) and 1875 ( +7 -4 =4) for a total; result of +7 -7 =5. 

     He edited chess columns in The Sporting Times and Land and Water, and was co-editor of the Chess Player’s Chronicle from 1872 to 1876. In the either 1875 or 1876 (reports vary), Wisker was diagnosed with consumption (tuberculosis), a disease caused by bacteria that usually attacks the lungs. At the end of the 1800s it was the leading cause of death in the United States. Upon the advice of doctors, Wisker emigrated to Australia hoping to improve his health. 

     In Australia he edited a chess column in the Australasian, a position which he held at the time of his death. 

     In the following game he crushes John Owen (1827-1901), an English vicar, who was one of the best players in the world in the 1860s and from the 1850s to the 1890s was one of England's top players. 

 

ChessBase

John Wisker–John Owen1–0C39Counties Chess AssociationRedcar ENG06.08.1866Stockfish 15

King's Gambit Accepted 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.f3 g5 4.h4 This practically forces 4...g4 which undermines any attempt by black to set up a stable P-chaine with ...h6 and ...Bg7. g4 5.e5 This, the Kieseritzky Gambit, is considered best. It was popularized by Lionel Kieseritzky in the 1840s and used successfully by Wilhelm Steinitz 5.g5 This is the Allgaier Gambit which intends to sacrifice the N on f7 and is considered unsound. h6 6.xf7 xf7 and white can play either 7.d4 or 7.Bc4+ 5...h5 The main line is 5... Nf6 5...f6 6.c4 d5 7.exd5 d6 White often plays 8.O-O, but it is inferior to 8.d4/ In either case, black is considered to be better. 6.c4 h7 7.d4 d6 8.d3 8.xf7 This is quite playable. xf7 9.xf7+ xf7 10.xf4 and white has a bit of an advantage. 8...f3 Best 8...e7 9.xf4 xh4+ 10.g3 g5 11.c3 c6 12.d2 xf4 13.xf4 g5 14.0-0-0 White went on to win in Zoellner,R (1884)-Albinus,G (2093) Berlin 2006 9.gxf3 gxf3 10.xf3 g4 10...c6 11.e3 g4 12.f2 Now black should play 12...Qf6 h6 13.c3 ce7 14.d2 c6 15.af1 xe3+ 16.xe3 White is better. Susnik,M (2224)-Crepan,M (2289) Kranj SLO 1999 11.f2 c6 After this white gains the upper hand. Preferable was 11...Nc6 12.g5 d7 13.c3 b5 14.b3 a5 15.a3 h6 16.f4 a6 17.f1 c7 18.d2 Rae1 is the strong threat. g7 19.d3 e6 20.xe6 xe6 21.ae1 Also good was 21.d5 c8 After this black is in serious trouble. 21...g4 offered tougher resistance. 22.g1 f6 23.f4 c4 22.d5 Decisive. h3 23.e5 cxd5 23...xf1 loses to 24.exd6+ f8 25.e7+ g8 26.c5 f5 27.xf1 xf1 28.xf1 cxd5 29.d7 24.exd6+ f8 25.e7+ Not the most precise, but good enough. 25.e5 xe5 26.xe5 xd6 27.e7+ winning easily. 25...g8 26.g1 The remainder of the game is a mopping up exercise. g4 27.f3 h8 28.xh3 d4 29.e4 c6 30.ec5 h6+ 31.d1 f5 32.g2 Black resigned in this hopelessly lost position. A solid performance by Wisker. 1–0

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