Francis Joseph Lee

Francis Joseph Lee (June 1858 – 12 September 1909) was an English chess master.

Chess career

Lee played in a number of matches, and British and international chess tournaments, between 1883 and 1907. In the Master Section of the 3rd British Chess Federation (BCF) Congress at London 1887 (won by Amos Burn and Isidor Gunsberg), he finished 6th out of 10 players, scoring 3.5 out of a possible 9 points. In the Master Section at the 4th BCF Championship at Bradford 1888 (won by Gunsberg), he finished 14th of 17 players, scoring 5 of a possible 16 points. In a tournament held at Simpson's Divan in London in 1888, he finished 9th of 18 players, scoring 9 out a possible 17 points. That same year, he lost a match to Gunsberg at Bradford, scoring just two draws in five games. In the Master Section of the 5th BCF Congress at London 1889, he finished 6th-8th of 11 players, scoring 5 out of a possible 10 points. In the Master Section of the 6th BCF Congress at Manchester 1890 (won by Siegbert Tarrasch), he finished 12th-13th out of 20, scoring 9 of a possible 19 points. In an 1890 match in London, Lee had what Chessmetrics considers his best result, losing a match to Joseph Henry Blackburne (2 wins, 6 draws, 6 losses).

Lee also lost matches to Emanuel Lasker (0.5 : 1.5) at London 1891, Richard Teichmann (3.5 : 5.5) at London 1898 and (2.5 : 5.5) at London 1901, and won two matches against Henry Bird (8 : 5 and 5 : 3) at London 1897. He also participated in two cable matches between England and the United States in 1901 and 1902.

Lee took 4th at Belfast 1892 (Quadrangular), shared 3rd at New York 1893 (Lasker won with a perfect score), tied for 10-11th at Barmen 1905 (B tournament, Leo Fleischmann won), and tied for 25-26th at Ostend 1907 chess tournament (Masters' Tournament, Ossip Bernstein and Akiba Rubinstein won).

Chess books The Complete Chess-Guide by F. J. Lee and George H. D. Gossip (1903) Lee and George H. D. Gossip co-wrote the books The Chess Player's Mentor (1895) and The Complete Chess-Guide (1903). The latter was in effect a much-expanded version of the former, containing "Chess Player's Mentor" (Part I), "Modern Chess Brilliancies" (Part II), "Guide to the Openings" (Part III), and "Games at Odds" (Part IV).

Chess strength

By Arpad Elo's calculation, Lee's strength during his five-year peak was equivalent to an Elo rating of 2450. Another assessment system, Chessmetrics, calculates that at his peak in February 1898 Lee's play was equivalent to a rating of 2598, and he was the number 25 player in the world. According to Chessmetrics, his highest world rank was number 24 in the world in July 1897.

Notable games