Henry Charlick

Henry Charlick (8 July 1845 in London, England – 26 July 1916 in Adelaide, Australia) was a leading Australian chess master in the 1880s. He won the second Australian Chess Championship at Adelaide 1887 with 7½ points out of 9 games, ahead of reigning champion Frederick Karl Esling (7 points) and George H. D. Gossip (6½). Charlick scored 6/8 in the third championship at Melbourne 1888, tying for first with William Crane, Jr., ahead of William Tullidge (5½), but narrowly lost the playoff to Crane (1 win, 2 losses, 1 draw).

History Henry was born in 1845 on Tottenham Court road, London, to Richard Charlick (died 1868) and his wife Janet, née Wilson (died 1876), who emigrated to South Australia on the Calphurnia, arriving in April 1849. He learned the chess moves at the age of 15 at the Adelaide Mechanics' Institute and read all the books he could find on the subject and played against every possible opponent. Blessed with a singularly retentive memory, he was soon winning every game. Before the age of 18 he had, blindfolded, simultaneously beaten two strong players. He was influential in the inauguration of the first inter-colonial competition, between Victoria and South Australia in 1864 or 1865.

In a demonstration at the Adelaide Town Hall given by J. H. Blackburne in 1885 against twenty-odd players, Charlick, who conducted two games against the English champion, won one in five moves, and drew the other; Blackburne's only reverses. At the chess congress at Adelaide in 1887 he was the first to be awarded Australian Chess Champion. The following year that honour went to William Crane (14 April 1851 – 23 April 1920) of New South Wales. He retired from active competition in 1893, in part to encourage younger players. He was for many years Secretary of the Adelaide Chess Club (industrialist A. M. Simpson was a longtime president), and edited the Chess column in the Adelaide Observer. His style of play has been compared with that of Paul Morphy as distinct from that of Wilhelm Steinitz. Raymond's son Geoffrey Raymond Charlick (1912–1976) was a linguist, scholar and author.

Charlick had a younger brother John Charlick (1854 – 15 January 1879) who showed great aptitude as a chess player, perhaps of equal strength, but died young. He is remembered as a composer of chess problems.

Charlick Gambit

Illustrative games Following are two games showing Charlick's style of play.

+ Apperly vs. Charlick, 1894