William H K Pollock

William Henry Krause Pollock (21 February 1859 in Cheltenham – 5 October 1896 in Clifton, England) was an English chess master, and a surgeon.

Pollock was born in Cheltenham, England, the son of the Rev. William J. Pollock. He was educated at Clifton College. He studied for the medical profession in Dublin, Ireland from 1880–82, at which time he was a member of the Dublin Chess Club. In 1882, he became a licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin. In the same year, his first published chess game and problem appeared in the unlikely setting of the Irish publication The Practical Farmer. After receiving his medical licence, Pollock moved back to England and became a surgeon.

Pollock tied for 1st–3rd in the B section at Bath 1884, scoring 7 points out of 10 games. In a stronger tournament, the British Chess Association Congress held at London 1885, he finished 4th with 10½/15, behind Isidor Gunsberg, Henry Edward Bird and Anthony Guest. He tied for 8–10th in the Master Tournament at Hereford, scoring 3/10; Blackburne won, ahead of Bird and Schallop. In the British Chess Club Master Tourney (London 1886), he finished 5th of 8 players, scoring 3/7, behind Blackburne, Bird, Gunsberg, and James Mason. In the 2nd British Chess Federation Championship, also held at London 1886, he finished 10th of 13 players (4½/12), but had the consolation of handing tournament winner Blackburne one of his two losses. At Nottingham 1886, he finished 7th of 10 players (3/9), behind Burn, Schallopp, Gunsberg, Johannes Zukertort, Bird, and Jean Taubenhaus. He tied for 3rd–5th of 7 players (3/6) at Stamford 1887, won by Joseph Henry Blake. At London 1887, the 3rd British Chess Federation Congress, he finished 5th of 10 players (4/9), behind Burn, Gunsberg, Blackburne, and Zukertort. At Bradford 1888, the 4th British Chess Federation Championship, he tied with Bird for 9th–10th place out of 17 players (7/16); Gunsberg won. He tied for 5–6th of 10 players at London 1888 (Simpson's Divan), also won by Gunsberg.

Pollock returned to Ireland to win the Irish Championship at Dublin 1885 with 9 out of 10 points. He won Belfast 1886 (ahead of Joseph Henry Blackburne and Amos Burn) with a rare perfect score of 8–0. He took 2nd at Dublin 1889.

In 1889 Pollock made the voyage to New York City to participate in the great New York international tournament, the Sixth American Chess Congress. One of the longest tournaments in history, this double round robin was intended to select a challenger for the world championship title held by William Steinitz. Pollock finished 11th out of 20 players; Mikhail Chigorin and Max Weiss won. He later moved to Baltimore as the resident chess professional, and soon was writing a chess column for the Baltimore Sunday News, as well as reports on American chess for the British Chess Magazine. In 1890, he won a match against Charles Moehle 7½–6½ in New York, took 2nd place at the St. Louis Chess Congress, and played in Chicago. He lost a match to Eugene Delmar 3–5 at Skaneateles 1891, shared 1st with Jackson Showalter but lost a playoff game at Lexington 1891.

In 1892, he was Wilhelm Steinitz's secretary. At tournaments in New York in 1893, he tied for 4–5th, and tied for 9–11th in New York (Emanuel Lasker won).

In early 1895, he drew a match in Montreal against George H. D. Gossip, each player winning six games with five draws. This result was likely more satisfactory to Gossip than to Pollock, given Gossip's status as a perennial last-place finisher in major tournaments. Later that year, Pollock represented Canada at the famous Hastings 1895 chess tournament, won by Harry Nelson Pillsbury. Pollock took 19th (out of 22), including wins over the 4th and 5th-place finishers Siegbert Tarrasch and Wilhelm Steinitz.

Following the tournament, Pollock's health progressively deteriorated due to tuberculosis. In August 1896, he returned to England, where he died at his father's home in Clifton on 5 October 1896.