If the title of British Champion is to go by, England’s most naturally talented player ever may happen to be an amateur. Henry Ernest Atkins was a school teacher by profession, yet won the British Championships in nine out of eleven participations. On the recent 151st anniversary of his birth, it is worth remembering this extremely gifted chess player. | Pictured: Rufus Stevenson and Henry Atkins at Malvern (The Sphere, 20 August 1921), <a href="https://www.saund.co.uk/britbase/pgn/192108bcf-viewer.html">via BritBase</a>