Frederick Deacon (January 1829 – 20 November 1875, in Brixton, London) was a British chess master.[1] He is mainly notable for spurious claims to have drawn against Paul Morphy,[2][3][4][5][6] making himself both notorious and unpopular.[7][8] He won a match against W. Gilby (2–1) and lost a match to Charles Edward Ranken (0–2) at London 1851 (Provincial,Samuel Boden won).[9] Deacon won matches against Edward Löwe (7½–2½) in 1851, and Carl Mayet (5–2) in 1852.[10] He drew against Paul Morphy (1–1) in 1858.[11] He took 2nd, behind George Henry Mackenzie, at London 1862 (handicap),[12] shared 11th at London 1862 (the 5th BCA Congress, Adolf Anderssen won),[13] and lost a match to Wilhelm Steinitz (1½–5½) at London 1863. Frederic Deacon Number of games in database: 55 Years covered: 1849 to 1863 Overall record: +28 -22 =5 (55.5%)* * Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games Based on games in the database; may be incomplete. Most played openings C33 King's Gambit Accepted (4 games) B27 Sicilian (4 games) C51 Evans Gambit (4 games) C39 King's Gambit Accepted (3 games) B21 Sicilian, 2.f4 and 2.d4 (3 games) B40 Sicilian (3 games) C52 Evans Gambit (3 games) C40 King's Knight Opening (3 games) A02 Bird's Opening (2 games) C00 French Defense (2 games) Ratings Biographical data Name: Deacon, Frederic Horace Year Rank Edo Dev. Games Also known as: Frederick Horace Deacon 1851 27 2428 (66) 17 Born: 1830 1852 19 2440 (66) 7 Died: 20 Nov. 1875 1853 15 2444 (72) 0 1854 12 2449 (76) 0 Notes: 1855 10 2453 (79) 0 Gaige gives birth year 'c1829', death 'c10-1875'; Di Felice has 'Frederick', as do Hooper and Whyld, who give 1856 11 2458 (79) 0 birth year 1830. Winter cites Gaige's unpublished revision of Chess Personalia with birth date 'about 1830' and exact date of death. Sergeant (p.115) has 'F.B. Deacon'. 1857 14 2463 (78) 0 1858 14 2467 (74) 0 1859 14 2472 (69) 0 References 1860 16 2476 (61) 8 Books 1861 22 2448 (58) 0 Di Felice, Chess Results, 1747-1900, page 223 1862 29 2419 (51) 25 Gaige, Chess Personalia, page 86 1863 32 2390 (59) 7 Hooper and Whyld, Oxford Companion (1st ed.), page 320 1864 41 2361 (71) 0 Hooper and Whyld, Oxford Companion (2nd ed.), page 385 1865 47 2331 (79) 0 Löwenthal and Medley, Transactions of the BCA, 1868-1869, page 1 1866 59 2302 (86) 0 Sergeant, Century of British Chess, page 76, 115 1867 65 2273 (91) 0 Staunton, The Chess Tournament, page lxx 1868 74 2244 (95) 2 Periodicals [BLL], 25 May 1851, page 5 [CPC], vol. 10, Oct. 1849, page 315 Rating table notes [CPC], vol. 11, Jan. 1850, page 9 [CPC], vol. 12, Jan. 1851, page 10 [CPC], vol. 1, Dec. 1859, page 378 [ILN], vol. 15, 8 Sep. 1849, page 171 [ILN], vol. 17, 14 Dec. 1850, page 454 [ILN], vol. 67, 4 Dec. 1875, page 566 [Reg], vol. 3, Feb. 1851, page 53 Web Sericano, C. [Maestri di scacchi dell'800] Winter, Edward. [CN 7854. Demoralization] Match data (f=formal; c=casual; s=soft) Deacon, F.H. - Lowe, E. 1851 (f) 7.5 - 2.5 Deacon, F.H. - Mayet, C. 1852 (c) 5 - 2 Steinitz, W. - Deacon, F.H. 1863 (f) 5.5 - 1.5 Wayte, W. - Deacon, F.H. 1868 (c) 2 - 0 Tournament data London 1851 (2) Provincial Tournament Deacon, F.H. - Gilby, W. 2 - 1 Deacon, F.H. - Ranken, C.E. 0 - 2 London 1851 (3) London Chess Club Tournament 1 / 2 London 1860 (1) London Club Handicap Tournament 4.5 / 6 London 1860 (3) St. James's Club Handicap Tournament Deacon, F.H. - Piechonka 1 - 0 Deacon, F.H. gave odds of pawn and move Deacon, F.H. - Wormald, R.B. 1 - 0 Deacon, F.H. - Burden, F. 1 - 0 London 1862 (1) London Club - St. James Club Match Deacon, F.H. - Stewart, H.C. 1 - 0 London 1862 (2) Grand Tournament (5th British Chess Association?) 2.5 / 8 London 1862 (3) Handicap Tournament (5th British Chess Association?) Deacon, F.H. - Dawson, R. 2 - 1 Deacon, F.H. gave odds of the move Deacon, F.H. - Green, S.J. 3.5 - 1.5 Deacon, F.H. gave odds of pawn and two moves Deacon, F.H. - Hannah, J.W. 3 - 1 Deacon, F.H. gave odds of the move Deacon, F.H. - Mackenzie, G.H. 1 - 3 Deacon, F.H. gave odds of the move .