De Vere Cecil Valentine (14.02.1845 – 09.02.1875)

British official first champion born on Valentine’s day. De Vere was taught to play chess at the age of 12 and soon became a regular visitor to the Divan. By 1862 he was too strong for Alexandre Anderssen at the odds of Knight. In 1864 he won the majority of a series of games with MacDonnel on level terms. In 1865, he won a match against Wilhelm Steinitz (+7-3=2), playing odds of a pawn and a move. In 1866, at the age of 21, he won the first British Chess Association Challenge Cup, held in London, becoming the first official British Chess Champion. He remained the youngest titleholder for over a century.  In 1868-69, he tied for 1st place at the 2nd British Chess Association Challenge Cup, held in London but lost the play-off to Joseph Blackburne. In 1872 he took the chess editorship of the Field for two years but died of tuberculosis on February 1875, he was 29.

Wilhelm Steinitz called him ‘the young Morphy’ and others ‘A Morphy without book knowledge’.