Keen, Benjamin
Ratings
| Year |
Rank |
Edo |
Dev. |
Games |
| 1820 |
13 |
2143 | (138) | 3 |
| 1821 |
13 |
2157 | (139) | 3 |
Rating table notes
|
| Biographical data |
| Name: Keen, Benjamin |
| Born: 1795 |
| Died: 21 June 1839 |
| |
| Notes: |
| Name given as 'Keene' in Le Palamède. Chessgames.com has notes by MissScarlett from Alumni Cantabrigienses suggesting that he was admitted to Trinity College, Cambridge, at 16 years old on 15 May 1811, as well as a record of his admittance to St. Paul's school at age 9 on 31 Jul. 1804, so probably he was born 1794 or 1795. Reuben Roy, in An Accomplished Chess-Player (p.95) identifies the chess player as 'Edmund Keen, the celebrated tragedian'. Given the other evidence, this must be incorrect, and may have been suggested to Roy by the stories that circulated about Staunton being an actor in his early life and playing alongside Edmund Kean (see, e.g. Townsend's Notes on the Life of Howard Staunton, pp.25-28). |
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| References |
| Books |
| Edinburgh Club, Games of London-Edinburgh Match, page 4 |
| Hunneman, Selection of Games by the Automaton, page 23 |
| Levitt, The Turk, Chess Automaton, page 54 |
| Murray, History of Chess, page 879 |
| Roy, An Accomplished Chess-Player, page 95 |
| Sergeant, Century of British Chess, page 28 |
| Townsend, Historical Notes on Players, page 63 |
| Walker, Chess Studies, page 61 |
| Walker, A Selection of Games at Chess, page 279 |
| Periodicals |
| [BLL], vol. 5, no. 234, 20 Aug. 1826, page 265 |
| [BLL], 6 Dec. 1835, page 2 |
| [BLL], 4 Aug. 1839, page 3 |
| [BLL], 5 Mar. 1870, page 7 |
| [CPC], vol. 2, no. 21, 19 Mar. 1842, page 329 |
| [Pal], vol. 1, no. 7, 15 Sep. 1836, page 227 |
| Web |
| Sarah. [The Romance of Chess - A Perspective on the Art of Odds-giving] |
| Thomas, W.R. [Captain William Evans], page 3 |
| [Benjamin Keen] |
| |
Match data (f=formal; c=casual; s=soft)
| Player information updated: 11 Jan. 2026 |
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