James A. Leonard

James A. Leonard was a young American chess master, who grew up as a son of poor Irish immigrants in New York City. He learned to play chess at ageor 17. Before his 20th birthday, he was already famous for his fierce attacking play and prowess at blindfold chess, at which he played as many as ten games simultaneously.

Nineteenthcentury chess journalists and Jeremy Gaiges book Chess Personalia A Biobibliography state that Leonard was born in New York City. However, his biographer John S. Hilbert, states, based on Leonards military records, that recent evidence strongly suggests he was born in Ireland.

Source: Wikipedia