James Alexander Porterfield Rynd

Who was James Alexander Porterfield Rynd?

James Alexander Porterfield Rynd was Dublin born chess player and lawyer.

He was born on 6 April 1846 the son of Dublin solicitor James William Goodlatte Rynd and Isabella Susannah Stephens Rynd. Porterfield Rynd's uncle was Dr. Francis Rynd the inventor of the hallow needle syringe.

He won the Irish Chess Championship competition in 1865 was run under the auspices of the Hibernia Chess Association a forerunner of the Irish Chess Union. This Tournament was run alongside an international chess tournament in Dublin.

Porterfield Rynd's birth date is often listed incorrectly as 1855 this has led some books to cast doubt on his claim to the Irish championship in 1865, such as The Guinness Book of Chess Records by Ken Whyld. But further articles and his obituaries discount this and state he was born in 1846 and died aged 71 in 1917.

He was accepted as the Irish Chess Champion until 1885 when a tournament was hosted by the Irish Chess Association to find an Irish Champion, Rynd did not play in this tournament. Rynd won the title again in 1892. Porterfield Rynd held an LLB, in 1869 he entered the King's Inns, Dublin, and was called to the Bar in 1874.