During his first years in America, William Henry Krause Pollock participated in some of the most important American chess events of the 19th century. Pollock played matches against strong players like Charles Moehle, John L. McCutcheon, Jackson W. Showalter and Eugene Delmar. This biography analyses in great detail Pollock's chess play, as well as his career and life in England, Ireland and America. His American years unveil even more about the American chess landscape during the first half of 1890s, one of the most interesting periods in American chess history.

Offered here are an unprecedented collection of annotated games played by Pollock (around 500), historical photographs and line drawings. Sources include historical chess journals and magazines with chess columns from America, the United Kingdom and Canada.