William Davies Evans

Evans served at sea in the navy from 1804, when he was 14, until the Napoleonic Wars ended in 1815.

He was then transferred to the postal department. By 1819, he had reached the title of Captain of the sailing packet.

Around 1825–1826, on shore leave in London, Evans played Alexander McDonnell, beating the latter with what is now regarded in chess circles as the first Evans Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4). According to GM Andrew Soltis, Evans was "the first player to be widely honored for an opening we ''know'' he played". Provided by Wikipedia