John Herbert White

John Herbert White (February 22, 1880 - November 18, 1920, London, England) [Jeremy Gaige, "Chess Personalia", McFarland, 1987, p. 462. ISBN 0-7864-2353-6.] was co-author with Richard Clewin Griffith of the first three editions of the famous chess opening treatise "Modern Chess Openings". [See R. C. Griffith, J. H. White, and M. E. Golstein, "Modern Chess Openings", 4th edition, Whitehead & Miller, 1925, Preface to the Fourth Edition (referring to White's fatal 1920 accident and "the eight years which have elapsed since the appearance of the previous issue").] It was first published in 1911 and is still in print. Griffith and White explained in the preface to the first edition that "the many recent master tournaments have rendered necessary an up-to-date book on the Openings" and that "the book is intended to be a guide for match and tournament players". [R. C. Griffith and J. H. White, "Modern Chess Openings", 2nd edition, Longmans, Green and Co., 1913, p. viii (reprinting Preface to First Edition).] The fifteenth edition, by American grandmaster Nick de Firmian, was published in 2008. [Nick de Firmian, "Modern Chess Openings", 15th edition, McKay Chess Library, 2008. ISBN 978-0-8129-3682-7.] The book is commonly referred to as "MCO" today. [Nick de Firmian, "Modern Chess Openings", 15th edition, McKay Chess Library, 2008, p. xi. ISBN 978-0-8129-3682-7.]

White was the Secretary of the Hampstead Chess Club. [R. C. Griffith and J. H. White, "Modern Chess Openings", 2nd edition, Longmans, Green and Co., 1913, p. iii.] He died in 1920 in a bicycle accident. [Andy Soltis, "Chess to Enjoy", Stein and Day, 1980, p. 103. ISBN 0-8128-6059-4.]

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