Julius Finn (28 April 1871 – 6 December 1931) was an American chess master. Born into a Jewish family in Władysławow, Lithuania (then Russia), he came to New York City in 1887. From a humble start as a street peddler on the Lower East Side, Finn swiftly rose to become New York's champion chess master and one of the country's best blindfold chess entertainers. Finn's first tournament in America was a Handicap Tournament played in New York's Café Boulevard in 1895 where he was ranked as a 2nd class player at the beginning of the competition. As it happened, he took home the 1st prize ahead of William Ewart Napier, Hermann Helms, and many other well-known players from the local American scene. In July 1897, Finn led a consultation team to victory against the veteran Wilhelm Steinitz in the ro