Lee played in a number of matches, and British and international
chess tournaments, between 1883 and 1907. In the Master Section of the 3rd
British Chess Federation (BCF) Congress at London 1887 (won by
Amos Burn and
Isidor Gunsberg), he finished 6th out of 10 players, scoring 3.5 out of a possible 9 points. In the Master Section at the 4th BCF Championship at
Bradford 1888 (won by Gunsberg), he finished 14th of 17 players, scoring 5 of a possible 16 points. In a tournament held at
Simpson's Divan in London in 1888, he finished 9th of 18 players, scoring 9 out a possible 17 points. That same year, he lost a match to Gunsberg at Bradford, scoring just two draws in five games. In the Master Section of the 5th BCF Congress at London 1889, he finished 6th-8th of 11 players, scoring 5 out of a possible 10 points. In the Master Section of the 6th BCF Congress at
Manchester 1890 (won by
Siegbert Tarrasch), he finished 12th-13th out of 20, scoring 9 of a possible 19 points. In an 1890 match in London, Lee had what
Chessmetrics considers his best result, losing a match to
Joseph Henry Blackburne (2 wins, 6 draws, 6 losses). Lee also lost matches to
Emanuel Lasker (0.5 : 1.5) at London 1891,
Richard Teichmann (3.5 : 5.5) at London 1898 and (2.5 : 5.5) at London 1901, and won two matches against
Henry Bird (8 : 5 and 5 : 3) at London 1897. He also participated in two cable matches between England and the
United States in 1901 and 1902. Lee took 4th at Belfast 1892 (
Quadrangular), shared 3rd at New York 1893 (Lasker won with a
perfect score), tied for 10-11th at Barmen 1905 (B tournament,
Leo Fleischmann won), and tied for 25-26th at
Ostend 1907 chess tournament (Masters' Tournament,
Ossip Bernstein and
Akiba Rubinstein won). ==Chess books==