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Adolf Anderssen By
U.S.C.F. LIFE-Master
A.J. Goldsby I *** This
material was originally generated for use on the "About"
website, but was (The comments below were written in late August and early September, 2002.) The new head guide for chess on About, has asked me to do a series of articles. These articles are planned to be on the World Champions, (un-official or official); starting with A. Anderssen. Each one of these articles will be accompanied with a brief game, which -hopefully! - will be both instructive and entertaining. (These were originally planned to be a monthly feature.) NOTE: When I first wrote Mr. Weeks, I informed him that I had a series of lectures on the World Champions, and that I wanted to turn them into articles. Some of this material is stuff that I have used before. If you ever attended one of my simuls, you might have heard this before. (Some of this material is at least 10 years old, maybe older.) I also had another web page on this player 5-10 years ago, but that server folded. {A.J.G.} Who was the first world chess champion? You could actually make MANY arguments ... for many different players. Many of the earlier players - such as the French player, Philidor - were clearly the strongest players of their day. But the early records are pretty sketchy, and I prefer to start with Anderssen, for reasons that will soon be made clear. This
is not to say that chess in the 19th century started with Anderssen. In fact one
of the most interesting and historically important matches took place in 1834
between the very strong French player La Bourdonnais, and the pride of the
British Isles, A. MacDonnell. The next leading player would have to be the Englishman, Howard Staunton. After several convincing victories, including a defeat of Saint-Amant, he was considered to be easily the strongest player of his day. (From 1843 to 1851.) The next player to come on the scene was a player - whom I deeply believe to one of the 'Top Five' best, pure tactical players to have ever lived - was the German, Adolf Anderssen. He was born in 1818, in a sleepy little village outside (what was then) Breslau, Germany. (Today this is in Poland.) He loved to play chess, but during his youngest years, his family insisted he complete his education. But he slowly gained a reputation as one of the best chess players in his area. He drew a match with Daniel Harrwitz - widely considered to be one of the best chess players in all of Europe. (At that time.) He was 33 when he was chosen to play in the FIRST (!) international chess tournament ever held: London, 1851. (Anyone interested in this tournament can either: A.) Look for a copy of the re-print of the original book of the tournament; or B.) Check out Andy Soltis's very enjoyable book, "The Great Chess Tournaments, and Their Stories." © 1975, Chilton books.) In this great tournament, the bettors had many favorites, but Anderssen was NOT one of them. The odds-on favorite had to be Howard Staunton. But Anderssen dismissed him as easily as he might a naughty child from one of his classes. Anderssen also defeated the very steady Wyvill in the final, and therefore deserves the distinction as the winner of the first ever International Chess Tournament. Because of this - and several games and matches he convincingly won shortly thereafter - he is clearly considered to be the first UNOFFICIAL Chess World Champion. What follows is probably his most famous game. (And one of his prettiest as well.) The Immortal Game Adolph
Anderssen (2700) - Lionel Kieseritsky (2650)
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Now White crashes through with yet another sacrifice!.
22.Qf6+!,
(Maybe - '!!')
This is more like a problem ... than a game.
22...Nxf6[];
This is forced, or Black's only legal move here.
(Other than the stupid and suicidal ...Ne7.)
23.Be7#
('!') {Diagram?}
Several noted writers, such as Mason - and also the noted chess
historian,
Franklin K. Young - called this game the most brilliant 'partie' ever
played
over a chess board. (At least, up to that particular moment in time.)
Copyright © A.J. Goldsby I, 2002.
1 - 0
(Code initially) Generated with ChessBase 8.0
An interesting blog on "The Immortal Game."
Click
HERE
to see a slightly different take on this game.
(There if you are interested, you will also find a fairly comprehensive list of
books
on A. Anderssen as well, if you are interested in finding out more about
him.)
Anderssen was widely recognized - after his victory in the London 1851 tournament - as the strongest player in Europe. (Staunton made his usual excuses, and even demanded that Anderssen face him in a match. But the German teacher was forced to return to Breslau to resume his teaching job.)
When Morphy came to Europe in the late 1850's, once more he sought out Anderssen ... as one of the strongest possible opponents he could face. But although Morphy defeated the great German, (as he did everyone else!); he disappeared from the chess scene all too quickly.
When Morphy had 'retired' to the United States, Anderssen was once again considered by many to be the strongest (active) player in the world. (He was ... "universally regarded as the strongest player in the World between 1859 and 1866," says Ms. A. Sunnucks, in her "Encyclopedia of Chess." {© 1979} Many other chess historians echo this opinion.) It was Anderssen - of course! - whom Steinitz sought out, when he wished to prove himself.
A few other things about Anderssen: He was tall, somewhat shy, and never one to brag. He was virtually well-liked by everyone. And he may have been the last Chess World Champion who was an amateur in the truest sense of the word. I recommend his games to any player who wishes to master pure tactics. (And combinations.)
A. Anderssen died on March 13th, in 1879 from a heart ailment. (Sunnucks.)
I
consider A. Anderssen to be one of the greatest natural tacticians who ever
lived.
(Only the great Mikhail Tal was truly superior in this regard.) January
01, 2006.
This concludes my article on Anderssen. - A.J. Goldsby. (October 6th, 2002.)
Click HERE to see the next article on Paul Morphy.
Click HERE
if you would like to read an article on the history
of the World Championships by GM. R. Fine.
Click here to return to my page on the best players who ever lived.
Click here to return to my home page.
(Or press the "Back" button on your web browser.)
Note: By now, (May 06, 2003); I was sure the next article in this series would have been completed. But many episodes have occurred in my life as of late. The computer crash earlier this year, (Feb.) virtually wiped out nearly all of my files that were not backed up. As of this writing, I am not sure when or how I will be able to continue this series. ------> This note is just an answer to the literally dozens of e-mails I have had inquiring when the next installment in this series would be complete. (And posted!)
This page was last updated on: Saturday, January 24, 2015 .
Copyright (©) LM A.J. Goldsby I.
Copyright (c) A.J. Goldsby, 1975 - 2014.
Copyright © A.J. Goldsby, 2015. All rights reserved.
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