.jpg) Zukertort, early 1880s | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Johannes Hermann Zukertort (1842-09-07)7 September 1842 |
| Died | 20 June 1888(1888-06-20) (aged 45) London, England |
| Chess career | |
| Country | German Empire(before 1878) United Kingdom(after 1878) |
Johannes Hermann Zukertort (Polish:Jan Hermann Cukiertort;[1] 7 September 1842 – 20 June 1888) was a Polish-born British-Germanchess master. He was one of the leading world players for most of the 1870s and 1880s, but lost toWilhelm Steinitz in theWorld Chess Championship 1886, which is generally regarded as the firstWorld Chess Championship match. He was also defeated by Steinitz in 1872 in an unofficial championship.
Zukertort filled his relatively short life with a wide range of other achievements as a soldier, musician, linguist, journalist and political activist.
Zukertort was born on 7 September 1842 inLublin,Congress Poland,Russian Empire as Jan Hermann Cukiertort. He said that his mother was the Baroness Krzyżanowska (Krzyzanovska).[2] His parents were Polish Jews who converted toProtestant Christianity and missionized for the London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews.[3][4] Because the Christian Protestant mission among the Jewish population in Russian-occupied Poland was considered illegal and heretical[citation needed], the Zukertort family emigrated toPrussia. He was educated at the gymnasium ofBreslau (now Wrocław), and in 1866 at theUniversity of Breslau, from which he graduated in medicine in 1866. As a member of the medical corps of the Prussian army he saw service in 1866 during theAustro-Prussian War, and again during theFranco-Prussian War of 1870–1871.
Zukertort is widely suspected to have embellished his biography.[citation needed] In an account of his life for theEastern Daily Press in 1872 many claims were made on his behalf: aristocratic descent, fluency in nine languages (fourteen, according to other sources), and proficiency in swordsmanship,dominoes, andwhist; it was also stated that he had played 6,000 games of chess withAdolf Anderssen, fought in numerous battles, and was awarded theOrder of the Red Eagle, the Iron Cross of theGerman Army, and seven other medals. He also found time to get anM.D. atBreslau in 1865, and work on the staff of theAllgemeine Zeitung –Otto von Bismarck's private organ – in addition to writing two chess books and working as the editor of a chess magazine for several years.The Oxford Companion to Chess comments, "There is some truth in the last sentence: He was co-author of the books [and] co-editor of the chess magazine."[5]
In an age where the majority of players played exclusively1.e4, Zukertort was an occasional early experimenter with openings such as1.Nf3 and1.c4.
In his prime Zukertort also excelled atblindfold chess. In 1876, he played sixteen games simultaneously while blindfolded, winning eleven, drawing four, and losing only one.
Zukertort learned to play chess inBreslau when he was about age 19. Entering a tournament in that city, and receiving theodds of the queen, he lost every game, whereupon he took up the study of Bilguer'sHandbuch,[citation needed] with the result that in 1862 he won games from the leading German chess playerAdolf Anderssen at the odds of a knight. Zukertort studied with Anderssen, and within only a few years he became one of the strongest players in Germany.
Among many other notable matches that Zukertort played with Anderssen, he defeated him in 1866, lost in 1868 by a score of eight wins, three losses, onedraw, and finally defeated him convincingly (5–2; no draws) in a match in 1871.[6] In 1867 he moved toBerlin and in 1872 to London. In that year, he playedWilhelm Steinitz in London, losing 9–3 (7 losses, 1 win, 4 draws).[6]
Although Zukertort lost both his matches against Steinitz, he proved that he was superior to other opponents throughout the late 1870s and early 1880s.[7] During this period top-class tournaments were rare[8] and Zukertort's best performances were mostly in matches, notably against Anderssen in 1871 andJoseph Henry Blackburne in 1881 (6 wins, 2 losses, 5 draws).[7][9] Nonetheless Zukertort was one of the most successful tournament players of his time: third place behind Steinitz and Blackburne at London, 1872; first place atCologne, and second atLeipzig in 1877; tied for first withSimon Winawer at theParis 1878 chess tournament and beat Winawer in the playoff; second atBerlin in 1881, behind Blackburne; tied for fourth atVienna in 1882; first at London in 1883, 3 points ahead of Steinitz. The 1878 win in Paris led to some suggestion that Zukertort was the world's leading player, although Steinitz did not compete.[11]
Zukertort's win in theLondon 1883 chess tournament was his most significant success: He won his games against most of the world's leading players, scoring 22/26, and he finished 3 points ahead of Steinitz, who was second with 19/26.[12] This tournament established that Steinitz and Zukertort were clearly the best two players in the world, and led to theWorld Chess Championship match between these two.[13]
The1886 World Chess Championship match lasted from 11 January to 29 March 1886. After building up a 4–1 lead Zukertort wilted, lost four of the last five games, and lost the match by 12½–7½.[14]
After his 1886 defeat, Zukertort's health suffered and he was a greatly weakened player for the remaining two years of his life. Diagnoses of his ailments includerheumatism,coronary heart disease,kidney problems, andarteriosclerosis. His results after the 1886 match declined steeply: Seventh at London, and third atNottingham in 1886; fifteenth at Frankfurt, and fourth at London in 1887; lost a match in 1887 against Blackburne (1 win, 5 losses, and 8 draws); and seventh at London in 1888.[14][15]
Poor health and lack of physical stamina appeared to be one of Zukertort's two long-term weaknesses: Some commentators attributed to illness the severity of his defeat in the 1872 match against Steinitz;[10] aside from the tournaments mentioned above, in the 1883 London tournament he won 22 of his first 23 games – enough to give him an uncatchable lead – but lost his last 3 games.
His other weakness was that, while no one had greater attacking flair, Zukertort never approached Steinitz' understanding of positional play, and Steinitz often outmaneuvered him fairly simply.[8]
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Zukertort died on 20 June 1888, in London, from acerebral haemorrhage after playing a game in a tournament atSimpson's Divan, which he was leading at the time. He is buried inBrompton Cemetery, London.[16]
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906)."Zukertort, Johannes Hermann".The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)| International | |
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