Meet the Legends: Adolf Anderssen

Full Name: Adolf Anderssen

Years Active: 1827 to 1879

Federation: Germany

Player Description:

A World Champion before the World Championship was introduced in Chess, Adolf Anderssen was a prodigy in the sport long before it gained popularity. Anderssen was the leading player in the World from 1851 to 1858 and then again from 1860 to 1866. Anderssen is best known for his “Immortal Game” and “Evergreen Game” Masterpieces. 

Discussing his early career, Adolf began his journey in the sport at the tender age of 9.  He learned the art of Chess from his father, but it was not until later that he pursued the sport. Along with Pursuing Chess, Anderssen studied Philosophy and Mathematics at School and eventually became a professor of mathematics. While attending a University, he started composing Chess problems, and by 1942, Anderssen had composed 60 Chess problems. 

His Chess career started because of his compositions and in 1848, he drew a match against Daniel Harrwitz. It was because of his performance in this match that Anderssen was asked to represent Germany in the first International tournament in 1851 in London. The tournament was historical for a couple of reasons - it was the first International tournament and there were many great players participating in it. To the surprise of many, Anderssen won the tournament ahead of the World’s Best, including Howard Staunton. The tournament was played in the knockout format, and Anderssen won it by beating Lionel Kieseritzky, József Szén, Staunton, and Marmaduke Wyvill.

A month after the International tournament, the London Chess Club organized a tournament in which Anderssen won convincingly yet again. After this, he was considered the leading player in the World.

In 1852, Anderssen’s famous “Evergreen Game” was played. This masterpiece starts with the Evans’ Gambit and develops regularly until Anderssen sacrifices a knight on Move 17, his other knight on Move 19, and then his rook on Move 20. These sacrifices set the stage for an epic Queen sacrifice on Move 20, which forces a checkmate. 

In 1858, Anderssen faced Paul Morphy, and a lot of eyes were on that match as Morphy had already beaten many masters on his European tour, while Anderssen was the leading player in the World. The match, though, was lopsided as Morphy dominated Anderssen. Morphy won the match with a score of 8-3. 

Anderssen played against Ignac Kolisch in 1860 and drew before a rematch was played in 1861, which Anderssen won, making him the leading active player in the World. In 1862, another tournament was held in London. The tournament had 14 masters which included many legends. Anderssen was the favorite to win, and he did not disappoint winning the tournament quite comfortably. In 1866, Anderssen lost to Steinitz in a close match and was the leading player in the world. 

After losing in 1858 and 1866, Anderssen rededicated himself to Chess and his results between 1866 to 1878 proved it. He won five of the nine major tournaments he played in. In the four tournaments that he did not win, he finished second twice and third twice. He won the historic 1870 Baden-Baden tournament. Anderssen passed away in 1879 at the age of 60 and will always be fondly remembered for winning the first International tournament.

Tournaments Won:

• London International Tournament 1851

• London Chess Club Tournament 1851

• London International Tournament 1862

• Aachen 1868 (Tied for first place)

• Barmen 1869

• Baden-Baden International Tournament 1870

• Krefeld 1871 (Tied for first place)

• Leipzig 1871 (Tied for first place)

• Altona 1872

• Leipzig 1876 (Tied for first place)

Memorable Game

Adolf Anderssen vs Jean Dufresne: This game was known for Anderssen’s Famous “Evergreen Game”. This started with the Evans’ Gambit, and it develops regularly until Anderssen sacrificed his first knight on Move 17, his other Knight on Move 19, and then his Rook on Move 20. These sacrifices set the stage for a memorable Queen sacrifice on Move 21 that forced Checkmate.