Chess Theory from Stamma to Steinitz, 1735-1894

A European Union official and professor of international economic law, Frank Hoffmeister was several times finalist of the German amateur chess championship. Between 2009 and 2020 he served as president of Europchess, the club of the European institutions in Brussels, and published several reviews of chess history books in the journal Schach. He lives in Kraainem, Belgium.

Table of Contents


Acknowledgments

Abbreviations Used in This Book

List of Game and Puzzle DIAGRAM Numbers

Foreword by Peter Heine Nielsen

Introduction

I. From Bertin to Del Rio (1735–1775)

A. The Time

Old Arab Puzzles and New Opening Ideas

Philidor Versus the Italian School

B. The Players

Joseph Bertin (ca. 1690–1736)

Philip Stamma (ca. 1700–1755)

Carlo Francesco Cozio (ca. 1715–ca. 1780)

­­François-André Danican Philidor (1726–1795)

Giambattista Lolli (1698–1769), Domenico Pon­ziani (1719–1795) and Ercole del Rio (1718–1802)

C. The Legacy

II. From Allgaier to McDonnell (1775–1835)

A. The Time

The French Amateurs and Their Traité

Elias Stein (1748–1812) and His Nouvel Essai

Philip Julius Count van Zuylen van Nijevelt (1743–1826) and His Superiorité aux Echecs

The Chess Automaton

Clément Felix Brossier Montigny (1786–1840) and His Stratagèmes des Echecs

Jacob Henry Sarratt (ca. 1772–1819) and His Treatise

Alexandre Louis Honoré Lebreton Deschappelles (1780–1846) and His 1821 Matches

John Cochrane (1798–1878) and His Treatise on the Game of Chess

The Friendly Match Between Lewis and La Bourdonnais

The 1834 Match Between La Bourdonnais and McDonnell in London

B. The Players

Johann Baptist Allgaier (1763–1823)

William Lewis (1787–1870)

Louis Charles Mahé de La Bourdonnais (1797–1840)

Alexander McDonnell (1798–1835)

C. The Legacy

III. From Petroff to Staunton (1835–1850)

A. The Time

The Unsuccesful Challenge from Deschapelles to England 1836

Aaron Alexandre (1766–1850) and His Encyclopedia

George Walker (1809–1879) and His New Treatise on Chess

The 1843 Match Between ­­Saint-Amant and Staunton in Paris

Lionel Adalbert Bagration Felix Kieseritzky (1806–1853) and His Gambit

The Development of Chess in Italy

The Development of Chess in Germany

The Development of Chess in the Austrian Empire

The Development of Chess in Russia

B. The Players

Alexander Dmitrievich Petroff (1794–1867) and Carl Ferdinand von Jaenisch (1813–1872)

Tassilo von Heydebrand und der Lasa (1818–1890)

Pierre Charles Fournier de ­­Saint-Amant (1800–1872)

Howard Staunton (1810–1874)

C. The Legacy

IV. From Anderssen to Morphy (1851–1859)

A. The Time

London 1851

The Chess Studies from Josef Kling (1811–1876) and Bernhard Horwitz (1807–1885)

The First Indian Openings

The 1853 Match Between Löwenthal and Harrwitz in London

Max Lange (1832–1899) and His Attack

Manchester 1857

New York 1857

The 1858 Match Between Löwenthal and Morphy in London

John Owen (1827–1901) and His Defense

Birmingham 1858

The 1858 Match Between Morphy and Harrwitz in Paris

The ­­1858-1859 Match Between Morphy and Anderssen in Paris

B. The Players

Karl Ernst Adolf Anderssen (1818–1879)

Daniel Harrwitz (1821–1884)

Johann Jacob Löwenthal (1806–1874)

Paul Charles Morphy (1834–1884)

C. The Legacy

V. From Paulsen to Neumann (1860–1871)

A. The Time

The 1860 Match Between Kolisch and Anderssen in Paris

The 1861 Match Between Kolisch and Anderssen in London

Bristol 1861

The 1861 Match Between Kolisch and Paulsen in London

London 1862

Serafino Dubois (1817–1899) and His Defense of Italian Chess Rules

The 1862 Match Between Paulsen and Anderssen in London

Jean Louis Préti (1798–1881) and His Stratégie Raisonnée des Ouvertures

Robert Bownas Wormald (1834–1876) and His Chess Openings

The 1866 Match Between Anderssen and Steinitz in London

Paris 1867

Dundee 1867

­­Baden-Baden 1870

B. The Players

Louis Paulsen (1833–1891)

Ignaz Kolisch (1833–1889)

Gustav Richard Ludwig Neumann (1838–1881)

C. The Legacy

VI. From Rosenthal to Zukertort (1872–1885)

A. The Time

London 1872

The 1872 Match Between Steinitz and Zukertort in London

Vienna 1873

William Cook (1850–1917) and His Synopsis of Chess Openings

The 1876 Match Between Steinitz and Blackburne in London

Leipzig 1877

Paris 1878

The 1880 Match Between Zukertort and Rosenthal in London

Wiesbaden 1880

The 1881 Match Between Zukertort and Blackburne in London

Berlin 1881

Vienna 1882

London 1883

Nuremburg 1883

Hamburg 1885

Horatio Caro (1862–1920) and His Defense

Carlo Salvioli (1848–1930) and His Teoria e Pratica degli Scacchi

B. The Players

Samuel Rosenthal (1837–1902)

Szymon Abramowicz Winawer (1838–1919)

Joseph Henry Blackburne (1841–1924)

Johannes Zukertort (1842–1888)

C. The Legacy

VII. From Steinitz to Chigorin (1886–1894)

A. The Time

The 1886 World Championship Match Between Steinitz and Zukertort in the United States

London 1886

George Henry Mackenzie (1837–1891) and His Triumph at Frankfurt 1887

The 1889 World Championship Match Between Steinitz and Chigorin in Havana

New York 1889

Breslau 1889

Amsterdam 1889

The Chess Openings Ancient and Modern from Edward Freeborough (1830–1896) and Charles Ranken (1828–1905)

Johann Nepomuk Berger (1845–1933) and His Theorie and Praxis der Endspiele

The 1890 Match Between Chigorin and Gunsberg in Havana

Manchester 1890

The ­­1890-1891 World Championship Match Between Steinitz and Gunsberg in New York

The 1892 World Championship Match Between Steinitz and Chigorin in Havana

The 1892 Match Between Blackburne and Lasker in London

Dresden 1892

The 1893 Match Between Tarrasch and Chigorin in St. Petersburg

Curt von Bardeleben (1861–1924) and His Wiener Partie

The 1894 World Championship Match Between Steinitz and Lasker in the United States

James Mason (1849–1905) and His Principles of Chess

Henry Edward Bird (1829–1908) and His Chess Novelties

B. The Players

Wilhelm Steinitz (1836–1900)

Isidor Arthur Gunsberg (1854–1930)

Amos Burn (1848–1925)

Mikhail Ivanovich Chigorin (1850–1908)

C. The Legacy

VIII. Conclusion

Theory and Practice

Openings

Middlegame

Endings

Blindfold Chess, Chess Composition and Odds Games

Chess Personalities

Presentation of Chess Games

Chess Nations

Appendices:

 1: Overlap of Puzzles Between Bertin, Stamma, Cozio and Lolli

 2: Overlap of Puzzles Between Montigny and Others

 3: Overlap of Puzzles Between Allgaier’s Neue theoretische Anweisung and Others

 4: Overlap of Puzzles Between La Bourdonnais and Others

 5: Overlap of La Bourdonnais’ Nouveau Traité with Montigny’s Cleveland Manuscripts

 6: Overlap of Endings Between La Bourdonnais’ Nouveau Traité, Philidor’s Analyse and the Traité des Amateurs

 7: Overlap of Puzzles Between Petroff and Others

 8: Milestones of Algebraic Notation in the 19th century

 9: The Use of First Names and the Spelling of Family Names

Bibliography

Openings Index (to Diagram Numbers)

General Index (to Page Numbers)