Adolf Anderssen

Adolf Anderssen (1818-1879), German chess player, who for several years was considered the strongest player in the world. Anderssen’s playing style involved the use of all the pieces in creative and aggressive attacks.

Karl Ernst Adolf Anderssen lived most of his life in the city of his birth, Breslau, Prussia (now Wrocław, Poland). Anderssen began to play chess as a boy. His first important contribution to the game came as a composer of problems, or puzzles based on the rules that govern the movement of individual pieces. While teaching mathematics at the Friedrichs Gymnasium, Anderssen worked on his book Aufgaben für Schachspieler (Exercises for Chess Players). Published in 1842, the work contained 60 chess problems.

In 1848 Anderssen played Daniel Harrwitz, a Breslau native with the title of grandmaster. Although the match ended in a 5-5 draw, Anderssen gained confidence in his playing ability. When the first major international chess tournament was held in London, England, in 1851, Anderssen surprised the chess world by prevailing over a strong field of players. After this tournament he was considered by most to be the best player in the world. In 1858, however, Anderssen lost an 11-game series in Paris, France, to American Paul Morphy, who briefly held the unofficial world championship.

After his loss to Morphy, Anderssen began to take his game more seriously. He regained his former position by winning the second international tournament in London in 1862 and won the international tournament in Baden-Baden, Germany, in 1870. Anderssen was well liked by many of his opponents and remained among the top players in the world until his death. His achievements in chess are all the more remarkable considering his dedication to a lifelong teaching career, which focused on the study of mathematics and the German language.