Ignaz von Kolisch

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Kolisch.JPG
Ignaz von Kolisch
Association Austria CisleithanienCisleithania Empire of Austria
Born April 6, 1837
Pressburg , Kingdom of Hungary
Died April 30, 1889
Vienna
Best Elo rating 2755 (August 1867) ( historical rating )

Baron Ignaz von Kolisch , sometimes Ignatz von Kolisch (born April 6, 1837 in Pressburg , † April 30, 1889 in Vienna ) was an Austro-Hungarian banker and chess master .

Life

Before Kolisch made a fortune on the stock exchange and became a baron , he was known to the chess world as a professional player and journalist . Kolisch came from a modest background. As a 17-year-old, he played successfully with Ernst Falkbeer in the Vienna Silver Coffee House in Plankengasse . At the same time he wrote chess sections for various Viennese newspapers under the pseudonym "Ideka".

In Paris in 1867 he won one of the strongest international chess tournaments of the 19th century. After this high point in his chess career, Kolisch no longer played tournament chess, although he often appeared as a patron of the royal game. He was himself an honorary member of the Vienna Chess Society , on the organizing committee and also one of the main sponsors of the 2nd International Chess Masters Tournament in Vienna in 1882. The lawyer Jules Grévy , later French President , and the multimillionaire Albert Rothschild became his friends through the game of chess . Baron Rothschild, who decisively promoted Kolisch's career in the financial world, was president and patron of the Vienna Chess Society from 1872.

Grave of Ignaz von Kolisch in the Vienna Central Cemetery

Speculation on the Paris stock exchange had made him a rich man. After the Duke of Sachsen-Meiningen had honored him with the title of Baron in 1881 , Kolisch moved to Vienna, where he owned the Wiener Allgemeine Zeitung (until 1888), among other things .

He died of kidney disease in 1889 and found his final resting place in the old Israelite section of the Vienna Central Cemetery . Kolisch is the hero of the novella Chachbaron by Ferenc Móra .

Chess career

His international chess career began in Paris in 1859 , when he overtook the champion of the Café de la Régence , Daniel Harrwitz , whereupon the latter moved to London . At Easter 1860 Kolisch played eleven games against Adolf Anderssen in Paris , each of which won five and ended in a draw . In the same year he traveled to England , where he won 10: 1 (+10, −1) against Thomas Wilson Barnes in London and 3: 1 (+3, −1) against Bernhard Horwitz in Manchester .

The American champion, who had already withdrawn from chess, turned down two invitations to Paul Morphy . In 1861 Kolisch played two matches in London against Adolf Anderssen and Louis Paulsen . He was only marginally defeated by both: Anderssen with 4: 5 (+3 = 2 −4), Paulsen with 15:16 (+6 = 18 −7). In 1862 Kolisch went to Saint Petersburg , where he met the Russian chess masters Carl Ferdinand Jänisch , Ilja Schumow and Sergei Urussow . He defeated Schumow 6: 2 (+6, −2) and played 2: 2 (+2, −2) against Urussow.

From 1864 he lived in Paris again. That year he played an easy match against the Prussian champion Philipp Hirschfeld 4: 4 in the French capital and defeated the Polish émigré Samuel Rosenthal 7: 1.

He celebrated his greatest triumph in 1867, at the international tournament on the occasion of the World Exhibition in Paris. In a very strong tournament, Kolisch prevailed against players like Wilhelm Steinitz , Szymon Winawer and Gustav Neumann and achieved the sole first place. As a prize he received 500  francs in cash and a Sèvres vase worth 5000 francs, made by Emperor Napoleon III. was donated.

According to Chessmetrics , it was number one in the world from July 1867 to November 1868. He was also the best player in the world in 1866 and 1867 according to "Edo Historical Chess Ratings".

The following saying has come down to us from the Hungarian master player Isidor Gunsberg : “In sixty years I have only seen one chess player who has made money out of the game of chess and has kept it. The man was Kolisch. "

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Árpád Vajda , in Magyar Sakkélet , 1954, no.10 .

Web links

Commons : Ignaz von Kolisch  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Kolisch, Ignaz von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Baron von Kolisch, Ignaz Kolisch, Ideka
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austro-Hungarian chess player and banker
DATE OF BIRTH April 6, 1837
PLACE OF BIRTH Pressburg
DATE OF DEATH April 30, 1889
Place of death Vienna