Jacob Henry Sarratt

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Jacob Henry Sarratt (* circa 1772 ; † November 6, 1819, probably in London ) was a British chess player and author. He was considered a leading English master for a decade and a half and also emerged as the author of authoritative chess works .

biography

Sarratt originally worked as a school teacher. He became known for his outstanding position in the London chess scene. In 1804, Verdoni , Sarratt's chess mentor and successor to François-André Danican Philidor, died as a professional player at the London Chess Club. From then on, Sarratt was considered the strongest English master. For years he took the position of professional player in the “Salopian Coffee House” in Charing Cross , where the older of the two London chess clubs was founded in 1770.

The actual skill level of Sarratt is uncertain as only a few games have been preserved from him. Even more than through his practical game, Sarratt worked as a book author and chess teacher ("Professor of Chess"). His best student was William Lewis , who later continued and expanded Sarratt's chess line of activity.

Sarratt was married to the singer and writer Elizabeth Camilla Dufour in second marriage. Like his late first wife, she came from the island of Jersey .

In 1819 Sarratt, who last lived in poor conditions, succumbed to a prolonged illness. His widow moved to Paris, where she worked as a chess teacher. Following an appeal published in the chess magazine Le Palamède , she received financial support in the last years of her life; she died in the French capital in 1846.

Chess author and teacher

Sarratt's decision to publish several classical chess works of the early modern period contributed to his work as a chess teacher. This affected the writings of Damiano , Ruy Lopez , Alessandro Salvio , Horatio Gianutio and Gustavus Selenus . These editions, which were somewhat superficially edited and also only contained partial translations, earned the editor some criticism from contemporaries. In any case, Sarratt made the long out of print publications accessible again. With his fondness for the combination game of the older masters, he strove to gradually overcome the frozen positional school of the Philidor era.

Sarratt's further importance is primarily associated with his demanding textbook A Treatise on the Game of Chess , published in 1808 , with which a sustained upswing in chess literature began. In 1821 a thoroughly revised new edition came out posthumously , on which Sarratt's pupil and successor Lewis had already contributed (further editions appeared until 1828).

Sarratt's main work was the first systematic chess textbook. The greatest attention was paid to the openings , the division of which into "attacking" and "defending" lines was later not accepted. Among the openings dealt with in the New Treatise , above all Sarratt's detailed study of the Muzio Gambit received a lot of attention.

Finally, Sarratt made an important contribution to the standardization of the rules of chess. He criticized the common practice in London at the time, according to which a stalemate was not considered a draw but a victory for the stalemated party. Soon afterwards, British chess players joined the internationally prevailing rule.

The beginning of the game, created by the moves 1. d2 – d4 d7 – d5 2. Bc1 – f4, is also referred to as the “Sarratt opening” ( Sarratt attack ), going back to a game by Sarratt .

Works

Remarks

  1. ↑ David Hooper and Kenneth Whyld : The Oxford Companion to Chess . Oxford 1992, p. 354
  2. ↑ Ibid .; for the date of death, see obituary in The Gentleman's Magazine , 1819, p. 477
  3. ↑ See Le Palamède , 1846, p. 569
  4. ^ Anton Schmid : (tschaturangavidjâ.) Literatur des Schachspiels , Vienna 1847, p. 305ff.
  5. ^ JH Sarratt: A Treatise on the Game of Chess (1808), vol. 1, p. 9f.

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personal data
SURNAME Sarratt, Jacob Henry
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English chess player and author
DATE OF BIRTH 1772
DATE OF DEATH November 6, 1819