Lionel Kieseritzky

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Lionel Kieseritzky (19th century)

Lionel Adalbert Bagration Felix Kieseritzky (* December 20, 1805 July / January 1,  1806 greg. In Dorpat , Livonia Governorate ( Russian Empire ); † May 18, 1853 in Paris ) was a Baltic German chess player . In 1839 he left Russia and since then has worked as a professional chess player in Paris.

biography

Kieseritzky was the youngest of the fourteen children of the lawyer Otto Wilhelm Kieseritzky (1755-1814) and his wife Catharina Felicitas, née von Hoffmann (1765-1837). From 1825 to 1829 Kieseritzky studied philology and law at the Imperial University of his hometown, but later turned to mathematics, as his talent there showed itself at an early age. He was a sought-after and popular math teacher in Dorpat.

As a chess player he soon surpassed his Baltic compatriots, and Livonia no longer offered him any development opportunities in this area. The reason for his emigration, which took place in 1839, was in a different area. Kieseritzky conducted an insulting process that was unexplained in detail. Although he won the lawsuit, he feared a resurgence and decided to leave his home country. He settled in Paris at the age of thirty and lived there until his untimely death at the age of only 47.

Chess activity

In Paris he became known as a professional player who was regularly to be found in the famous Café de la Régence . Soon Kieseritzky was a leading French master. He finally took part in the international chess tournament in London in 1851 , where the best European chess players competed against each other for the first time.

Kieseritzky was an excellent combination player and representative of the so-called romantic chess epoch. The Kieseritzky Gambit is named after him, a main variant of the Königsspringer Gambit , which follows the moves 1. е2-е4 е7-е5 2. f2 – f4 e5xf4 3. Ng1 – f3 g7 – g5 4. h2 – h4 g5 – g4 5. Nf3 – e5 emerges. He went down in chess history primarily through the " Immortal Game ", a game he played against Adolf Anderssen in London in 1851 . It only lasted an hour, and Kieseritzky lost it after 23 moves. But through his play he contributed to one of the most beautiful mate and sacrifice combinations that has ever occurred in a game of chess. The "immortal" sets standards for aesthetics and beauty in chess. However, Kieseritzky won the competition in which this game was played with 9: 6 (+8 = 2 −5).

Sometimes portrayed as headstrong or eccentric, at times he advocated a three-dimensional chess variant . A “room chess” constructed by him , however, met with rejection from students and master colleagues, as a report by Anderssen suggests.

Kieseritzky's best historical rating was 2734, which he achieved in early 1851.

Well-known games

literature

  • Tomasz Lissowski, Bartłomiej Macieja: Zagadka Kieseritzkiego. [Kieseritzky's riddle], Warsaw 1996.
  • Gerald Schendel: Lionel Kieseritzky (1806-1853). ChessBase Magazine No. 85 (December 2001), pp. 21–26.
  • Mario Ziegler: The chess tournament London 1851. ChessCoach, St. Ingbert 2013. ISBN 978-3-944158-00-6 , pp. 78–87.

Web links
personal data
SURNAME Kieseritzky, Lionel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kieseritzky, Lionel Adalbert Bagration Felix (full name)
SHORT DESCRIPTION German-Baltic chess player
DATE OF BIRTH January 1, 1806
PLACE OF BIRTH Dorpat
DATE OF DEATH May 18, 1853
PLACE OF DEATH Paris