Adolf Anderssen, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

Adolf Anderssen

German chess player

Date of Birth: 06-Jul-1818

Place of Birth: Wrocław, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Poland

Date of Death: 13-Mar-1879

Profession: chess composer, chess player, non-fiction writer

Nationality: German Empire

Zodiac Sign: Cancer

Karl Ernst Adolf Anderssen (July 6, 1818 – March 13, 1879) was a German chess master.
He won the great international tournaments of 1851 and 1862, but lost matches to Paul Morphy in 1858, and to Wilhelm Steinitz in 1866.
Accordingly, he is generally regarded as having been the world's leading chess player from 1851 to 1858, and leading active player from 1860 to 1866; although the title of World Chess Champion did not yet exist. In 1861, Kolisch challenged Anderssen for the world championship.
Anderssen won 5 to 4.
In 1862, Paulsen challenged Adolf for the world championship.
The match was a tie and Anderssen remained an unofficial world champion.
Anderssen became the most successful tournament player in Europe, winning over half the events he entered—including the Baden-Baden 1870 chess tournament, one of the strongest tournaments of the era.
He achieved most of these successes when he was over the age of 50. Anderssen is famous even today for his brilliant sacrificial attacking play, particularly in the "Immortal Game" (1851) and the "Evergreen Game" (1852).
He was an important figure in the development of chess problems, driving forward the transition from the "Old School" of problem composition to the elegance and complexity of modern compositions. He was also one of the most likeable of chess masters and became an "elder statesman" of the game, to whom others turned for advice or arbitration.