11/23/22, 12:14 AM Johannes Zukertort - Wikipedia

Johannes Zukertort
Johannes Hermann Zukertort (Polish: Jan Hermann Cukiertort;[1] 7 September 1842 – 20
Johannes Zukertort
June 1888) was a Polish chess master. He was one of the leading world players for most of the 1870s
and 1880s, but lost to Wilhelm Steinitz in the World Chess Championship 1886, which is generally
regarded as the first World Chess Championship match. He was also defeated by Steinitz in 1872 in
an unofficial championship.

Zukertort filled his relatively short life with a wide range of other achievements as a soldier,
musician, linguist, journalist and political activist.

Contents
Early life and non-chess achievements
Chess career
Style of play
Learning chess
Late 1870s–early 1880s
Decline and death
Zukertort, early 1880s
Notable games
Full name Johannes Hermann
See also
Zukertort
References
Country German Empire (before
Further reading 1878)

External links United Kingdom (after

1878)

Early life and non-chess achievements Born 7 September 1842

Lublin, Congress
Poland, Russian Empire

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Zukertort was born on 7  September 1842 in Lublin, Congress Poland, Russian Empire as Jan Died 20 June 1888 (aged 45)

Hermann Cukiertort. He said that his mother was the Baroness Krzyżanowska (Krzyzanovska).[2] London, England
His father was a Protestant Christian missionary of Polish descent. [3] Because the Christian
Protestant mission among the Jewish population in Russian-occupied Poland was considered illegal and heretical, the Zukertort family
emigrated to Prussia. He was educated at the gymnasium of Breslau, and in 1866 at the University of Breslau, from which he graduated
in medicine in 1866. As a member of the medical corps of the Prussian army he saw service in 1866 during the Austro-Prussian war, and
again during the Franco-Prussian war of 1870–1871.

Zukertort is widely suspected to have embellished his biography. In an account of his life for the Eastern Daily Press in 1872 many
claims were made on his behalf: Aristocratic descent, fluency in nine languages (fourteen, according to other sources), and proficiency
in swordsmanship, dominoes, and whist; it was also stated that he had played 6,000 games of chess with Adolf Anderssen, fought in
numerous battles, and was awarded the Order of the Red Eagle, the Iron Cross of the German Army, and seven other medals. He also
found time to get an M.D. at Breslau in 1865, and work on the staff of the Allgemeine Zeitung – Otto von Bismarck's private organ – in
addition to writing two chess books and working as the editor of a chess magazine for several years. The Oxford Companion to Chess
comments, "There is some truth in the last sentence: He was co-author of the books [and] co-editor of the chess magazine."[4]

Chess career

Style of play

Unlike the majority of attacking players, Zukertort preferred openings such as 1. c4 and 1. Nf3 that are closed or semi-closed and offered
the possibility of transpositions – in fact in the early 1880s 1. Nf3 was known as "Zukertort's Opening", 40 years before it became known
as the Réti Opening.[5][6]

In his prime Zukertort also excelled at blindfold chess. In 1876, he played sixteen games simultaneously while blindfolded, winning
eleven, drawing four, and losing only one.

Learning chess

Zukertort learned to play chess in Breslau when he was about age 19. Entering a tournament in that city, and receiving the odds of the
queen, he lost every game, whereupon he took up the study of Bilguer's Handbuch, with the result that in 1862 he won games from the
leading German chess player Adolf Anderssen at the odds of a knight. Zukertort studied with Anderssen and within a very few years he
became one of the strongest players in Germany.

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Among many other notable matches that Zukertort played with Anderssen, he defeated him in 1866, lost in 1868 by a score of eight
wins, three losses, one draw, and finally defeated him convincingly (5–2; no draws) in a match in 1871.[7] In 1867 he moved to Berlin
and in 1872 to London. In that year, he played Wilhelm Steinitz in London, losing 9–3 (7 losses, 1 win, 4 draws).[7]

Late 1870s–early 1880s

Although Zukertort lost both his matches against Steinitz, he proved that he was superior to other opponents throughout the late 1870s
and early 1880s.[8] During this period top-class tournaments were rare[5] and Zukertort's best performances were mostly in matches,
notably against Anderssen in 1871 and Joseph Henry Blackburne in 1881 (6 wins, 2 losses, 5 draws).[8][9] Nonetheless Zukertort was
one of the most successful tournament players of his time: third place behind Steinitz and Blackburne at London, 1872; first place at
Cologne, and second at Leipzig in 1877; tied for first with Simon Winawer at the Paris 1878 chess tournament and beat Winawer in the
playoff; second at Berlin in 1881, behind Blackburne; tied for fourth at Vienna in 1882; first at London in 1883, 3  points ahead of
Steinitz. The 1878 win in Paris led to some suggestion that Zukertort was the world's leading player, although Steinitz did not
compete.[11]

Zukertort's win in the London 1883 chess tournament was his most significant success: He won his games against most of the world's
leading players, scoring 22/26, and he finished 3 points ahead of Steinitz, who was second with 19/26.[12] This tournament established
that Steinitz and Zukertort were clearly the best two players in the world, and led to the World Chess Championship match between
these two.[13]

The 1886 World Chess Championship match lasted from 11 January to 29 March 1886. After building up a 4–1 lead Zukertort wilted,
lost four of the last five games, and lost the match by 12½–7½.[14]

Decline and death

After his 1886 defeat, Zukertort's health suffered and he was a greatly weakened player for the remaining two years of his life. Diagnoses
of his ailments include rheumatism, coronary heart disease, kidney problems, and arteriosclerosis. His results after the 1886 match
declined steeply: Seventh at London, and third at Nottingham in 1886; fifteenth at Frankfurt, and fourth at London in 1887; lost a
match in 1887 against Blackburne (1 win, 5 losses, and 8 draws); and seventh at London in 1888.[14][15]

Poor health and lack of physical stamina appeared to be one of Zukertort's two long-term weaknesses: Some commentators attributed to
illness the severity of his defeat in the 1872 match against Steinitz;[10] aside from the tournaments mentioned above, in the 1883
London tournament he won 22 of his first 23 games – enough to give him an uncatchable lead – but lost his last 3 games.

His other weakness was that, while no one had greater attacking flair, Zukertort never approached Steinitz' understanding of positional
play, and Steinitz often outmaneuvered him fairly simply.[5]

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Zukertort died on 20 June 1888, in London, from a cerebral haemorrhage after playing a game in a
tournament at Simpson's Divan, which he was leading at the time. He is buried in Brompton
Cemetery, London.

Notable games
Zukertort vs. NN, Leipzig, 1877, Vienna Game: Vienna Gambit (C26), 1–0 (http://www.chessgam
es.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1152032) White sacrifices the queen and hunts the black king to
death. In the final position, 17.Bf4 mate is unavoidable.
Mikhail Chigorin vs. Zukertort, Tnmt, London 1883, Spanish Game: Berlin Defense. Rio de
Janeiro Variation (C67), 0–1 (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1001802) Two
strong central pawns against the white king.
Zukertort vs. Joseph Henry Blackburne, London, 1883 (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessg Rededicated grave of Zukertort, in
ame?gid=1001854) Zukertort sacrifices his queen but Blackburne cannot accept, Zukertort Brompton Cemetery
sacrifices a rook which Blackburne declines, soon Zukertort forces Blackburne to take the rook
and resign three moves later. Steinitz described this as "one of the most brilliant games on
record".[16] a b c d e f g h
8 8

See also 7 7

6 6
Tennison Gambit, also known as the Zukertort Gambit.
5 5
List of Jewish chess players
4 4

References 3 3

2 2
1. "Magazyn Szachista" nr 7/2010, page 3
1 1
2. "[no title cited]" (https://web.archive.org/web/20091026154914/http://www.geocities.com/silico
a b c d e f g h
nvalley/lab/7378/relative.htm). geocities.com. Archived from the original (http://www.geocitie
s.com/SiliconValley/Lab/7378/relative.htm) on 26 October 2009 – via webcitation.org. – link Zukertort-Blackburne, 1883.
Zukertort (white) here played 28
presumed dead, because original ref was a bare link to an archive.
Qb4!! and the queen cannot be
3. "Jews in Poland" (http://www.ceeol.com/aspx/getdocument.aspx?logid=5&id=F80C59BA-AD taken, due to: 28...Qxb4 29
9E-411E-92E1-3D904FD43598). ceeol.com. Bxe5+ Kxh7 30 Rh3+ and mate
soon follows.
4. The Oxford Companion to Chess. Oxford University Press. 1984. pp. 387–388. ISBN 0-19-
{{{2}}}
217540-8.
5. Fine, R. (1952). The World's Great Chess Games. Andre Deutsch (now as paperback from
Dover).

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6. Soltis, A. (2007). Transpo Tricks in Chess. Batsford. ISBN 978-0-7134-9051-0. See review at

"Transpo Tricks in Chess" (https://web.archive.org/web/20080418115252/http://www.chessvill
e.com/reviews/TranspoTricks.htm). chessville.com (book review). Archived from the original
(http://www.chessville.com/reviews/TranspoTricks.htm) on 18 April 2008.
7. "Chess Matches: from Lopez to Kramnik" (https://archive.today/20121209031335/http://www.
endgame.nl/match.htm). Archived from the original (http://www.endgame.nl/match.htm) on 9
December 2012.
8. "Chessmetrics Player Profile: Johannes Zukertort" (http://chessmetrics.com/cm/CM2/PlayerP
rofile.asp?Params=199510SSSSS3S147051000000111000000000036010100).
9. "The Blackburne–Zukertort Match, London 1881" (http://www.chessarch.com/excavations/00
10_bla_zuk/1881blzu.shtml).
10. Winter, Edward. "Early Uses of 'World Chess Champion' " (http://www.chesshistory.com/winte
r/extra/champion.html). ChessHistory.
11. "We may mention that since Mr. Morphy gave up playing public chess, and since
Herr Steinitz refused to engage in tournaments, Herr Zukertort is entitled to the rank of chess
champion of the world, having taken first prize at the Paris tourney last year." — Irish Times
(6 March 1879) cited by Winter on ChessHistory.com .[10]
12. Mark Weeks' Chess Pages: "1883 London Tournament" (http://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/
y3lon-ix.htm).
13. "The Centenary Match, Kasparov–Karpov III", Raymond Keene and David Goodman,
Batsford 1986, p.9
14. "World Chess Championship: 1886 Steinitz–Zukertort Title Match" (http://www.mark-weeks.c
om/chess/y6sz$wix.htm).
15. "World Chess Champions: Wilhelm Steinitz" (http://www.chesscorner.com/worldchamps/stein
itz/steinitz.htm).
16. Turf, Field and Farm (New York) (http://www.chessarch.com/excavations/item.php?a=1&sour
ce=New_York_Turf,_Field_and_Farm&date=1883.05.25), 25 May 1883

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Zukertort,
Johannes Hermann" (http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/15294-zukertort-johannes-hermann). The Jewish Encyclopedia.
New York: Funk & Wagnalls.

Further reading
Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Zukertort , Johannes Hermann" (http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/15294-zukert
ort-johannes-hermann). The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.

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11/23/22, 12:14 AM Johannes Zukertort - Wikipedia

Rudel, David (2009). Bxh7+. Thinkers Press. ISBN 978-1-888710-37-3.

Rudel, David (2009). Zuke 'Em: The Colle–Zukertort Revolutionized. Thinkers Press. ISBN 978-1-888710-39-7.
Olson, A. (1912). J.H. Zukertort. Stockholm.
Adams, J. (1989). Johannes Zukertort Artist of the Chessboard. Yorklyn.
Domański, C.W.; Lissowski, T. (2002). Arcymistrz z Lublina. Warsaw.

External links
Johannes Zukertort (https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessplayer?pid=10427) player profile and games at Chessgames.com
"J.H. Zukertort’s Alleged Accomplishments" (http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/zukertort.html) by Edward Winter
"Remembering Johannes Zukertort (07-ix-1842 20-vi-1888)" (https://britishchessnews.com/2020/06/20/remembering-johannes-zuke
rtort-07-ix-1842-20-vi-1888/) from British Chess News

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