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Adolf Anderssen
Anderssen 
 

Number of games in database: 842
Years covered: 1844 to 1878
Overall record: +428 -324 =75 (56.3%)*
   * Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games in the database. 15 exhibition games, blitz/rapid, odds games, etc. are excluded from this statistic.

MOST PLAYED OPENINGS
With the White pieces:
 Evans Gambit (106) 
    C51 C52
 King's Gambit Accepted (98) 
    C39 C33 C38 C37 C34
 Ruy Lopez (47) 
    C77 C65 C70 C61 C63
 French Defense (27) 
    C01 C13 C11 C14 C02
 Sicilian (23) 
    B20 B21 B45 B44 B43
 Two Knights (16) 
    C59 C58 C55 C56 C57
With the Black pieces:
 King's Gambit Accepted (95) 
    C33 C37 C39 C38
 Ruy Lopez (69) 
    C65 C67 C60 C64 C77
 Evans Gambit (65) 
    C52 C51
 Giuoco Piano (47) 
    C54 C50 C53
 Sicilian (35) 
    B40 B23 B20 B44 B46
 King's Pawn Game (24) 
    C44 C40 C20
Repertoire Explorer

NOTABLE GAMES: [what is this?]
   Anderssen vs Kieseritzky, 1851 1-0
   Anderssen vs Dufresne, 1852 1-0
   J Rosanes vs Anderssen, 1863 0-1
   Anderssen vs Zukertort, 1869 1-0
   C Mayet vs Anderssen, 1851 0-1
   J Rosanes vs Anderssen, 1862 0-1
   Anderssen vs Zukertort, 1865 1-0
   Anderssen vs B Suhle, 1860 1-0
   Anderssen vs E Schallopp, 1864 1-0
   Anderssen vs Paulsen, 1873 1-0

NOTABLE TOURNAMENTS: [what is this?]
   London (1851)
   London Chess Club Invitational (1851)
   Anderssen - Harrwitz (1848)
   Anderssen - Kolisch (1861)
   5th BCA Congress, London (1862)
   2nd NSB Congress, Hamburg (1869)
   Baden-Baden (1870)
   7th WSB Congress, Aachen (1868)
   Anderssen - Paulsen (1862)
   Anderssen - Steinitz (1866)
   8th WSB Congress, Barmen (1869)
   Leipzig (1877)
   Anderssen - Paulsen (1877)
   Vienna (1873)
   Paris (1878)

GAME COLLECTIONS: [what is this?]
   19sp Anderssen - Blackburne - Charousek by Littlejohn
   19sp Anderssen - Blackburne - Charousek by Goatsrocknroll23
   Match Anderssen! by amadeus
   Match Anderssen! by chessgain
   1851 Beyond London Phil Max Isa by fredthebear
   vaskolon's with sacrifices Mr. ANDERSSON by vaskolon
   xOlde Kings ande theur Gamebits by fredthebear
   Kings Gambit by Nodreads
   vaskolon's PAUL MORPHY'S GAMES by vaskolon
   The Chess Champions (Romantic Era) by Owl
   vaskolon's favorite games by vaskolon
   Anderssen, Blackburne, Charousek by monet11
   Capn's Crunch Munched by Fredthebear by fredthebear
   attack_1900 by plerranov


Search Sacrifice Explorer for Adolf Anderssen
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ADOLF ANDERSSEN
(born Jul-06-1818, died Mar-13-1879, 60 years old) Germany

[what is this?]

Karl Ernst Adolf Anderssen was born in Breslau. He was one of the strongest players of his day and was regarded by some to be the World Champion after his victory in the London (1851) tournament.1,2 He lost this honor in the Anderssen - Morphy (1858) match. One year later, however, Paul Morphy retired from international chess, and Anderssen was able to regain his reputation as the world's leading player, drawing Ignatz von Kolisch in Paris 1860 (+5 -5 =1),3 and winning the Anderssen - Kolisch (1861) match in London (+4 -3 =2). Anderssen also won the London International 1862 over Louis Paulsen, who finished second.2 He subsequently drew him in the Anderssen - Paulsen Match (1862) match (+3 -3 =2). In 1866, Anderssen narrowly lost a match with Wilhelm Steinitz (+6 -8 =0). He scored his final great success by winning the Baden-Baden (1870) tournament, ahead of Steinitz and Joseph Henry Blackburne. 4

Anderssen is regarded as the quintessential Romantic, and his sacrificial brilliancies such as The Immortal Game (Anderssen vs Kieseritzky, 1851) and The Evergreen Game (Anderssen vs Dufresne, 1852) have stood the test of time.

However, Willy Hendriks in his book "The Ink Wars" argues that this view of Anderssen is too simplistic, and that games like "his very modern Sicilian victory" in Blackburne vs Anderssen, 1878 deserve more attention. Anderssen and Howard Staunton were two of the earliest champions of the Sicilian Defense. In his match against Morphy, he even originated Anderssen's Opening (1.a3) as a way of reaching the Sicilian with colors reversed (1.a3 e5 2.c4), with which he scored 1 1/2 out of 3 against Morphy.

Anderssen died of a heart attack at age 60. During World War II, bombing raids on his hometown damaged his grave.

Anderssen also played consultation chess on the teams of Adolf Anderssen / Johannes Zukertort / Dr C. Schmid, Adolf Anderssen / Allies, Anderssen / Stern, Anderssen / Goering / Allies & Adolf Anderssen / Bernhard Horwitz / Josef Kling.

Notes:

1 Wikipedia article: Adolf Anderssen

2 http://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/v1l...

3 http://www.365chess.com/tournaments...

4 http://www.endgame.nl/bad1870.htm

Last updated: 2023-01-25 08:20:57

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 page 1 of 34; games 1-25 of 842  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
1. H Seligo vs Anderssen 1-0281844BreslauC26 Vienna
2. von der Lasa vs Anderssen 1-0211845BreslauC44 King's Pawn Game
3. Anderssen vs von der Lasa 0-1321845BreslauC38 King's Gambit Accepted
4. von der Lasa vs Anderssen 1-0481845BreslauC39 King's Gambit Accepted
5. Anderssen vs von der Lasa 1-0291845BreslauB01 Scandinavian
6. Anderssen vs von der Lasa 0-1281846BreslauC37 King's Gambit Accepted
7. von der Lasa vs Anderssen 0-1201846BreslauB21 Sicilian, 2.f4 and 2.d4
8. Anderssen vs Harrwitz 0-1301848Anderssen - HarrwitzB21 Sicilian, 2.f4 and 2.d4
9. Harrwitz vs Anderssen 0-1361848Anderssen - HarrwitzC33 King's Gambit Accepted
10. Harrwitz vs Anderssen 1-0321848Anderssen - HarrwitzC44 King's Pawn Game
11. Harrwitz vs Anderssen 0-1261848Anderssen - HarrwitzC33 King's Gambit Accepted
12. Anderssen vs Harrwitz 1-0281848Anderssen - HarrwitzB21 Sicilian, 2.f4 and 2.d4
13. Anderssen vs Harrwitz 0-1341848Anderssen - HarrwitzD32 Queen's Gambit Declined, Tarrasch
14. Harrwitz vs Anderssen 0-1501848Anderssen - HarrwitzC33 King's Gambit Accepted
15. Anderssen vs Harrwitz 1-0371848Anderssen - HarrwitzC54 Giuoco Piano
16. Harrwitz vs Anderssen 0-1381848Blindfold exhibition gameC39 King's Gambit Accepted
17. Anderssen vs Harrwitz 0-1551848Anderssen - HarrwitzC01 French, Exchange
18. Harrwitz vs Anderssen 1-0171848Anderssen - HarrwitzC33 King's Gambit Accepted
19. Salpius vs Anderssen 1-0371849BerlinC52 Evans Gambit
20. Anderssen vs J Schlesinger 0-1301849Double blindfold gameC02 French, Advance
21. N D Nathan vs Anderssen 0-1221850Casual gameC39 King's Gambit Accepted
22. Dufresne vs Anderssen 1-0351851Casual gameC52 Evans Gambit
23. A Mongredien vs Anderssen  1-0201851Casual gameC24 Bishop's Opening
24. Anderssen vs Lowenthal 1-0201851Casual gameC33 King's Gambit Accepted
25. Anderssen vs Horwitz ½-½321851London Chess Club InvitationalC33 King's Gambit Accepted
 page 1 of 34; games 1-25 of 842  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | Anderssen wins | Anderssen loses  

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 4 OF 9 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Jan-16-06
Premium Chessgames Member
  offramp: <FHBradley: <Swindler:> I believe Anderssen was a mathematics teacher in a Gymnasium, which, I suppose, is something like a high school.>

In a gymnasium everyone is naked, not just most people.

Jan-21-06  fred lennox: Just before the 1971 tournament a GM visited Fischer in his hotel room. He saw, to his surprisie, Fischer intensly going over the games of Adolf Anderssen. If one wants to study tactics one can't do better than study the romantic masters. That's not why Fisher did it of course. If your not inspired, if your imagination is not stirred, how can you expect to play your best. That, i believe, is why he did it.
Jan-21-06  RodSerling: I've read a lot of Fischer stuff, never heard him comment about Andersson---are you sure this is 4 real?
Jan-24-06  fred lennox: I am sure i read it. I will try to get the GM name in the next week. If not, I will have to cancel the story.
Feb-11-06  fred lennox: Well, i couldn't find the GM, i do remember reading an interview Gligoric gave to Fischer winning the WC. Gligoric commented, on the 21st game about the newness of Fischers opening play. Fisher said it was't new, that he'd been studying the games of Adolf Anderssen and was impressed by the way he put bishops on d3 and e3. By the way, Anderseen was more thoughtful and adventerous towards Opening than he's usually given credit.
Mar-17-06  AlexanderMorphy: why are those two gaes of his just so famous when it has been proved that it was mostly unsound play....yes to the named eye they are great games, great sacrifices etc but not as good when analysed...another thing i am annoyed at is the fact that kieseritzky is usually considered as the game who lost to anderssen in the immortal game, when in fact he had a + score against anderssen!!!!
Mar-17-06  MrMojoRisin: The "Immortal Game" and "Evergreen" games are famous because they are beautiful swashbuckling attacks. At the time these two games were played, they were very unique, original, beautiful games (though IMO they have been surpassed by even more beautiful games like Rotlewi vs Rubinstein, 1907 and Karpov vs Kasparov, 1985).

Mar-17-06  MrMojoRisin: Also personally I prefer the "Evergreen" game over the "Immortal" game.
Mar-17-06  AlexanderMorphy: Kasparov has better less known games than the one against Karpov in 85...
Apr-18-06  blackburne: Is Anderssen Better attack player of the history??.

In a poll of Chess Attack... no

1- Tahl 87 p.
2- Fischer 44 p.
3- Alekhine 37 p.
4- Morphy 36 p.
5- Kasparov 27 p.
-----------------

Vote for 3 players of the list with 3, 2 and 1 point respectively. The list with 21 players is in

http://www.ajedrezdeataque.com/13%2...

VOTE PLEASE

Apr-21-06  chessmoron: Adolf Anderssen--creator of the stupidest opening of all time 1. a4
Apr-22-06  Holden: It was 1.a3 he liked, but only in his earlier years. Later in his career he "came to his senses" and gave it up.

By the way, my vote for stupidest opening ever is 1.g4

Apr-23-06  SBC: <Holden> <chessmoron>

The first time Anderssen is seen playing the Anderssen's Opening (1. a3) in this database is in 1858: Anderssen vs Morphy, 1858

The last time is in 1878: Anderssen vs J Mason, 1878

Since Anderssen was born in 1818, 1858 could hardly be consided his early years and since he died in 1879, he could hardly been said to have given it up in his later years.

He also seems to have not played it very frequently, but did have good overall results with it.

Apr-24-06  Holden: <SBC> Good point. I read that somewhere, can't recall where - I thought it was in My Great Predecessors I, but I couldn't find it. Obviously if he played it 1878 he never gave up the opening.
May-16-06  TylerD: Kamsky s comeback suddenly looking so good got me thinking of the following Anderssen quote, which he made after his defeat by Morphy in 1858: "I was wrong in supposing that I could bottle up my chess and put it in a glass case." Yep, usually doesn t work...
May-22-06
Premium Chessgames Member
  BishopBerkeley: Nicely done website on "Super Tournaments" contains many images I have not seen before. It opens with Baden-Baden 1870, which it presents as the first super tournament (Anderssen won.):

http://www.endgame.nl/super.htm

Baden-Baden 1870:

http://www.endgame.nl/bad1870.htm

Drawing of Adolf Anderssen I had not seen before, presented under "London 1851":

http://www.endgame.nl/wfairs.htm

Main "Chess Analyses" page:

http://www.endgame.nl/

The site appears to be maintained by Jan van Reek .

Bravo!

(: ♗ Bishop Berkeley ♗ :)

Jul-06-06  BIDMONFA: Adolf Anderssen

ANDERSSEN, Adolf
http://www.bidmonfa.com/anderssen_a...
_

Feb-08-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  Joshka: Did Anderssen ever write about Morphy and what the chess world would have been like had he continued to play during the 60's and 70's. Would Steinitz have been World Champion were it not for Morphy being taken out of the equation? Would love to hear his views on these matters!:-)..thanks in advance
Apr-22-07  Paul123: I'm convinced .....Take away computers and few GM's could hang with guys like Anderssen, Morphy...etc...
May-19-07  Caissanist: <Joshka> For what it's worth, Irving Chernev quotes Anderssen as saying that Steinitz was better than Morphy after losing matches to both.
May-19-07  Plato: <Caissanist> Evans confirms the same thing in "New Ideas in Chess"

Which Chernev book is that from?

May-21-07  Caissanist: I believe it was in "Wonders and Curiosities of Chess", but I don't have a copy of that book at hand so I can't say with any certainty.
Oct-15-07  notyetagm: Judit Polgar vs F Berkes, 2003

Position after 13 ... h6x♘g5?! 14 g2-g4!:


click for larger view

Polgar has just sacrificed a whole piece(!) (a ♘) on g5 in order to form the <PAWN LEVER> of Black g5-pawn versus White g4-pawn, with the goal of eventually opening the h-file with h2-h4.

I read at the time of this game that this idea (a piece sacrifice to create a <PAWN LEVER>) was first played in a game by the great Adolf Anderssen. Does anyone know which Anderseen game this is?

Thanks

Feb-20-08  Knight13: Well, this guy DID beat Morphy with 1. a3. So it can't be THAT bad.
Mar-11-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  ketchuplover: Just 53 draws in 745 games.
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