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Adolf Anderssen
Anderssen 
 

Number of games in database: 837
Years covered: 1844 to 1878
Overall record: +428 -322 =72 (56.4%)*
   * 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 C60
 French Defense (27) 
    C01 C13 C11 C14 C10
 Sicilian (23) 
    B20 B21 B45 B32 B43
 Two Knights (16) 
    C59 C58 C55 C57 C56
With the Black pieces:
 King's Gambit Accepted (95) 
    C33 C37 C39 C38
 Ruy Lopez (68) 
    C65 C67 C60 C77 C64
 Evans Gambit (64) 
    C52 C51
 Giuoco Piano (47) 
    C54 C50 C53
 Sicilian (35) 
    B40 B23 B20 B44 B46
 King's Pawn Game (24) 
    C44 C20 C40
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 Chess Club Invitational (1851)
   London (1851)
   5th BCA Congress, London (1862)
   Anderssen - Kolisch (1861)
   Anderssen - Paulsen (1862)
   7th WSB Congress, Aachen (1868)
   2nd NSB Congress, Hamburg (1869)
   Baden-Baden (1870)
   Anderssen - Harrwitz (1848)
   Anderssen - Steinitz (1866)
   8th WSB Congress, Barmen (1869)
   Anderssen - Paulsen (1877)
   Leipzig (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


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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

Try our new games table.

 page 1 of 34; games 1-25 of 837  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. Anderssen vs Lowenthal 1-0201851Casual gameC33 King's Gambit Accepted
24. Anderssen vs Horwitz ½-½321851London Chess Club InvitationalC33 King's Gambit Accepted
25. Dufresne vs Anderssen 0-1241851Casual gameC37 King's Gambit Accepted
 page 1 of 34; games 1-25 of 837  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 6 OF 9 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Mar-26-10  whatthefat: I was just reading about the 1862 London tournament, which Anderssen won with an impressive 11/12 score, and I was surprised to learn of the rule implemented:

<Draws did not count and had to be replayed.>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London...

Apr-03-10  The Rocket: "anderssen sometimes played like a world champion but at times like a 1200 elo,neglecting develpment and king safety,but he remained true to himself "attack always attack""

agreed, 1200 is a bit harsh though, lets say 1500 level at worst.

Jul-06-10  wordfunph: <The Rocket: agreed, 1200 is a bit harsh though, lets say 1500 level at worst.>

make it 1700 like me coz today is Anderssen's birthday.. :O)

Jul-06-10  WhiteRook48: happy birthday anderssen
Jul-06-11  sfm: I recall reading that after his defeat by Morphy a friend came to Anderssen and said something like "For some reason you didn't play nearly as brilliantly as you usually do".

Anderssen replied: "Right, Morphy didn't allow me".

After the last matchgame in Rekjavik '72 some journalists asked Spassky if he did not intend to object against Fisher's behavior during the match.

Spassky said: "What is there to object about? Chess is sport, and Fisher is the new world champion".

Fine sportsmanship is as simple as that.

Jul-06-11  WhiteRook48: he was an amazing player
Aug-14-11
Premium Chessgames Member
  ketchuplover: One of my opponents says Anderssen is the greatest combination player-even better than Tal.
Dec-09-11  Kinan: This player lost a lot of games and his winning rate is small (55%), can he really be considered one of the great players?
Dec-09-11  mrbasso: Yes, he can be considered one of the greatest players. His overall record wasn't quite so bad.
60% according to Chessbase _and_ he didn't stop playing until shortly before his death unlike the cowards Kasparov,Fischer etc..
Dec-09-11  King Death: < mrbasso: ...he didn't stop playing until shortly before his death unlike the cowards Kasparov,Fischer etc..>

Fischer chose never to play again after 1972 until he got showed a ton of money, but Kasparov a coward? Are you kidding?

Dec-09-11  Petrosianic: Trolling, more like it. We all know how many times Kasparov defended his title.
Dec-09-11  King Death: < Petrosianic: Trolling, more like it...>

A little light bulb went off and I looked at his kibitzing history. He took 18 months off between one set of obnoxious posts and another one. Maybe this troll will take a longer break. Maybe even make it permanent and do us a huge favor.

Dec-10-11  mrbasso: Oh, stopping to post for 18 months is now the sign of a troll? Well, at least I'm not a fanboy..
Kasparov and Fischer both stopped to play rated games completely, but AFAIK they never stopped to be concerned with the game. Their Ego was so big, that they couldn't stand the prospects of someone clearly stronger showing up, which inevitably would have happened.
Dec-31-11
Premium Chessgames Member
  Penguincw: Hmm. Back then, they didn't how many games ending in draws. Today, that's about more than half of have the games end.
Jan-21-12  Antiochus: "Attack, attack always!"

Adolf Anderssen

Jan-21-12  Nemesistic: "Attack Attack Everyone" - Adolf Hitler.
Feb-29-12  whiteshark: "Pure combinative chess reached its climax in Anderssen. He represents the spirit of sacrifice, free and unrestrained."

~ Reuben Fine

Jul-06-12  LoveThatJoker: WC Anderssen, today you are remembered!

LTJ

Oct-23-12  chesssalamander: LTJ, I think A. ought to be considered the first WC, from 1851-1858. He was WC in every sense that really matters. Then, Morphy, then A. again, then Steinitz.
Dec-30-12  PhilFeeley: This is an interesting game:

http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail...

I wonder why it's not here.

Dec-30-12  thomastonk: <PhilFeeley> I think the final sentence explains why: "Reinfeld stated in The Joys of Chess that the game was an Evans Gambit, but we have yet to trace the full score."
Jun-08-13  Poisonpawns: What I found most intriguing about his games(I have deeply studied 60) is the amount of totally lost positions he was in.Due to his extremely active style of play; he was always dangerous even in "busted" positions. He would be losing and his opponent would make a one move error, and the tides would be turned completely. There are a few Falkbeer games that come to mind;Harritz, and also Von der Lasa, where Anderrsen was good as lost but won. It is because of Anderssen, that I never lose with my pieces undeveloped. I always have them active! win or lose.
Jul-06-13  Nightsurfer: Today - on the occasion of <Adolf Anderssen>'s 195th birthday on July 6th, 2013 - it is a great gesture by you people of <ChessGames.com> that you haven chosen the game B Hund vs C Hartog, 1978 to be THE GAME OF THE DAY since that very game B Hund vs C Hartog, 1978 climaxes in the sacrifice of two rooks that seems to be inspired by <Adolf Anderssen>'s greatest victory, that epic battle Anderssen vs Kieseritzky, 1851 !
Jul-06-13
Premium Chessgames Member
  redlance: Happy Birthday!!!
Jul-06-13
Premium Chessgames Member
  playground player: Modern chess players congratulate themselves while standing on the shoulders of giants like Anderssen.

Oh, I don't mean all modern players. I expect the top masters know and appreciate what they owe to their illustrious predecessors. It's the moderns who aren't masters, and never will be, who show the least respect to the past.

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