Chess Theory from Stamma to Steinitz, 1735-1894

A European Union official and professor of international economic law, Frank Hoffmeister was several times finalist of the German amateur chess championship. Between 2009 and 2020 he served as president of Europchess, the club of the European institutions in Brussels, and published several reviews of chess history books in the journal Schach. He lives in Kraainem, Belgium.

“[A] monumental work…Through a meticulous examination of developments in chess over the 160 years…the author provides invaluable insight into frequently overlooked contributions which form the core of so much of what we think we know today…Hoffmeister has performed an immeasurable service to all interested in chess by rendering that foreign country recognizable and even familiar.”—British Chess Magazine

• Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsAbbreviations Used in This BookList of Game and Puzzle DIAGRAM NumbersForeword by Peter Heine NielsenIntroductionI. From Bertin to Del Rio (1735–1775)A. The TimeOld Arab Puzzles and New Opening IdeasPhilidor Versus the Italian SchoolB. The PlayersJoseph Bertin (ca. 1690–1736)Philip Stamma (ca. 1700–1755)Carlo Francesco Cozio (ca. 1715–ca. 1780)­­François-André Danican Philidor (1726–1795)Giambattista Lolli (1698–1769), Domenico Pon­ziani (1719–1795) and Ercole del Rio (1718–1802)C. The LegacyII. From Allgaier to McDonnell (1775–1835)A. The TimeThe French Amateurs and Their TraitéElias Stein (1748–1812) and His Nouvel EssaiPhilip Julius Count van Zuylen van Nijevelt (1743–1826) and His Superiorité aux EchecsThe Chess AutomatonClément Felix Brossier Montigny (1786–1840) and His Stratagèmes des EchecsJacob Henry Sarratt (ca. 1772–1819) and His TreatiseAlexandre Louis Honoré Lebreton Deschappelles (1780–1846) and His 1821 MatchesJohn Cochrane (1798–1878) and His Treatise on the Game of ChessThe Friendly Match Between Lewis and La BourdonnaisThe 1834 Match Between La Bourdonnais and McDonnell in LondonB. The PlayersJohann Baptist Allgaier (1763–1823)William Lewis (1787–1870)Louis Charles Mahé de La Bourdonnais (1797–1840)Alexander McDonnell (1798–1835)C. The LegacyIII. From Petroff to Staunton (1835–1850)A. The TimeThe Unsuccesful Challenge from Deschapelles to England 1836Aaron Alexandre (1766–1850) and His EncyclopediaGeorge Walker (1809–1879) and His New Treatise on ChessThe 1843 Match Between ­­Saint-Amant and Staunton in ParisLionel Adalbert Bagration Felix Kieseritzky (1806–1853) and His GambitThe Development of Chess in ItalyThe Development of Chess in GermanyThe Development of Chess in the Austrian EmpireThe Development of Chess in RussiaB. The PlayersAlexander Dmitrievich Petroff (1794–1867) and Carl Ferdinand von Jaenisch (1813–1872) Tassilo von Heydebrand und der Lasa (1818–1890)Pierre Charles Fournier de ­­Saint-Amant (1800–1872)Howard Staunton (1810–1874)C. The LegacyIV. From Anderssen to Morphy (1851–1859)A. The TimeLondon 1851The Chess Studies from Josef Kling (1811–1876) and Bernhard Horwitz (1807–1885)The First Indian OpeningsThe 1853 Match Between Löwenthal and Harrwitz in LondonMax Lange (1832–1899) and His AttackManchester 1857New York 1857The 1858 Match Between Löwenthal and Morphy in LondonJohn Owen (1827–1901) and His DefenseBirmingham 1858The 1858 Match Between Morphy and Harrwitz in ParisThe ­­1858-1859 Match Between Morphy and Anderssen in ParisB. The PlayersKarl Ernst Adolf Anderssen (1818–1879)Daniel Harrwitz (1821–1884)Johann Jacob Löwenthal (1806–1874)Paul Charles Morphy (1834–1884)C. The LegacyV. From Paulsen to Neumann (1860–1871)A. The TimeThe 1860 Match Between Kolisch and Anderssen in ParisThe 1861 Match Between Kolisch and Anderssen in LondonBristol 1861The 1861 Match Between Kolisch and Paulsen in LondonLondon 1862Serafino Dubois (1817–1899) and His Defense of Italian Chess RulesThe 1862 Match Between Paulsen and Anderssen in LondonJean Louis Préti (1798–1881) and His Stratégie Raisonnée des OuverturesRobert Bownas Wormald (1834–1876) and His Chess OpeningsThe 1866 Match Between Anderssen and Steinitz in LondonParis 1867Dundee 1867­­Baden-Baden 1870B. The PlayersLouis Paulsen (1833–1891)Ignaz Kolisch (1833–1889)Gustav Richard Ludwig Neumann (1838–1881)C. The LegacyVI. From Rosenthal to Zukertort (1872–1885)A. The TimeLondon 1872The 1872 Match Between Steinitz and Zukertort in LondonVienna 1873William Cook (1850–1917) and His Synopsis of Chess OpeningsThe 1876 Match Between Steinitz and Blackburne in LondonLeipzig 1877Paris 1878The 1880 Match Between Zukertort and Rosenthal in LondonWiesbaden 1880The 1881 Match Between Zukertort and Blackburne in LondonBerlin 1881Vienna 1882London 1883Nuremburg 1883Hamburg 1885Horatio Caro (1862–1920) and His DefenseCarlo Salvioli (1848–1930) and His Teoria e Pratica degli ScacchiB. The PlayersSamuel Rosenthal (1837–1902)Szymon Abramowicz Winawer (1838–1919)Joseph Henry Blackburne (1841–1924)Johannes Zukertort (1842–1888)C. The LegacyVII. From Steinitz to Chigorin (1886–1894)A. The TimeThe 1886 World Championship Match Between Steinitz and Zukertort in the United StatesLondon 1886George Henry Mackenzie (1837–1891) and His Triumph at Frankfurt 1887The 1889 World Championship Match Between Steinitz and Chigorin in HavanaNew York 1889Breslau 1889Amsterdam 1889The Chess Openings Ancient and Modern from Edward Freeborough (1830–1896) and Charles Ranken (1828–1905)Johann Nepomuk Berger (1845–1933) and His Theorie and Praxis der EndspieleThe 1890 Match Between Chigorin and Gunsberg in HavanaManchester 1890The ­­1890-1891 World Championship Match Between Steinitz and Gunsberg in New YorkThe 1892 World Championship Match Between Steinitz and Chigorin in HavanaThe 1892 Match Between Blackburne and Lasker in LondonDresden 1892The 1893 Match Between Tarrasch and Chigorin in St. PetersburgCurt von Bardeleben (1861–1924) and His Wiener PartieThe 1894 World Championship Match Between Steinitz and Lasker in the United StatesJames Mason (1849–1905) and His Principles of ChessHenry Edward Bird (1829–1908) and His Chess NoveltiesB. The PlayersWilhelm Steinitz (1836–1900)Isidor Arthur Gunsberg (1854–1930)Amos Burn (1848–1925)Mikhail Ivanovich Chigorin (1850–1908)C. The LegacyVIII. ConclusionTheory and PracticeOpeningsMiddlegameEndingsBlindfold Chess, Chess Composition and Odds GamesChess PersonalitiesPresentation of Chess GamesChess NationsAppendices:1: Overlap of Puzzles Between Bertin, Stamma, Cozio and Lolli2: Overlap of Puzzles Between Montigny and Others3: Overlap of Puzzles Between Allgaier’s Neue theoretische Anweisung and Others4: Overlap of Puzzles Between La Bourdonnais and Others5: Overlap of La Bourdonnais’ Nouveau Traité with Montigny’s Cleveland Manuscripts6: Overlap of Endings Between La Bourdonnais’ Nouveau Traité, Philidor’s Analyse and the Traité des Amateurs7: Overlap of Puzzles Between Petroff and Others8: Milestones of Algebraic Notation in the 19th century9: The Use of First Names and the Spelling of Family NamesBibliographyOpenings Index (to Diagram Numbers)General Index (to Page Numbers)