Ignaz Kolisch
The Life and Chess Career
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About the Book
An enthusiastic verve—“brio” some could say—marked both Ignaz Kolisch’s personality and his games. This book documents the life of the Hungarian chess champion (1837–1889) and successful financier, setting it in the cosmopolitan framework of mid–19th century Europe. The text is enriched by about 125 or so gleanings about the lives of his competitors (including Arnous de Rivière, Anderssen, Morphy, Mackenzie, Paulsen, Falkbeer, Rosenthal, Steinitz, Winawer). More than 300 specimens of his play are presented—by far the largest collection ever—complete with sources and coeval annotations, translated from many languages. Several widespread and long-standing errors are corrected. A work deeply researched among sources in many languages, the book serves also as a record of European chess in the late 1850s through the 1880s.
About the Author(s)
Bibliographic Details
Fabrizio Zavatarelli
Format: library binding (8.5 x 11)
Pages: 376
Bibliographic Info: 324 games, 174 diagrams, 63 illustrations, appendices, notes, bibliography, indexes
Copyright Date: 2015
pISBN: 978-0-7864-9690-7
eISBN: 978-1-4766-1801-2
Imprint: McFarland
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments v
Introduction 1
Features of This Book 2
Explanations 2
Abbreviations 2
I. Family and Formative Years 5
The Kolisches 5
The City of Pressburg 5
Infancy 6
A Mysterious Period 6
Among Chessplayers 7
Earliest Games 8
II. The Italian Year 15
Towards Genova 15
The Games Against Saint Bon 19
The Games Against Vitzthum 23
III. Arrival in Paris 27
Historical Framework 27
The Games Against Harrwitz 27
The Games Against Arnous de Rivière 32
Paris Life 35
The Games Against Anderssen 43
Last Strokes in Paris 56
IV. To the Conquest of London 60
Arrival in the Metropolis 60
The Match Against Worrall 65
Not Only Matches 68
The Match Against Saburov 71
The First Match Against Maude 74
A Summer Illness 78
V. The Season of Invitations 84
The Cambridge 1860 Tournament 84
Four Matches in London 89
Manchester, Liverpool and Dundee 98
VI. Restless 114
New Year’s Day in France 114
The First Challenge to Morphy 117
The Third Match Against Maude 123
Owen, Barnes and Wormald 125
The June 1861 Tour 127
VII. Great Expectations 137
The Match Against Anderssen 137
The Games Against Mackenzie 156
VIII. Louis Paulsen 158
The Bristol 1861 Tournament 158
The Match Against Paulsen 163
IX. A Step Backward 187
Paris Intermezzo 187
The Petersburg Visit 191
X. Double Life 205
A Pause for Reflection 205
The Second Challenge to Morphy 207
From Chess to Finance 207
The Match Against Hirschfeld 212
The Match Against Rosenthal 223
Embers Under Ash 228
XI. The Emperor’s Prize 236
Prelude 236
The Games 243
Neumann’s Challenge 268
XII. An International Champion 270
The Visit to Germany 270
Paris, Again 273
A Chess Star in Vienna 277
The Vienna Blindfold Performances 279
A Match with Large Odds 287
The Baden-Baden 1870 Tournament 288
Never Take a Game Too Far 290
XIII. Financial Takeoff 292
The Wiener Börsen-Syndicatskasse 292
The Match Between London and Vienna 294
Prosperity 305
The Vienna 1873 Tournament 307
Days of Wealth 308
In the Whirl of Business 312
XIV. Beatus Ille Qui Procul Negotiis 316
Baron and Rentier 316
Der Glorreiche Augenblick 318
The London 1883 Tournament 322
A Call in Nürnberg 326
Events of a Notable Life 326
The Hassan Affaire 327
An Old Passion and a New Home 328
Epilogue. After Death 332
Funeral and Heritage 332
The Two Kolisch Memorials 332
Kolisch and Posterity 335
Solutions of Problems 336
Appendix A: Kolisch’s Ancestry 337
Appendix B: Relative Currencies in Kolisch’s Time 338
Bibliography 339
Index of Players 345
Index of Openings—Traditional Names 347
Index of Openings—ECO Codes 348
General Index 349
Book Reviews & Awards
• Finalist, Book of the Year—English Chess Federation
• “One of the most accurate chess books that McFarland & Company, Inc. has ever published”—Edward Winter, Chess Notes
• “First-rate work…the tale of Kolisch’s rise to fame and fortune is dramatically told”—Chess Life
• “First rate”—Chessbooks.nl
• “Creates vivid pictures of the chess scene in the second half of the 19th century…remarkable…amazing”—Huffington Post
• “Fills a previously empty space in chess literature…the definitive biography of Kolisch, and will not be surpassed in any substantial way in the future. Zavatarelli’s colourful and multi-faceted presentation of the subject is sweet music to this chess historian’s ears.”—Quarterly for Chess History
