Lionel Kieseritzky facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Lionel Kieseritzky
Lionel Kieseritzky
Full name	Lionel Adalbert Bagration Felix Kieseritzky
Country	Russian Empire France
Born	(1806-01-01)1 January 1806 Dorpat, Governorate of Livonia, Russian Empire
Died	18 May 1853(1853-05-18) (aged 47) Paris, France

Lionel Adalbert Bagration Felix Kieseritzky (born January 1, 1806 – died May 18, 1853) was a famous chess master and thinker from the Baltic German region. He is remembered for his important ideas in chess theory. He is also well-known for a game he lost to Adolf Anderssen, which is called the "Immortal Game".

Kieseritzky's name is still used for several chess openings. These include the Kieseritzky Gambit, the Kieseritzky Attack, and the Boden–Kieseritzky Gambit. These are special ways to start a chess game.

Early Life and Education

Lionel Kieseritzky was born in a city called Dorpat (now Tartu) in the Russian Empire. His family was of Baltic German background.

From 1825 to 1829, he studied at the University of Dorpat. After finishing his studies, he became a mathematics teacher. This was similar to what another famous chess player, Adolf Anderssen, did.

In 1838 and 1839, Kieseritzky played a chess match by mail against Carl Jaenisch. This match was never finished because Kieseritzky moved to Paris. In Paris, he became a full-time chess professional. He gave chess lessons and played games for money. He also worked as an editor for a chess magazine.

Chess Career Highlights

Kieseritzky became one of the top four chess masters in France. The other famous players were Louis de la Bourdonnais, Pierre Charles Fournier de Saint-Amant, and Boncourt. Before he passed away, he was considered one of the best players in the world, along with Howard Staunton.

He knew a lot about chess and helped develop new ideas for the game. However, he sometimes had bad luck in his career. He also liked to try risky moves that were not always the best.

In 1842, he played a match against Ignazio Calvi that ended in a tie. In 1846, he won matches against two German masters, Bernhard Horwitz and Daniel Harrwitz. He had many other wins during his career. But he sometimes struggled with nerves during big tournaments.

The London 1851 Tournament

Kieseritzky was invited to play in the very first international chess tournament. This event took place in London in 1851. In the first round, he played against Adolf Anderssen, who later won the whole tournament. Kieseritzky lost this match.

While in London, Kieseritzky played a casual game against Anderssen. This game became incredibly famous and is now known as "The Immortal Game". Even though Kieseritzky lost, he wrote down and published the game himself. He did this when he was editing La Regence magazine.

Inventing New Chess Games

In 1851, Kieseritzky is also credited with inventing the first three-dimensional chess game. He called it Kubicschach, which means "Cubic Chess." This new type of chess was played on an 8x8x8 cube. However, not many people started playing this version.

Later, in 1907, Dr. Ferdinand Maack used the 8x8x8 cube idea. He used it to create his own version of 3D chess called Raumschach, or "Space Chess."

Lionel Kieseritzky passed away in Paris on May 18, 1853. He was buried in a simple grave for people who did not have much money.

Famous Chess Games

Just before the famous Immortal Game, Kieseritzky played a short game against John William Schulten. In this earlier game, Kieseritzky used the same opening moves that he would later use when he lost to Anderssen. Both games started in the exact same way for the first five moves.

Here is the game against Schulten:

Schulten vs. Kieseritzky, informal game, Paris 1850
1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Bc4 Qh4+ 4. Kf1 b5 5. Bxb5 Nf6 6. Nc3 Ng4 7. Nh3 Nc6 8. Nd5 Nd4 9. Nxc7+ Kd8 10. Nxa8 f3! 11. d3 f6 12. Bc4 d5 13. Bxd5 Bd6 14. Qe1? fxg2+ 15. Kxg2 Qxh3+!! 16. Kxh3 Ne3+ 17. Kh4 Nf3+ 18. Kh5 Bg4#

See also

• Bishop's Opening, Berlin Defense
• Boden–Kieseritzky Gambit
• Kieseritzky Gambit
• List of chess games