Johannes Zukertort
Johannes Zukertort
Johannes Zukertort
by Bill Wall
Johannes Hermann
Zukertort (SOOK-er-
tort) was born in
Lublin, Congress
Poland (then an
occupied country by
Tsarist Russia) on
September 7, 1842.
His original name was
Jan Herman
Cukiertort. His mother
was the Baroness Bill Wall
Krzyzanovska. His
father, Yenkel Ezekiel
Cukiertort (1801-
1887) was a Christian
Protestant (Lutheran)
Johannes Zukertort missionary. He If your opponent offers
worked for the you a draw, try to work
'London Society' to out why he thinks he's
convert Polish Jews worse off. -Nigel Short
into Polish Christians.
Both parents were
Polish.
Zukertort had a
younger brother,
Adolf, who had 2 sons
(Johannes's nephews)
that were German
generals during World
War II.
The Tsarist-occupying
regime had closed
most Polish schools
and banned the Polish
language in
administrative service,
insisting on using the
Russian language.
Jewish peasants were
forced to speak
exclusively Russian
and many were
converted to Orthodox
Christianity (Russian
speaking) rather than
Roman Catholic or
Lutheran Christianity
(Polish speaking).
In the summer of
1850, the family
moved to Piotrkow
Trybunalski
(Petrikau), near Lodz,
Poland, about 75 miles
southwest. He
attended the Piotrkow
School until he was
13.
Zukertort learned to
play chess from his
father in Breslau
around 1858, when he
was 16. He bought his
first chess set at a fair.
In 1861, he enrolled at
the University of
Breslau to study
medicine. Zukertort
claimed he obtained
his medical degree at
the University of
Breslau in 1865 or
1866. While at the
university, he became
a member of the
Slavic Literature
Culture Society, which
was a club for Polish
students at Breslau
University who left
Russian-occupied
Poland.
He studied chemistry,
physiology, philology,
and theology with
distinction.
In 1866, he obtained
German citizenship.
In 1867, he moved to
Berlin and became co-
editor of the Neue
Berliner
Schachzeitung with
Adolf Anderssen.
Zukertort remained
editor until 1871.
In 1868, he lost to
Adolf Anderssen
(1818-1879) in a
match in Berlin, with 3
wins, 8 losses, and 1
draw.
In 1868, Zukertort
gave a 9-board
blindfold exhibition in
Berlin.
In 1870-71, he was
active in the medical
corps during the
Franco-Prussian war.
In 1871, Zukertort
worked on a
tournament book for
the West German
Chess Congress held
in Krefeld.
In 1871, the
publication of
Zukertort's Neue
Berliner
Schachzeitung ended
by its publisher, J.
Springer, which was
the source of his main
income.
In 1872, he moved to
London after being
offered 20 guineas
travel expenses by
some English patrons.
The patrons hoped that
Zukertort would be the
main rival of the less-
popular Wilhelm
Steinitz. He was
invited to join the St.
George's Chess Club
in London.
In 1872, played in a
London tournament.
He came in 3rd,
behind Wilhelm
Steinitz and Joseph
Blackburne.
In 1872, he lost to
Steinitz in a match
with 1 win, 7 losses,
and 4 draws. The
stakes was 20 pounds
for the winner and 10
pounds for the loser.
In 1872, in an account
of his life for the
Norfolk News in East
Anglia, England,
Zukertort claimed
aristocratic descent,
fluent in 9 languages,
fought in numerous
battles, and that he got
a medical degree from
Breslau.
In 1873, Zukertort
published a series of
chess articles in the
Westminster Papers
and also wrote for the
City of London Chess
Magazine.
In 1873, he
demonstrated his
blindfold chess skills
by playing 6 games
blindfolded
simultaneously during
the first Oxford
University vs.
Cambridge University
chess match.
In 1878, he became a
naturalized citizen of
the United Kingdom.
In June-July 1878, he
tied for 1st at the Paris
International Chess
Congress with
Winawer and beat
Winawer in the play-
off. Zukertort won
1,000 francs and was
given two Sevres
vases, worth 5,800
francs each, by the
President of France.
He sold those three
days later at a pawn
shop for half the
value.
In January 1879,
Zukertort started
playing and teaching
Lord Randolph
Churchill.
In 1880, he won a
match in London
against Rosenthal with
7 wins, 1 loss, and 11
draws.
In April-June 1883, he
took 1st place at
London (played at
Victoria Hall), 3
points ahead of
Steinitz, scoring 22.5
out of 29. His
performance rating for
this event was 2844.
He could have done
even better, as he lost
his last three games,
attributed by some to
the use of drugs to
deal with the pressure.
After this tournament,
Zukertort was widely
regarded as the
unofficial World
Chess Champion.
In April-May 1884,
Zukertort visited New
Orleans, but there is
no record that he met
with Paul Morphy,
who died in New
Orleans on July 10,
1884.
In March 1885,
Zukertort listed his
conditions of a world
championship match
with Steintiz, which
appeared in The Chess
Monthly.
In 1887, he lost a
match against
Blackburne with 1
win, 5 losses, and 8
draws.
Zukertort's last
tournament was the
summer British Chess
Club Handicap
Tournament, held at
King Street, Covent
Garden, London in
June-July, 1888. He
had chances of
winning the
tournament and was in
1st place at the time of
his death. At the time
of his death he had
won 7 games, no
draws, and 1 loss. The
playing committee
decided that all his
unfinished games
would be declared
drawn. 6 of his games
were drawn and he
ended up tied for 3rd
place, despite 6 games
not played.
Blackburne and
Gunsberg tied for 1st.
He died at 10 A.M. on
June 20, 1888 at the
Charing Cross
Hospital in London.
He was 45 years old.
His brother, Adolf, a
stenographer, also died
at age 45.
A Zukertort Chess
Club in London was
organized a few weeks
after his death.
Zukertort claimed he
was fluent in at 14
languages (English,
German, French,
Spanish, Italian, Latin,
Greek, Hebrew,
Russian, Sanskrit,
Arabic, Turkish,
Danish, and Polish).
He claimed he fought
in several military
campaigns for Prussia
against Austria,
Denmark, and France.
He once had been left
for dead on the
battlefield. He
allegedly was
decorated for gallantry
9 times.
He was a fencer, a
world class whist and
dominoes player, a
pianist, a music critic,
swordsman,
marksman, editor of a
political paper, and on
the staff of Bismark's
newspaper, the
Allgemeine Zeitung.
He was a leading
spokesman for prison
reform.
Although he never
married, he had two
illegitimate daughters,
Iseln and Maud.
It is said that at a
dinner party, with both
Steinitz and Zukertort
attending, a toast was
made to the greatest
chess player in the
world. Both Steinitz
and Zukertort both
rose at the same time.
Zukertort introduced
the move 1.Nf3, which
was once known as
Zukertort's Opening.
In tournament play,
Zukertort plyed 465
games and won 267
games (57.42%), drew
78 games (16.77%)
and lost 120 games
(25.81%).
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