Carl Hamppe

Carl Hamppe (* 1814 in Switzerland, † May 17 1876 in Gersau, Canton Schwyz ) was a native of Switzerland, Austrian chess player. Hamppe regarded as the founder of the Vienna Game.

Chess career

On the origin and biography Hamppes little is known. Most of his life he spent in Vienna, where he worked as a civil servant in the Ministry of Finance since 1848.

In the Viennese coffee houses Hamppe occurred in the middle of the 19th century emerged as a leading Austrian chess master. 1859 and 1860 he won the tournaments of the Vienna Chess Society. Behind him occupied Wilhelm Steinitz (1836-1900), respectively the third and second place. The next world champion praised Hamppe later as the main opponents and teachers of his early years.

Hamppe was a typical representative of the Romantic school, whose playing was subject to major fluctuations. In competitions he was defeated in 1846 the Hungarian master Johann Jacob Loewenthal with 4:5 games, also he defeated in 1850 in a longer match his rival Ernst Wiener Falk Beer with 16:15 (in both competitions, there were no draws). By Daniel Harrwitz he was in 1852 (1:4, = 2) and 1860 ( 0:3, = 1) clearly beaten.

Until now remembered is that of Hamppe 1872 against his fellow Viennese master Philipp Meitner played, called Immortal drawn game.

In 1876 Hamppe died in his native Switzerland.

Inventor of the " Vienna Game "

Contributions to the chess Hamppe acquired mainly through its commitment to the opening 1.e2 -e4 e7 - e5 2.Sb1 - c3, which he tried in practice since the late 1840s. The beginning of the game at times was called the " Hamppes opening " until the name Vienna Game prevailed. As a specialist in the King's Gambit Hamppe pursued the idea of ​​the fields to cover d5 and e4, thereafter preferred to play a delayed Gambit with f2 - f4. The original idea was against the then popular Falk Beer- counter-gambit in the black on the King's Gambit directly with the center thrust 2 - d7 -d5 answers.

The Hamppe - Allgaier Gambit is also named after him as the Hamppe - Muzio Gambit, is interposed in which, compared to the conventional Muzio Gambit also the "Wiener " train pair Nb1 - c3 and c6 - Sb8. Lastly, it was the controversial Steinitz Gambit ( 1.e2 -e4 e7 - e5 2.Sb1 - c3 - c6 3.f2 - f4 Sb8 e5xf4 4.d2 -d4 ), which came to use after 1867, influenced by Hamppes opening ideas.