Johann Baptist Allgaier

Johann Baptist Allgaier ( born June 19, 1763 in Schussenried; † 2 or January 3, 1823 in Vienna) was the first major German and Austrian chess master. He was also the author of the first stand-alone chess textbook in German.

Life

Johann Baptist Allgaier was born as the son of impecunious parents in the free imperial pin Schussenried, which came to Württemberg in 1806. His father Georg Allgaier was employed as a steward of the monastery. The young Allgaier studied Catholic theology, but emigrated as a young man " secretly to Poland, where he learned the game of chess by a Polish Jew." The private reasons for the early break in his biography are unclear.

From Allgaier's life are generally few details known. End of the 1780s, he won a competition in Vienna in 1500 guilders and was since then as the best chess player in the imperial city. Now, he was given access to aristocratic circles. For some time he was entrusted with the chess lessons with several Austrian archdukes. In 1798, Allgaier entered Austrian military service. But this did not happen continuously, but with a number of interruptions according to the course of the Napoleonic Wars, with the participation of Austria. Later he was employed briefly as accounting officer at the military hospital in Prague.

For health reasons, Allgaier was adopted in 1816 with a meager pension to which he moved back to Vienna. There he was forced to give through the game of chess an additional revenue. Around the year 1820 met in Vienna at the coffee house " The Golden Crown " at the trench many strong chess players. To Allgaier's strongest opponents were among the officials and Count Johann Anton Witthalm Somssich. Despite his fame and some of the support he received, Allgaier spent his later years of life in poverty.

The chess master from which no portrait survives, has been described as characteristically modest and " big, strong man of pleasant but not very witty facial features ". End of December 1822 had to Allgaier, who suffered from chronic asthma disease for many years, leave, take in a public hospital, the garrison hospital. He died there after a few days on the chest dropsy. His widow was awarded after his death, a small one-time support.

Played games are not received by Allgaier, although he exercised an extensive practice in Vienna. It is usually assumed that he has some time served the Chess Turk - including a game that should have the supposed Schachautomat played 1809 I. Schloss Schönbrunn against Emperor Napoleon. However, the traditional game is not considered historic.

Chess Author

Already in 1795 and 1796 was in Vienna ( in two parts ) Allgaier textbook New theoretical and practical instruction appeared to play chess. At the imperial court the game of chess has been maintained for centuries. It was following a Spanish tradition. Allgaier's work was dedicated to the young archdukes Anton, Johann, Rainer, Louis and Rudolph "from their humble and gehorsamstem servant ".

That the chess also found their way into the Austrian people, is due in large part Allgaier. His Manual was the first significant contribution in German language to chess theory. The first part of the work contains an overview of the game starts then known. Finally finals are treated.

Allgaier knew the chess literature of his time very closely. He referred to the ideas Philidor and the opening of the chess school systems from Modena to Lolli, Ponziani and del Rio. The influence of the French master remained decisive for Allgaier, was also called the " German Philidor ". His work eventually found throughout the German-speaking area very well received and learned to Allgaier's lifetime four editions, revisions and additions which included. This was a remarkable success for its time. Even after his death, the book has been up in the 1840s further launched ( the seventh and final edition appeared in 1841). Only at that point had recent works, especially the manual of chess, the importance of the Allgaier - book displaces.

Aftereffect

For half a century were formulated by Allgaier "Chess laws" in the German area as a relevant rules. In Vienna, they were up to the establishment of the Chess Society in 1857 in use.

Allgaier's textbook contributed significantly to raising the skill level of German and Austrian chess player. However, a noticeable international influence could not exercise the work. In England and France, where at that time rested, the focus in the development of chess, was the " instruction", written in German and then still ungebräuchlicher algebraic notation, entering at any validity. Leading the way was the tabular arrangement of the openings, the Allgaier in the third edition of the book (1811 ) undertook the first time.

According to him, a variant of the King Gambit is named, the sharp and been considered a very risky Allgaier Gambit. It arises after the following moves: 1.e2 e5 -e4 e7 - 2.f2 - f4 -f3 e5xf4 3.Sg1 g7- g5 - h4 g5 - g4 4.h2 5.Sf3 - g5 ( as an alternative to 5.Sf3 - e5, the Kieseritzky Gambit ). After 5 - h7 - h6 the piece sacrifice 6.Sg5xf7 is enforced. An analysis of this Gambit contained the fourth edition of the manual ( 1819).

Werkausgaben

• New theoretical and practical instruction for chess. Part 1 and Part 2, Vienna 1795-96
• New theoretical and practical instruction for chess games, Vienna and Prague in 1823 (5th Edition)