Baron Ignatz von Kolisch (6 April 1837 – 30 April 1889), also Baron Ignaz von Kolisch (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

) or báró Kolisch Ignác ( Hungarian), was a merchant,

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

and chess master with Jewish roots. Kolisch was born into a Jewish family in Pressburg. Both in business and as a chess player he was eminently successful. In his early years he moved to Vienna, then spent a year in Italy. In 1859 he arrived in Paris and in 1860-62 mostly sojourned in London. In summer 1862 he accompanied the Russian Count Kushelev-Bezborodko to St. Petersburg, where he won a match against Ilya Shumov. Later he moved to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

and in 1869 to

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. He became involved in banking and became a millionaire and chess patron, organizing and sponsoring important chess tournaments in the 1870s and 1880s. He founded the ''Wiener Börse-Syndikatskasse'' in 1869, and in 1873 established a commission house in

; and by prudent management he acquired considerable wealth. In 1881 he received the title of baron from

Georg II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen Georg II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen (2 April 1826 – 25 June 1914), was the penultimate Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, reigning from 1866 to 1914. For his support for his successful court theatre he was also known as the ''Theaterherzog'' (theatre duk ...

. As a chess player, Kolisch soon became known for his brilliant and aggressive style, but he was not a frequent participant in tournaments. In 1860 he won the first prize at the international tournament held at

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

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. In 1861 he lost a match to

Adolf Anderssen Karl Ernst Adolf Anderssen (July 6, 1818 – March 13, 1879)"Anderssen, Adolf" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 385. was a German chess master. He won the great internat ...

, the strongest player of the day, by a score of 5–4. The same year, he drew a match with

Louis Paulsen Louis Paulsen (15 January 1833 in Gut Nassengrund near Blomberg, Principality of Lippe – 18 August 1891) was a German chess player. In the 1860s and 1870s, he was among the top players in the world. He was a younger brother of Wilfried Pa ...

. In 1867 at the Paris tournament he secured first place, defeating both

Szymon Winawer Szymon Abramowicz Winawer (March 6, 1838 – November 29, 1919) was a Polish-Jewish chess player who won the German Chess Championship in 1883. Tournament and match results At the Paris 1867 tournament held at the Café de la Régence, his first ...

and

Wilhelm Steinitz William Steinitz (born Wilhelm Steinitz; May 14, 1836 – August 12, 1900) was an Austrian and, later, American chess player. From 1886 to 1894, he was the first official World Chess Champion. He was also a highly influential writer and c ...

. Kolisch was the founder and editor-in-chief of the ''Wiener Allgemeine Zeitung'', to which, under the pseudonym "Ideka",Székely Dávid: Magyak irók álnevei a multban és jelenbe

p.18 (Budapest, 1904) he contributed many

feuilleton A ''feuilleton'' (; a diminutive of french: feuillet, the leaf of a book) was originally a kind of supplement attached to the political portion of French newspapers, consisting chiefly of non-political news and gossip, literature and art critici ...

s. The protagonist in the short story "The chessbaron" (A sakkbáró) by

Ferenc Móra Ferenc Móra (19 July 1879 – 8 February 1934) was a Hungarian novelist, journalist, and museologist. Life Ferenc Móra was born in Kiskunfélegyháza, into a financially poor family. His father Márton Móra was a tailor, and his mothe ...

is based on him. He died of kidney failure in 1889.

References

* E. T. Blanchard, ''Examples of Chess Master-Play'', 1st series (transl. from the German of

Jean Dufresne Jean Dufresne (14 February 1829 – 13 April 1893) was a German chess player and chess composer. He was a student of Adolf Anderssen, to whom he lost the "Evergreen game" in 1852. Life Dufresne was born and died in Berlin. The son of a wealthy J ...

), Index, New Barnet, 1893. * * F. Zavatarelli, ''Ignaz Kolisch. The Life and Chess Career'', McFarland, 2015.

External links

* Hungarian chess players Austrian chess players Jewish chess players Chess patrons Hungarian Jews Austrian Jews 1837 births 1889 deaths Deaths from kidney failure Sportspeople from Bratislava 19th-century philanthropists 19th-century chess players {{Slovakia-chess-bio-stub

See also

References

External links