Johann Löwenthal
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Johann Jacob Löwenthal ( hu, Löwenthal János Jakab; 15 July 1810 – 24 July 1876) was a professional
chess master A chess title is a title regulated by a chess governing body and bestowed upon players based on their performance and rank. Such titles are usually granted for life. The international chess governing body FIDE grants several titles, the most pres ...
. He was among the top six players of the 1850s.


Biography

Löwenthal was born in
Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
, the son of a Jewish merchant. He was educated at the gymnasium of his native city. In 1846, he won a match against
Carl Hamppe Carl Hamppe (1814 in Switzerland – 17 May 1876, in Gersau, Canton of Schwyz) was a senior government official in Vienna as well as a Swiss-Austrian chess master and theoretician. He played matches with Johann Löwenthal (4 : 5) in 1846, Ernst F ...
in Vienna (with 5 wins, 4 losses, and no draws). He received a civil appointment under the administration of
Lajos Kossuth Lajos Kossuth de Udvard et Kossuthfalva (, hu, udvardi és kossuthfalvi Kossuth Lajos, sk, Ľudovít Košút, anglicised as Louis Kossuth; 19 September 1802 – 20 March 1894) was a Hungarian nobleman, lawyer, journalist, poli ...
in 1848. On the downfall of the latter, Löwenthal was expelled from Hungary, and he emigrated to America in 1849. In 1851, he went to London and resided permanently in England thereafter. At the Manchester tournament of 1857, Löwenthal defeated
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 interna ...
for first place. During his 1850 visit to
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster.
; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...
, Löwenthal played
Paul Morphy Paul Charles Morphy (June 22, 1837 – July 10, 1884) was an American chess player. He is considered to have been the greatest chess master of his era and is often considered the unofficial World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he was ca ...
on two separate occasions, losing a total of three games straight. He was one of the first masters to play a match against Morphy after the latter's arrival in London in 1858. Morphy won with a score of nine wins, three losses, and two draws. "...I am convinced that I was vanquished by superior strength," Löwenthal said about the match, as reported by an English writer named Frederick Edge, who wrote extensively about Morphy and other famous players in a book called ''The Exploits and Triumphs, in Europe, of Paul Morphy, the Chess Champion''. No doubt aware that chess was Löwenthal's only source of livelihood, and conscious to not be considered a professional player himself, Morphy, after winning the match stakes of £100, presented Löwenthal with a gift of furniture valued at £120 for his new house. Just days after being defeated by Morphy, Löwenthal had his greatest success by winning the British Chess Association Congress knockout tournament in
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
, England, on 27 August 1858. His prize was £63. In 1860, Löwenthal took advantage of Morphy's extreme popularity to create a collection of the American master's games titled ''Morphy's Games of Chess''. According to Morphy's biographer David Lawson, Morphy was friendly to Löwenthal and therefore agreed to sign his name to material in the book, which was purported to be written by Morphy but in fact was not. For a time, Löwenthal served as club secretary of the St. George's Chess Club in London. He taught chess and invented the first . He helped organise an international tournament in 1862, and then published a . Löwenthal was for some time chess editor of ''The Illustrated News of the World'' and of ''The Era''. He was editor also of ''The Chess Players' Magazine'' (1863–1867). In 1860, he published Morphy's ''Games of Chess, with Analytical and Critical Notes''. When Löwenthal became ill in 1874 and could no longer financially support himself, a collection was taken up for him.
Lord Randolph Churchill Lord Randolph Henry Spencer-Churchill (13 February 1849 – 24 January 1895) was a British statesman. Churchill was a Tory radical and coined the term 'Tory democracy'. He inspired a generation of party managers, created the National Union of ...
and many others contributed to the charity fund. Under the influence of
W. G. Ward William George Ward (21 March 1812 – 6 July 1882) was an English theologian and mathematician. A Roman Catholic convert, his career illustrates the development of religious opinion at a time of crisis in the history of English religious though ...
, with whom he played chess, Löwenthal became a
Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
. He died on 24 July 1876 at St. Leonards-on-Sea, near
Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
, at the age of 66.


See also

*
List of Jewish chess players Jews, Jewish players and Chess theory, theoreticians have long been involved in the game of chess and have significantly contributed to the development of chess, which has been described as the "Jewish National game". Chess gained po ...


References

*


Further reading

*''
British Chess Magazine ''British Chess Magazine'' is the world's oldest chess journal in continuous publication. First published in January 1881, it has appeared at monthly intervals ever since. It is frequently known in the chess world as ''BCM''. The founder and ...
'', 1926, pages 345–8, and 1976, pages 308–14 *


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lowenthal, Johann 1810 births 1876 deaths Hungarian Jews Hungarian Roman Catholics British Roman Catholics British Jews Hungarian chess players British chess players Jewish chess players Converts to Roman Catholicism from Judaism 19th-century chess players Sportspeople from Budapest