![Bledow](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9b/Bledow.jpg)
Dr Ludwig Erdmann Bledow (27 July 1795,
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
– 6 August 1846, Berlin) was a German
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 ...
and chess organizer (co-founder of the
Berlin Pleiades
The Berlin Pleiades was a group of seven masters of German chess in the 19th century. They are named after the star constellation the Pleiades.
The members of the Berlin Pleiades were:
* Paul Rudolf von Bilguer, Army Lieutenant and author of the ...
).
In 1846 he founded the first German chess magazine, ''Schachzeitung der Berliner Schachgesellschaft'', which would later take the name ''
Deutsche Schachzeitung ''Deutsche Schachzeitung'' (English: "''German Chess Paper''") was the first German chess magazine.
Founded in 1846 by Ludwig Bledow under the title ''Schachzeitung der Berliner Schachgesellschaft'' and appearing monthly, it took the name ''Deutsche ...
''.
Influence on the game
Several details of the game's moves and competition rules had not yet been universally agreed in Bledow's time, and some were still being debated in 1851.
[. Can be viewed online or downloaded at ] Bledow, influenced by
Karl Schorn
Karl (Carl) Schorn (16 October 1803, Düsseldorf – 7 October 1850, Munich) was a German painter and chess master.
He was a member of the Berlin Pleiades
The Berlin Pleiades was a group of seven masters of German chess in the 19th century. The ...
, agreed that a player should be allowed to have multiple queens (as a result of
pawn promotion
In chess, promotion is the replacement of a pawn with a new piece when the pawn is moved to its last . The player replaces the pawn immediately with a queen, rook, bishop, or knight of the same . The new piece does not have to be a previously ca ...
s), so that chess rules in Germany fell in line with the French and English way of playing. He also argued strongly in favour of the
touch-move rule
The touch-move rule in chess specifies that a player, having the move, who deliberately touches a piece on the board must move or capture that piece if it is legal to do so. If it is the player's piece that was touched, it must be moved if the ...
.
Bledow wrote a letter to
Tassilo von Heydebrand und der Lasa
Tassilo, Baron von Heydebrand und der Lasa (known in English as Baron von der Lasa, 17 October 1818, Berlin – 27 July 1899, Storchnest near Lissa, Greater Poland, then German Empire) was a German chess master, chess historian and theoret ...
(usually abbreviated as "von der Lasa") proposing that an international tournament should be organized in
Trier
Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...
; the letter was printed in the ''Deutsche Schachzeitung'' in 1848, about 2 years after Bledow's death. Bledow intended that the winner of the proposed tournament should be recognized as the world champion: "Next year we will hopefully see each other in Trier, and until then the winner of the battle in Paris should not be overly proud of his special position, since it is in Trier that the crown will first be awarded." ("battle in Paris" means the 1843 match between
Howard Staunton
Howard Staunton (April 1810 – 22 June 1874) was an English chess master who is generally regarded as the world's strongest player from 1843 to 1851, largely as a result of his 1843 victory over Pierre Charles Fournier de Saint-Am ...
and
Pierre Charles Fournier de Saint-Amant
Pierre Charles Fournier de Saint-Amant (12 September 1800 – 29 October 1872) was a leading French chess master and an editor of the chess periodical '' Le Palamède''. He is best known for losing a match against Howard Staunton in 1843 that is ...
).
News of this may have stimulated Staunton to organize the
London 1851 chess tournament
London 1851 was the first international chess tournament. The tournament was conceived and organised by English player Howard Staunton, and marked the first time that the best chess players in Europe would meet in a single event. Adolf Anderssen o ...
, which was in fact the world's first international chess tournament.
In 1851 the surviving members of the
Berlin Pleiades
The Berlin Pleiades was a group of seven masters of German chess in the 19th century. They are named after the star constellation the Pleiades.
The members of the Berlin Pleiades were:
* Paul Rudolf von Bilguer, Army Lieutenant and author of the ...
nominated
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 ...
to represent Germany at the
London 1851 chess tournament
London 1851 was the first international chess tournament. The tournament was conceived and organised by English player Howard Staunton, and marked the first time that the best chess players in Europe would meet in a single event. Adolf Anderssen o ...
. As a result of winning the 1851 tournament Anderssen was widely recognised as the world's strongest player. In fact Hugh A. Kennedy, who played in the tournament and helped to organize it, wrote before the event started that the contest was "for the baton of the World's Chess Champion".
Playing strength
Assessments of Bledow's playing strength have to rely mainly on the comments of his contemporaries, as Bledow seldom recorded the moves in his games. Various sources, including ''Schachzeitung der Berliner Schachgesellschaft'' and correspondence by
Tassilo von Heydebrand und der Lasa
Tassilo, Baron von Heydebrand und der Lasa (known in English as Baron von der Lasa, 17 October 1818, Berlin – 27 July 1899, Storchnest near Lissa, Greater Poland, then German Empire) was a German chess master, chess historian and theoret ...
, indicate that Bledow:
*in 1838-1839 won a slight majority of his games against
József Szén
József Szén (9 July 1805, Pest, Hungary – 13 January 1857) was a Hungarian chess master.
He obtained a law degree, and later became a civil servant for the city of Pest, which later merged with the city of Buda (on the opposite bank of the ...
, who had narrowly beaten
Louis-Charles Mahé de La Bourdonnais
Louis-Charles Mahé de La Bourdonnais (1795 – December 1840) was a French chess master, possibly the strongest player in the early 19th century.
Early life
La Bourdonnais was born on the island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean in 1795. He w ...
in a match in 1836, +13-12=0, with de La Bourdonnais giving
odds
Odds provide a measure of the likelihood of a particular outcome. They are calculated as the ratio of the number of events that produce that outcome to the number that do not. Odds are commonly used in gambling and statistics.
Odds also have ...
of
pawn
Pawn most often refers to:
* Pawn (chess), the weakest and most numerous piece in the game
* Pawnbroker or pawnshop, a business that provides loans by taking personal property as collateral
Pawn may also refer to:
Places
* Pawn, Oregon, an his ...
and two moves.
*won a match against
Carl Jaenisch
Carl Ferdinand von Jaenisch (russian: Карл Андреевич Яниш, ''Karl Andreyevich Yanish''; April 11, 1813 – March 7, 1872) was a Finnish and Russian chess player and theorist. In the 1840s, he was among the top players in the ...
in 1842.
*won the majority of his games against
Henry Thomas Buckle
Henry Thomas Buckle (24 November 1821 – 29 May 1862) was an English historian, the author of an unfinished ''History of Civilization'', and a strong amateur chess player. He is sometimes called "the Father of Scientific History".
Early life ...
. It is particularly unfortunate that Buckle also did not record his games, as detailed information would have made it possible to compare Bledow with leading English players such as
Howard Staunton
Howard Staunton (April 1810 – 22 June 1874) was an English chess master who is generally regarded as the world's strongest player from 1843 to 1851, largely as a result of his 1843 victory over Pierre Charles Fournier de Saint-Am ...
. Buckle was considered England's second strongest player after Staunton; in fact some of Staunton's enemies argued that Buckle was the better player.
*in 1845 beat
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 ...
by either 5-0 or 4½-½, depending on which source is used. At this time Anderssen was 27 years old, and perhaps weaker than he was when he won the
1851
Events
January–March
* January 11 – Hong Xiuquan officially begins the Taiping Rebellion.
* January 15 – Christian Female College, modern-day Columbia College, receives its charter from the Missouri General Assembly.
...
and 1862 London International Tournaments.
*defeated
Augustus Mongredien
Augustus Mongredien (1807–1888) was a corn merchant, also known as a political economist and writer. He was a leading amateur British chess master.
Life
He was born in London in 1807, of French parents. His father was a French officer who fle ...
+7 –4 =1, also in 1845. At that time Mongrédien appears to have been a stronger player than he was in the late 1850s and 1860s. In 1845, possibly his best year, Mongrédien drew a match with
Carl Mayet
Carl (Karl) Mayet (11 August 1810, Berlin – 18 May 1868, Stettin, now Szczecin) was a German chess master. He was one of the most original of the Berlin Pleiades (the seven stars of German chess).
In 1839, Mayet defeated Jozsef Szen in a match ...
, and lost to Staunton by –2=3. Later he failed to win a game in matches against
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 ...
(1859),
Daniel Harrwitz
Daniel Harrwitz (22 February 1821 – 2 January 1884) was a German chess master.
Harrwitz was born in Breslau (Wrocław) in the Prussian Province of Silesia. Harrwitz's correct birth and death dates (22 February 1821 and 2 January 1884 respectiv ...
(1860), 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 che ...
(1863), and finished 11th out of 14 players in the 1862 London International Tournament (he was not invited to play in the 1851 tournament, possibly because he was on the wrong side in a dispute between some of the London clubs).
This information is insufficient to justify proclaiming Bledow as the strongest player of the mid-1840s, but he would deserve serious consideration as a contender.
An 1860 article in the ''Atlantic'' categorizes Bledow as a "closed" player (like
François-André Danican Philidor
François-André Danican Philidor (7 September 1726 – 31 August 1795), often referred to as André Danican Philidor during his lifetime, was a French composer and chess player. He contributed to the early development of the ''opéra comique''. ...
, Staunton, Harrwitz, Slous,
Bernhard Horwitz
Bernhard Horwitz (1807 in Neustrelitz – 1885 in London) was a German and British chess master, chess writer and chess composer.
Horwitz was born in Neustrelitz and went to school in Berlin, where he studied art. From 1837 to 1843, he was part ...
and Szén) rather than a "heroic" player (such as Labourdonnais, Morphy, Anderssen,
Carl Mayet
Carl (Karl) Mayet (11 August 1810, Berlin – 18 May 1868, Stettin, now Szczecin) was a German chess master. He was one of the most original of the Berlin Pleiades (the seven stars of German chess).
In 1839, Mayet defeated Jozsef Szen in a match ...
,
Max Lange
Max Lange (August 7, 1832, Magdeburg – December 8, 1899, Leipzig) was a German chess player and problem composer.
Chess career
In 1858–64, Lange was an editor of the ''Deutsche Schachzeitung'' (German Chess Newsletter). He was a founder of ...
, von der Lasa,
Serafino Dubois
Serafino Dubois (10 October 1817 – 15 January 1899) was an Italian chess Master and chess writer. Dubois was certainly among the strongest players in the world during the 1850s. He was known for his writings on the game, and for his promotion o ...
, Saint Amant, Mongredien,
Johann Löwenthal
Johann Jacob Löwenthal ( hu, Löwenthal János Jakab; 15 July 1810 – 24 July 1876) was a professional chess master. He was among the top six players of the 1850s.
Biography
Löwenthal was born in Budapest, the son of a Jewish merchant. He ...
and several others). Bledow's surviving games support this to some extent - for example he prefers the
Giuoco Piano
The Giuoco Piano (Italian: "Quiet Game"; ), also called the Italian Opening, is a chess opening beginning with the moves:
:1. e4 e5
:2. Nf3 Nc6
:3. Bc4 Bc5
"White aims to develop quickly – but so does Black. White can construct a pawn cen ...
to the
Kings Gambit, and plays the
Dutch Defense
The Dutch Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves:
:1. d4 f5
Black's 1...f5 stakes a claim to the e4-square and envisions an attack in the middlegame on White's ; however, it also weakens Black's kingside to an extent (especia ...
against 1.d4.
Notable games
Dr. Ludwig Bledow vs Paul Rudolf von Bilguer (1838)Dr. Ludwig Bledow vs Baron Tassilo Heydebrand und der Lasa (1838)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bledow, Ludwig
1795 births
1846 deaths
German chess players
Sportspeople from Berlin
People from the Margraviate of Brandenburg
19th-century chess players