Zukertort's Immortal

• Imagine the year is 1883, London. You are the leading Polish chess player, Johannes Zukertort, facing Joseph Blackburne.
• Blackburne is a strong English chess master who won the British Championship in 1868 and is well-known for turning around positions that appear to be bad. You have the white pieces and it’s your move.
• Observe the board carefully and think deeply about the moves presented on it, how would you go about this?

• Zukertort learned to play chess in Breslau when he was about age 19. Entering a tournament in that city, and receiving the odds of the queen, he lost every game, whereupon he took up the study of Bilguer's Handbuch, with the result that in 1862 he won games from the leading German chess player Adolf Anderssen at the odds of a knight. Zukertort studied with Anderssen and within a very few years he became one of the strongest players in Germany.

• Among many other notable matches that Zukertort played with Anderssen, he defeated him in 1866, lost in 1868 by a score of eight wins, three losses, one draw, and finally defeated him convincingly (5–2; no draws) in a match in 1871. In 1867 he moved to Berlin and in 1872 to London. In that year, he played Wilhelm Steinitz in London, losing 9–3 (7 losses, 1 win, 4 draws).

To learn more about Joseph Henry Blackburne check out our blog on one of his best matches that includes a small insert from his biography! After that you can check out Morphy's Opera Game to further sharpen your skills and enrich your chess knowledge!

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