Lionel Kieseritzky

Chessmetrics Ranking: World Number One at the turn of 1850 – 1851

Tournament Career: without major successes

Matches: Kieseritzky vs Harrwitz 11:5 (=2)

  Kieseritzky vs Horwitz 7:4 (=1)

What earned him this recognition:

Lionel Kieseritzky is paradoxically known primarily for a game he lost. This is, of course, the informal game against Adolf Anderssen played during the break of the first international tournament in London in 1851, which bears the grand title of the Immortal Game. Coincidentally, Anderssen and Kieseritzky faced each other in the first round of that tournament, and Anderssen advanced and eventually won the entire tournament. For Kieseritzky, on the other hand, it was a confirmation that tournaments were not his strong suit; he had a much better record in matches.

Kieseritzky was much more than just the loser in one of the most famous games in history. He was an elite player at the time when our series of articles begins – in the early 1850s, he was considered the best player in the world according to historical rankings. In matches, he defeated several leading masters of the time, such as Harrwitz and Horwitz. Most of his career took place before 1850, but even after that, Kieseritzky was one of the best in the world. This was true even when he died in 1853 at the young age of 47.

Lionel Kieseritzky is generally regarded as a model sportsman because, despite his loss, it was he who recorded and published the Immortal Game, allowing us to replay it even 170 years after it was played.

Why he isn’t ranked higher:

Although Kieseritzky was briefly the best in the world, his not particularly impressive tournament results and premature death did not allow me to rank him higher.

Best Game:

John William Schulten vs Lionel Kieseritzky

Paris 1850