Gustav Neumann

Chessmetrics Ranking: World Number One 1868-1870

Tournament Career: winner of two super-tournaments:

German Chess Congress 1865

Dundee Chess Tournament 1867

Matches: Neumann vs Winawer 3:0

  Neumann vs Rosenthal 5:0 (=6)

What He Achieved:

Gustav Neumann was one of the best in the world, especially at the end of the 1860s. During that time, he won tournaments and matches, was a long-term number one according to historical rankings, and was simply a star of the chess world at that time. He won the tournament in Dundee ahead of Steinitz, who was considered the best in the world at that time, as well as ahead of de Vere and Blackburne.

Besides super-tournaments, he also won a club tournament in Berlin, which, although not considered a super-tournament due to the strength of the opponents, still had a decently strong opposition. And was it Neumann’s first major tournament? The result? He won all thirty-four games and introduced himself to the chess scene with a perfect score. From the beginning, it was clear that the world was dealing with a new star.

We can speculate on how many more tournaments he might have won if he had not ended his chess career in 1872 at the age of just thirty-three due to mental illness. He died young in 1881. I would like to remind you that only five years later, Steinitz, who was fifty at the time, became the first official world champion. It can therefore be assumed that if Neumann had been alive and active in chess, he would have been one of the main obstacles for the Prague native on his way to the title.

Best Game:

Gustav Neumann vs Jean Dufresne

Berlin 1863