Joseph Henry Blackburne

Chessmetrics Ranking: World number two for a total of 77 months (over six years) between 1873-1889)

Tournament Career: Winner of six super-tournaments:

Vienna 1873, where he lost the tie-break to Steinitz

German Chess Congress 1881

London 1876

and a few others…

Matches: Blackburne vs Gunsberg 7:4 (=3)

  Blackburne vs Zukertort 5:1 (=7)

  Blackburne vs von Bardeleben 3:3 (=3)

What He Deserved It For:

Joseph Henry Blackburne became passionate about chess at the age of eighteen when he learned about Paul Morphy’s triumphant campaign through Europe. In the later part of the century, he was such a strong player and, following Morphy’s example, an excellent combinator and tactician, that his fellow opponents nicknamed him the Black Death, which stuck.

He was consistently second in the world and in matches managed to defeat the best of the best, such as Zukertort and Gunsberg. But it was the major international tournaments where he achieved his greatest successes. The super-tournament in Vienna in 1873 is perhaps his greatest achievement – he shared first place with Steinitz and surpassed Anderssen, Rosenthal, and Paulsen. In the German Congress of 1881, he completely dominated and finished a full three points ahead of second-place Zukertort, with other participants including Chigorin, Winawer, Mason, and Paulsen. He also added many second and third places, notably his shared third place in Baden-Baden 1870, only behind Anderssen and Steinitz.

Unlike some contemporaries, such as the previously mentioned Amos Burn, Blackburne was a full-time chess professional. As a result, he became a seasoned tournament veteran over the years, traveling to chess events and collecting prizes until a very advanced age. He ended his career as a septuagenarian at the start of World War I.

Best Games:

Joseph Blackburne vs Jacques Schwarz

Berlin 1881