Johannes Zukertort

Johannes Hermann Zukertort was a chess master born in Lublin in 1842 and usually described as Polish-born, British and German. He was one of the leading players in the world through most of the 1870s and 1880s. In 1886 he met Wilhelm Steinitz in the match that is generally regarded as the first World Chess Championship, and he lost it, having already been beaten by Steinitz in an unofficial championship match in 1872. His life reached well beyond the board, since he also worked as a soldier, musician, linguist, journalist and political activist. He died in 1888 at the age of forty five, a short life that was nonetheless crowded with achievements in several fields.