Chess Romanticism Part V (Combination)
G'day all! 
Glad you could make it to the final blog in the series of Chess Romanticism. I'll show you the fine effulgent romantic artistry from 3 lesser-known old masters, embodied in 3 great games. I'll also give a cursory introduction of the players.
Amos Burn (1848-1925)
Amos Burn's Biography. Amos Burn learned chess in 1864 at the age of 15-16 (wow, many past masters were late-bloomers) and was mentored by world champion Steinitz. He was the foremost practitioner of the Burn variation of the French defense and replaced the notorious chess columnist Leopold Hoffer as editor of The Field. Hoffer was dead by the way. "Everybody knows" Hoffer fiercely upheld the romantic chess school in his writings, and labeling Steinitz's sophisticated play as cowardly. He once beat Alekhine in Karlsbad 1911 and his best performances included sharing first at London 1887, first at Amsterdam 1889, and first at Cologne 1898. However, Amos Burn's entire chess legacy has been immortalized in one move, in the following game versus Edmond MacDonald. (Not to be confused with the much more famous George Alcock MacDonell) Note: I did not spoil the natural beauty of this game with excess comments. Tim Krabbe` and Edward Winter among other sources are for further reading...
Gustav Richard Ludwig Neumann (1838-1881)Here's ChessGames.com's brief introduction:
"Gustav Richard Ludwig Neumann was born in Gleiwitz (now Gliwice, Poland) in 1838 and died in Allenberg in 1881. During the late 1860s, he was among the five strongest players in the world. Neumann co-founded, with Adolf Anderssen, and edited the 'Neue Berliner Schachzeitung'. In tournament play, he finished 1st at Dundee in 1867 and 3rd at Baden-Baden 1870. In matches, Neumann lost to Louis Paulsen (+3, =3, -5) in 1864 and defeated Simon Winawer (+3, =0, -0) in 1867. However, severe mental illness stopped him playing after 1872."
Here, we see Neumann in his element, walloping Zukertort in a trademark attacking style in a mere 18 moves.
Max Lange (1932-1899)
Max Lange was a bit of a mystery to me beyond his name near the bottom of several famous tournament standings. The Max Lange defense (1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6) is named after him, he composed numerous helpmate studies throughout his life, and published Handbuch der Schachaufgaben in 1862. He was 1st at Dusseldorf in 1862, 1863, and 1864, 1st at Hamburg 1868 and 1st at Aachen in 1868. In the database I've seen he beat Adolf Anderssen many times. Now Max Lange conducts a romantic attack that ends with none of white's queenside pieces developed. His first sacrifice was unsound but it was extremely difficult to refute. Max Lange is one of the lesser-known, yet great romantics!
I hope you enjoyed this romantic chess journey as much as I did. 
Please let me know your thoughts in the comments!! Which was your favorite game? I liked game no.3 the most...
