Top 5 Romantic Chess Players
The Romantic Era is known for being the era for attacking chess. The ideas of positional chess did not yet exist. Instead, players attacked at all costs. Sacrifices were everywhere, and players were always looking for tactics. The Romantic era featured games that were more dynamic than the games of the modern era, and this blog is about the top 5 players from that time:
#5 — Joseph Henry Blackburne
Joseph Henry Blackburne was known as the "Black Death" due to his aggressive style. One thing he was noted for was his ability to determine combinations, which were the center of Romantic chess. In addition, he was also better at endgames than many of the other players of his generation, even though the games of that era rarely reached an endgame.
He was also famous for inventing the Blackburne Schilling Gambit, named as such because he often used it in games he would then go on to win. The wager for the game was a schilling. Gambits were a signature of Romantic chess, and he showed that they could work.
#4 — Mikhail Chigorin
Mikhail Chigorin is seen as the last great player of the Romantic style, and is also seen as the founder of the Soviet Chess School that went on to rule the chess world in the second half of the 20th century.
Even though he was a Romantic player who opposed the ideas of Wilhelm Steinitz, he agreed that the center must be defended and controlled, and built those ideas into his games, as well as his various contributions to opening theory, and there are variations in several openings that are named after him, such as the Ruy Lopez and the Queen's Gambit.
#3 — Johannes Zukertort
Johannes Zukertort is known for the "Ink War," which is the name given to his rivalry against Wilhelm Steinitz, the chess player who ended the Romantic Era and replaced its ideas with those of positional chess. Although Steinitz defeated Zukertort in an 1886 match that was the first World Championship, Zukertort was better at attacking than many of the other players of his time. It seems like this is a point in favor of positional chess in the positional vs tactical debate, but if you have a good position, it still means nothing if you don't attack.
Zukertort also preferred closed openings that run counter to attacking chess, and popularized the move 1. Nf3 40 years before Reti. Some call it the Reti Opening, some call it the Zukertort Opening. Either way, Zukertort made contributions to attacking ideas and to the opening theory that foreshadowed Hypermodernism.
#2 — Adolf Anderssen
Adolf Anderssen was noted for his sacrifces, and many of his games are seen as the embodiment of what Romantic chess is. The Romantic style is known for its combinations and its sacrifices, and Anderssen sacrificed more than anybody else. He played in the 1850s, before positional chess was shown to be feasible, and so all players sought to win by attacking and then attacking again. In this era, Anderssen showed everyone how an attack worked, and how to sacrifice in order to get a better position and win.
#1 — Paul Morphy
Paul Morphy was arguably the world's best player during the short time that he played chess. Not only was he a skilled attacker, but he also had a solid understanding of basic positional ideas, including development and control of the center. However, he was not a positional player in the same way as Botvinnik or Petrosian. Rather, he used these basic ideas to only further his attacks and show that they could be used to enchance one.
Whether or not this contributed to the end of the Romantic Era can be debated, but there is no denying that he was a vicious attacker with an unrivaled understanding of the game.
Conclusion
So there you go: the top 5 players from the Romantic Era. The chess played then is very different from the chess played today at the top level, and in my opinion, this style is better. Attacks are always fun, and what's better than sacrificing to crush your opponent?
This blog might seem relatively short, but it, as well as future blogs, are the precursors to a blog post I will be releasing that will be a full research paper, so even if you didn't enjoy the Romantic games of this era, make sure to stay updated.
Keep attacking, and see you next time.
