Carl Ferdinand von Jaenisch (russian: Карл Андреевич Яниш, ''Karl Andreyevich Yanish''; April 11, 1813 – March 7, 1872) was a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

and Russian

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

player and theorist. In the 1840s, he was among the top players in the world.Adriano Chicco, Giorgio Porreca, ''Dizionario enciclopedico degli scacchi'', Milan: Mursia, 1971

Life and career

Born in

Vyborg Vyborg (; rus, Вы́борг, links=1, r=Výborg, p=ˈvɨbərk; fi, Viipuri ; sv, Viborg ; german: Wiborg ) is a town in, and the administrative center of, Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus n ...

, he began a military career in Finland, but soon moved to Russia to teach rational mechanics in Petersburg (now

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

). He dedicated his life to mathematics and chess, two subjects which he considered closely related. He tried to show their connections in his work ''Découvertes sur le cavalier (aux échecs)'', published in Petersburg in 1837. In 1842–43 he published a book on the openings in two volumes: ''Analyse Nouvelle des ouvertures''. In 1862–63 he published his major work: ''Traité des applications de l'analyse mathématique au jeu des échecs'', in three volumes. He wanted to take part in the

London 1851 chess tournament London 1851 was the first international chess tournament. The tournament was conceived and organised by English player Howard Staunton, and marked the first time that the best chess players in Europe would meet in a single event. Adolf Anderssen o ...

, but arrived late and instead played a match with

Howard Staunton Howard Staunton (April 1810 – 22 June 1874) was an English chess master who is generally regarded as the world's strongest player from 1843 to 1851, largely as a result of his 1843 victory over Pierre Charles Fournier de Saint-Ama ...

, which he lost +2–7=1. Three years later he also lost to Ilya Shumov (+3–5=4).

Legacy

Jaenisch is best remembered for having analysed and helped develop Petrov's Defence with Alexander Petrov, and for his work on the Schliemann–Jaenisch Gambit of the Ruy Lopez, which begins 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 f5!? The postmodern gambit 1. c4 b5!? is the Jaenisch Gambit, but while Jaenisch mentioned this move, he did not advocate it. Staunton was most upset at his death in 1872, writing to

Tassilo von Heydebrand und der Lasa Tassilo, Baron von Heydebrand und der Lasa (known in English as Baron von der Lasa, 17 October 1818, Berlin – 27 July 1899, Storchnest near Lissa, Greater Poland, then German Empire) was a German chess master, chess historian and theoret ...

in November of that year:

I was sorry to lose
Lewis Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...
and St. Amant, my dear friends Bolton and Sir T. Madden, and others of whom we have been deprived, but for Jaenisch I entertained a particular affection, and his loss was proportionately painful to me. He was truly an amiable and an upright man.

After Jaenisch's death a scholarship fund in his honor, which survives to this day, was established by his sister.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jaenisch, Carl 1813 births 1872 deaths Sportspeople from Vyborg People from Viipuri Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) Chess players from the Russian Empire Chess theoreticians 19th-century chess players