Paul Rudolf (or Rudolph) von Bilguer (21 September 1815 – 16 September 1840) was a German

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 dist ...

master and chess theoretician from

Ludwigslust Ludwigslust () is a central castle town of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, 40 km south of Schwerin. Since 2011 it has been part of the Ludwigslust-Parchim district. Ludwigslust is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. The former royal re ...

in the

Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin The Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was a territory in Northern Germany held by the House of Mecklenburg residing at Schwerin. It was a sovereign member state of the German Confederation and became a federated state of the North German Con ...

. Bilguer, who was a lieutenant in the Prussian army, was sent to Berlin on a course, where he met the six gifted German players with whom he formed a group that became known as the '

Berlin Pleiades The Berlin Pleiades was a group of seven masters of German chess in the 19th century. They are named after the star constellation the Pleiades. The members of the Berlin Pleiades were: * Paul Rudolf von Bilguer, Army Lieutenant and author of the ...

'. He resigned his commission and devoted his time to chess. He was considered to be the most brilliant of the 'Pleiades' and was a good blindfold player. (ISBN is for the second edition) To the modern chess world he is known above all as the co-author of the ''

Handbuch des Schachspiels ''Handbuch des Schachspiels'' (''Handbook of Chess'', often simply called the ''Handbuch'') is a chess book, first published in 1843 by Tassilo von Heydebrand und der Lasa. It was a comprehensive reference book on the game, and one of the most im ...

''. He died at age 24, probably of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

, before finishing the ''Handbuch'', but the work was completed by his friend

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 ...

, who gave primary credit to Bilguer. The ''Handbuch'' was for many years considered the definitive reference work on the game of chess, and on openings in particular. It was a precursor to later standard opening reference works such as ''

Modern Chess Openings ''Modern Chess Openings'' (usually called ) is a reference book on chess openings, first published in 1911 by the British players Richard Clewin Griffith (1872–1955) and John Herbert White (1880–1920). The fifteenth edition was published in ...

'' and ''

Encyclopedia of Chess Openings The ''Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings'' () is a reference work describing the state of opening theory in chess, originally published in five volumes from 1974 to 1979 by the Serbian company Šahovski Informator ( Chess Informant). It is curren ...

''.

References

External links

*
Theory book on the Two Knights Game (1839) of Bilguer

Jeremy Spinrad, ''New Stories about Old Chess Players - Bilguer'', chesscafe.com, 2007
1815 births 1840 deaths People from Ludwigslust People from the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin German chess players German chess writers German male non-fiction writers 19th-century chess players 19th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in Germany {{Germany-chess-bio-stub