Aaron (Albert) Alexandre (, around 1765/68 in

Hohenfeld Hohenfeld is a village in the rural district of Kitzingen, in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia, Bavaria, Germany. It is part of the town of Kitzingen Kitzingen () is a town in the Germany, German state of Bavaria, capital of the Kitzin ...

Franconia Franconia ( ; ; ) is a geographical region of Germany, characterised by its culture and East Franconian dialect (). Franconia is made up of the three (governmental districts) of Lower Franconia, Lower, Middle Franconia, Middle and Upper Franco ...

– 16 November 1850 in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

–

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

–

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

player and writer. Aaron Alexandre, a Bavarian trained as a

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

, arrived in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in 1793.Saint-Amant ierre-Charles Fournier de ''Nécrologie: A. Alexandre'', La Régence, 1st ser., 3, no. 1 (January 1851): 3–13. Encouraged by the

French Republic France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

's policy of religious toleration, he became a French citizen. At first, he worked as a German teacher and as a mechanical

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea, or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

. Eventually, chess became his primary occupation. He tried to make a complete survey of the

chess opening The opening is the initial stage of a chess game. It usually consists of established Chess_theory#Opening_theory, theory. The other phases are the chess middlegame, middlegame and the chess endgame, endgame. Many opening sequences, known as ''op ...

s, publishing his findings as the ''Encyclopédie des échecs'' (''Encyclopedia of Chess'', Paris, 1837). In this book, he used the algebraic notation and the castling symbols 0–0 and 0–0–0. In 1838, he won a match against

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-A ...

in London, though before Staunton became a master. Alexandre was one of the operators of the fake chess-playing machine known as

the Turk Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic of Turkey * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic lan ...

.Tom Standage, ''The Turk: The Life and Times of the Famous Eighteenth-Century Chess-Playing Machine'' (New York: Walker, 2002), 206.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexandre, Aaron 1766 births 1850 deaths People from Kitzingen 18th-century German Jews Jewish chess players German chess players French chess players British chess players German chess writers French chess writers British chess writers 18th-century French Jews 18th-century French writers German emigrants to the United Kingdom German emigrants to France German male non-fiction writers French male non-fiction writers Naturalized citizens of France

See also

References