Max Lange (August 7, 1832,

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...

– December 8, 1899,

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

) was a German chess player and problem composer.

Chess career

Lange was an editor of the ''

Deutsche Schachzeitung ''Deutsche Schachzeitung'' (English: "''German Chess Magazine''") was the first German chess magazine. Founded in 1846 by Ludwig Bledow under the title ''Schachzeitung der Berliner Schachgesellschaft'' and appearing monthly, it took the name ''Deuts ...

'' (German Chess Newsletter) from 1858 to 1864. He was a founder of ''Westdeutscher Schachbund'' (West German Chess Federation, WDSB), and an organizer of the 9th DSB–Congress (''Kongress des Deutschen Schachbundes'') at Leipzig 1894. He was second President of the German Chess Federation (DSB). Lange won four Western German championships: thrice in Düsseldorf (1862, 1863, 1864), and at Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle) 1868 (7th WDSB–Congress). He also won at Hamburg 1868 (1st Congress of the North German Chess Federation). The statistical website Chessmetrics.com estimates that Lange was one of the top ten players in the world in the 1860s. He took an extended

sabbatical A sabbatical (from the Hebrew: (i.e., Sabbath); in Latin ; Greek: ) is a rest or break from work; "an extended period of time intentionally spent on something that’s not your routine job." The concept of the sabbatical is based on the Bi ...

from tournament chess from 1868 until his final appearance in the third DSB-Congress at

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

1883. Lange finished in a tie for 17–19th place, which was last. His ability had clearly deteriorated as a result of his long layoff but Chessmetrics.com places him among the top 40 to 50 players in the world in the 1880s on the basis of this result. Lange should not be confused with the lesser-known but identically named Dr. Max Lange (1883–1923), who is generally referenced as "Max Lange 2" in chess literature and whose best-known tournaments were

Hilversum Hilversum () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland, Netherlands. Located in the heart of the Gooi, it is ...

1903 and the 14th DSB-Congress at

Coburg Coburg ( , ) is a Town#Germany, town located on the Itz (river), Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Ernestine duchies, Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only ...

1904.

Works

Lange published ''Lehrbuch des Schachspiels'' (Textbook of Chess Games, Halle 1856), and ''Handbuch der Schachaufgaben'' (Handbook of

Chess problem A chess problem, also called a chess composition, is a puzzle created by the composer using chess pieces on a chessboard, which presents the solver with a particular task. For instance, a position may be given with the instruction that White is t ...

s, Leipzig 1862).

Legacy

The variation of the

Two Knights Defense The Two Knights Defense (also called the Prussian Defense) is a chess opening that begins with the moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. Nf3 Nc6 :3. Bc4 Nf6 First recorded by Giulio Cesare Polerio (c. 1550 – c. 1610) in the late 16th century, this line o ...

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.0-0 Bc5 6.e5 is called the Max Lange Attack. The

Vienna Game The Vienna Game is an opening in chess that begins with the moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. Nc3 White's second move is less common than 2.Nf3, and is also more recent. The original idea behind the Vienna Game was to play a delayed King's Gambit with f ...

variation 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 is known as the Max Lange Defense.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lange, Max 1832 births 1899 deaths Sportspeople from the Kingdom of Prussia German chess writers Chess theoreticians Chess officials German male non-fiction writers 19th-century German chess players 19th-century German sportsmen Sportspeople from Magdeburg