Johannes Zukertort

Who was Johannes Zukertort?

Johannes Hermann Zukertort was a leading British chess master. He was one of the leading world players for most of the 1870s and 1880s, and lost to Wilhelm Steinitz in the World Chess Championship 1886, generally regarded as the first World Chess Championship match. He was also defeated by Steinitz in 1872 in an unofficial championship; both were the world's best players.

Zukertort filled his relatively short life with a wide range of other achievements as a soldier, musician, linguist, journalist and political activist. He became a naturalised citizen of the United Kingdom in 1878.