Tassilo von Heydebrand und der Lasa

Who was Tassilo von Heydebrand und der Lasa?

Tassilo, Baron von Heydebrand und der Lasa was an important German chess master, chess historian and theoretician of the nineteenth century, a member of the Berlin Chess Club and a founder of the Berlin Chess School.

His name is usually abbreviated as "von der Lasa", as this is how he signed his letters. However both contemporary and more recent writers have used other abbreviations, such as "von Heydebrandt" and "Der Lasa". The Prussian King William I made a joke out of the confusion by saying, "Good morning, dear Heydebrand. How is von der Lasa doing?"

Von der Lasa was born 17 October 1818 in Berlin. He studied law in Bonn and Berlin. From 1845 he was a diplomat in the service of Prussia. His career took him to Stockholm, Copenhagen, and Rio de Janeiro, among other places. He retired from the diplomatic service in 1864, and thereafter devoted himself to the world of chess.

He played several matches and defeated the strongest masters in the period 1843–1853. He won against Henry Thomas Buckle 2-1, Adolf Anderssen 4-2, Johann Löwenthal 6-1, John William Schulten 4-1, Anderssen 10-5, and Howard Staunton 7-6.