Jean Taubenhaus
Encyclopedia
Jean Taubenhaus (born 14 December 1850, Warsaw
– died 14 September 1919, Paris
) was a Polish
–born French
chess
master.
, after Joseph Henry Blackburne
and Amos Burn
, in strong London competition. He had significant victories over Blackburne, unchallenged leader of English chess, and Gunsberg, Steinitz’s opponent in later match for the world championship. In 1886, he took 6th at Nottingham. In 1887, he took 19th at Frankfurt (5th DSB Congress). In 1888, he took 8th at Bradford. In 1889, he tied for 12-13th at New York (6th US Congress). In 1890, he took 10th at Manchester (6th BCA Congress).
Living in Paris, Taubenhaus gave lessons at the Café de la Régence
, where he played every day. In 1890, he took 2nd, behind Alphonse Goetz
, at the Cafe. In 1892, he took 9th at the Cafe. In 1893-95, he stayed in America. In October 1893, he took 8th at New York. Then he played in Argentina and Cuba. In 1899, he played in Warsaw competition.
In 1901, he took 3rd, behind Stanislaus Sittenfeld
and Adolf Albin
, at Paris (Quadrangular). In 1902, he took 2nd, behind Dawid Janowski
, at Paris (Quadrangular). In 1902, he tied for 1st with Janowski at Paris (Pentagonal). In 1903, he tied for 10-11th at Monte Carlo. In 1905, he took 14th at Ostend
. In 1905, he won at Paris. In 1906, he took 7th at Ostend (el. 2nd stage). In 1913/14, he took 14th at St Petersburg.
Taubenhaus played several memorable matches. He drew with Sittenfeld (Paris, 1891), lost to Siegbert Tarrasch
(Nuremberg 1891, 1892), Jacques Mieses
(Glasgow, 1895), Janowski (Paris 1903, 1905), Miguel Angel Gelly (Buenos Aires, 1907), Walter Romain Lovegrove (Paris, 1912), and won against Andrés Clemente Vázquez (Havana 1894/95), Albin (Paris, 1901), Benito Villegas
(Buenos Aires, 1907), Richard Teichmann
(Paris, 1911).
Taubenhaus is the author of “Traité du Jeu d’Échecs," published in 1910.
chess player machine. The third automaton Mephisto was made by Charles Godfrey Gumpel, and unlike its predecessors The Turk
and Ajeeb
, it had no hidden operator and functioned by electro-mechanical means. Gumpel took a few years to build it and it was first shown in 1876 at his Leicester Square
home in London. It was the first automaton to win a chess tournament when it was entered in the Counties Chess Association at London in 1878. Mephisto was operated by Isidor Gunsberg
in the main. It was shown regularly for 10 years, and at one time had its own club in the UK. When Mephisto went to the Paris Exposition in 1889 it was operated by Taubenhaus. After 1889 it was dismantled and its subsequent whereabouts are unknown.
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
– died 14 September 1919, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
) was a Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
–born French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
master.
Biography
Taubenhaus was a foremost Warsaw chess player in late 70s of 19th century. In 1880, he settled in Paris. In the 4th international Congress of the German Chess Association (DSB) at Hamburg in July 1885, he took 14th place. His best achievement was the London tournament of 1886, where he tied for 3-4 places together with Isidor GunsbergIsidor Gunsberg
Isidor Arthur Gunsberg began his career as the player operating the remote-controlled chess automaton Mephisto, but later became a chess professional....
, after Joseph Henry Blackburne
Joseph Henry Blackburne
Joseph Henry Blackburne , nicknamed "The Black Death", dominated British chess during the latter part of the 19th century. He learned the game at the relatively late age of 18 but quickly became a strong player and went on to develop a professional chess career that spanned over 50 years...
and Amos Burn
Amos Burn
Amos Burn was an English chess player, one of the world's leading players at the end of the 19th century, and a chess writer....
, in strong London competition. He had significant victories over Blackburne, unchallenged leader of English chess, and Gunsberg, Steinitz’s opponent in later match for the world championship. In 1886, he took 6th at Nottingham. In 1887, he took 19th at Frankfurt (5th DSB Congress). In 1888, he took 8th at Bradford. In 1889, he tied for 12-13th at New York (6th US Congress). In 1890, he took 10th at Manchester (6th BCA Congress).
Living in Paris, Taubenhaus gave lessons at the Café de la Régence
Café de la Régence
The Café de la Régence in Paris was an important European centre of chess in the 18th and 19th centuries. All important chess masters of the time played there.The Café' masters include, but are not limited to:* Paul Morphy...
, where he played every day. In 1890, he took 2nd, behind Alphonse Goetz
Alphonse Goetz
Alphonse Goetz was a French chess master.Born in Strasbourg, France, he was a refugee after the Franco-Prussian War and the annexation of Alsace–Lorraine to the German Empire....
, at the Cafe. In 1892, he took 9th at the Cafe. In 1893-95, he stayed in America. In October 1893, he took 8th at New York. Then he played in Argentina and Cuba. In 1899, he played in Warsaw competition.
In 1901, he took 3rd, behind Stanislaus Sittenfeld
Stanislaus Sittenfeld
Stanislaus Sittenfeld was a Polish–French chess master.Born in Poland, he lived in Paris from 1884. He participated at the Café de la Régence championships in Paris and took 3rd place in 1890 and 1892. Both events were won by Alphonse Goetz.Sittenfeld played several matches in Paris...
and Adolf Albin
Adolf Albin
right|thumb|Adolf AlbinAdolf Albin was a Romanian chess player, especially known for the countergambit that bears his name, and for the first chess book written in Romanian.- Life :...
, at Paris (Quadrangular). In 1902, he took 2nd, behind Dawid Janowski
Dawid Janowski
Dawid Markelowicz Janowski was a leading Polish chess master and subsequent French citizen....
, at Paris (Quadrangular). In 1902, he tied for 1st with Janowski at Paris (Pentagonal). In 1903, he tied for 10-11th at Monte Carlo. In 1905, he took 14th at Ostend
Ostend
Ostend is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province of West Flanders. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke , Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the largest on the Belgian coast....
. In 1905, he won at Paris. In 1906, he took 7th at Ostend (el. 2nd stage). In 1913/14, he took 14th at St Petersburg.
Taubenhaus played several memorable matches. He drew with Sittenfeld (Paris, 1891), lost to Siegbert Tarrasch
Siegbert Tarrasch
Siegbert Tarrasch was one of the strongest chess players and most influential chess teachers of the late 19th century and early 20th century....
(Nuremberg 1891, 1892), Jacques Mieses
Jacques Mieses
----Jacques Mieses was a German-born Jewish chess Grandmaster and writer. He became a naturalized British citizen after World War II.p258-Chess career:...
(Glasgow, 1895), Janowski (Paris 1903, 1905), Miguel Angel Gelly (Buenos Aires, 1907), Walter Romain Lovegrove (Paris, 1912), and won against Andrés Clemente Vázquez (Havana 1894/95), Albin (Paris, 1901), Benito Villegas
Benito Villegas
Benito Higinio Villegas was an Argentine chess master.He was the first Champion of Club Argentino de Ajedrez in Buenos Aires in 1906-1907. After World War I, he won Argentine Chess Championship in 1922, and was Sub-Champion in 1921 and 1923.Villegas participated in several South American Chess...
(Buenos Aires, 1907), Richard Teichmann
Richard Teichmann
Richard Teichmann was a German chess master.He was known as "Richard the Fifth" because he often finished in fifth place in tournaments. But in Karlsbad 1911, he scored a convincing win, crushing Akiba Rubinstein and Carl Schlechter with the same line of the Ruy Lopez...
(Paris, 1911).
Taubenhaus is the author of “Traité du Jeu d’Échecs," published in 1910.
Mephisto
Taubenhaus was a primary operator of the remote-controlled MephistoMephisto (automaton)
Mephisto was the name given to a chess-playing "pseudo-automaton" built in 1876. Unlike The Turk and Ajeeb it had no hidden operator, instead being remotely controlled by electromechanical means....
chess player machine. The third automaton Mephisto was made by Charles Godfrey Gumpel, and unlike its predecessors The Turk
The Turk
The Turk, also known as the Mechanical Turk or Automaton Chess Player , was a fake chess-playing machine constructed in the late 18th century. From 1770 until its destruction by fire in 1854, it was exhibited by various owners as an automaton, though it was exposed in the early 1820s as an...
and Ajeeb
Ajeeb
Ajeeb was a chess-playing "automaton", created by Charles Hooper , first presented at the Royal Polytechnical Institute in 1868...
, it had no hidden operator and functioned by electro-mechanical means. Gumpel took a few years to build it and it was first shown in 1876 at his Leicester Square
Leicester Square
Leicester Square is a pedestrianised square in the West End of London, England. The Square lies within an area bound by Lisle Street, to the north; Charing Cross Road, to the east; Orange Street, to the south; and Whitcomb Street, to the west...
home in London. It was the first automaton to win a chess tournament when it was entered in the Counties Chess Association at London in 1878. Mephisto was operated by Isidor Gunsberg
Isidor Gunsberg
Isidor Arthur Gunsberg began his career as the player operating the remote-controlled chess automaton Mephisto, but later became a chess professional....
in the main. It was shown regularly for 10 years, and at one time had its own club in the UK. When Mephisto went to the Paris Exposition in 1889 it was operated by Taubenhaus. After 1889 it was dismantled and its subsequent whereabouts are unknown.
Notable chess games
- Johann Nepomuk Berger vs Jean Taubhausen, Hamburg 1885, 4th DSB Congress, Ruy Lopez, Morphy Defense, Tarrasch Variation, C77, 0-1 The best game prize !
- Jean Taubhausen vs Joseph Henry Blackburne, London 1886, French Defense, Classical Variation, C14, 1-0
- Jean Taubenhaus vs William Pollock, Nottingham 1886, King's Gambit Accepted, Allgaier Gambit, Thorold Attack, C39, 1-0
- Jean Taubenhaus vs Dawid Janowski, Paris 1903, match, Ruy Lopez, Closed, C87, ½–½
- Geza Maroczy vs Jean Taubenhaus, Monte Carlo 1903, R1 2/10, Ruy Lopez, Closed, Averbakh Variation, C87, 0-1
- Jean Taubenhaus vs Andrey Smorodsky, Sankt Petersburg 1914, Sicilian Defense, Classical Variation, B58, 1-0