German chess player Adolf Anderssen (Karl Ernst Adolf Anderssen) was born on 6 July 1818 in Wrocław. His father taught him to play chess at the age of nine. According to his recollection he has studied the strategy of the game form William Lewis’ book Fifty Games between La Bourdonnais and McDonnell (1835) (Wikipedia). He was not a child prodigy his development was well planned and steady. His Word Ranking: N˚1 (in 7 different months between December 1861 and August 1870). He was considered to be one of the top ten players between 1848 and 1879. According to Chessmetrics his highest rating is 2744.

He did not win World Champion title. Although the idea of organising a World Championship tournament arose in the 1840s, the game held in 1866 between Adolf Anderssen and Wilhelm Steinitz did not qualify as a World Championship match. In this game Anderssen lost in a close contest. Aside from Seinitz, Anderssen played against Paul Morphy in 1858 as well. He lost that game too.

Interesting facts:

His two important games have specific names to this day. He won both games making serious sacrifices. In his game against Lionel Kieseritzky in 1851 he sacrificed a bishop, both rooks and finally his queen. This game was later called “Immortal Game”. His other famous game he played against Jean Dufresne in 1852 in Berlin. He made less sacrifices here for winning, although he again sacrificed his queen. This game is called “Evergreen Game”.

He died on 13 March 1879 in Wrocław at the age of 60.