Johannes Zukertort

Johannes Zukertort
Zukertort, early 1880s
Personal information
BornJohannes Hermann Zukertort
(1842-09-07)7 September 1842
Died20 June 1888(1888-06-20) (aged 45)
London, England
Chess career
CountryGerman Empire (before 1878)
United Kingdom (after 1878)

Johannes Hermann Zukertort (Polish: Jan Hermann Cukiertort; 7 September 1842 – 20 June 1888) was a Polish-born British-German chess master. He was one of the leading world players for most of the 1870s and 1880s, but lost to Wilhelm Steinitz in the World Chess Championship 1886, which is generally regarded as the first World Chess Championship match. He was also defeated by Steinitz in 1872 in an unofficial championship.

Zukertort filled his relatively short life with a wide range of other achievements as a soldier, musician, linguist, journalist and political activist.