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Lionel Adalbert Bagration Felix Kieseritzky (1806-1853) was a 19th century chess master, famous primarily for a game he lost against Adolf Anderssen, which was so brilliant it was named "The Immortal Game"
A mathematics teacher like Anderssen, Kieseritzky moved to Paris and became a chess professional, giving lessons or playing games for five francs an hour, and editing a chess magazine. He won a match against the German master Bernhard Horwitz in 1846. In 1851 he was invited to play in the first international chess tournament in London where he was defeated in the first round by Anderssen. It was in London that Kieseritzky played the off-hand game against Anderssen which has so thrilled generations of chess amateurs such that it has been dubbed "The Immortal Game".
Just two years later, Kieseritzky died, and was buried in a pauper's grave, completely unmourned due to his unattractive personality and appearance.
References
- The Oxford Companion to Chess, 2d ed. by David Hooper and Kenneth Whyld. 1992
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