Editing Adolf Anderssen (section)

===London 1851===
[[Image:Howard-Staunton-ILN-detail-1.jpeg|thumb|upright=0.80|left|[[Howard Staunton]] was the principal organiser of the [[London 1851 chess tournament|1851 London International Tournament]], and offered to pay Anderssen's travel expenses, should he fail to win.]]
In 1848, Anderssen drew a match with the professional player [[Daniel Harrwitz]].<ref name="storiascacchiMatchesTo1849" /> On the basis of this match and his general chess reputation, he was invited to represent German chess at the [[London 1851 chess tournament|first international chess tournament]], to be held in London in 1851. Anderssen was reluctant to accept the invitation, as he was deterred by the travel costs. However, the tournament's principal organizer, [[Howard Staunton]], offered to pay Anderssen's travel expenses out of his own pocket if necessary, should Anderssen fail to win a tournament prize. Anderssen accepted this generous offer.<ref name="batgirlAnderssen">{{cite web | url=http://batgirl.atspace.com/Anderssen.html | title=Morphy's opponents: Adolf Anderssen | access-date=17 June 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511165040/http://batgirl.atspace.com/Anderssen.html | archive-date=11 May 2008 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

Anderssen's preparations for the 1851 London International Tournament produced a surge in his playing strength: he played over 100 games in early 1851 against strong opponents including [[Carl Mayet]], [[Ernst Falkbeer]], [[Max Lange]] and [[Jean Dufresne]].<ref name="Diggle2006vonDerLasa" />  The 1851 International Tournament was a [[Single-elimination tournament|knock-out]] event in which pairs of competitors played short matches, and Anderssen won it by beating [[Lionel Kieseritzky]], [[József Szén]], Staunton and [[Marmaduke Wyvill (chess player)|Marmaduke Wyvill]] – by margins of at least two games in every case.<ref name="WeeksLondon1851" /> His prize was two-thirds of the total prize fund of £500, i.e. about £335;<ref name="StauntonLondon1851">{{cite book | title=The Chess Tournament | author=[[Howard Staunton|Staunton, H.]] | date=April 2003 | publisher=Hardinge Simpole | isbn=1-84382-089-7}} can be viewed online at or downloaded as PDF from [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb__SUCAAAAYAAJ <!-- quote=1851 london tournament book staunton. --> Internet Archive]</ref> that is equivalent to about £240,000 ($370,200) in 2006's money.<ref>Conversion based on average incomes, which are the most appropriate measure for several days' hard work. If we use average prices for the conversion, the result is about £27,000. {{cite web | url=http://www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare/result.php?use%5B%5D=CPI&use%5B%5D=DEFIND&use%5B%5D=WAGE&use%5B%5D=GDPCP&use%5B%5D=GDPC&year_early=1851&pound71=335&shilling71=0&pence71=0&amount=335&year_source=1851&year_result=2008 | access-date=17 June 2008 | title=Five Ways to Compute the Relative Value of a U.K. Pound Amount, 1830–2006: 2006 equivalent of £335 in 1851 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090429030933/http://www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare/result.php?use%5B%5D=CPI&use%5B%5D=DEFIND&use%5B%5D=WAGE&use%5B%5D=GDPCP&use%5B%5D=GDPC&year_early=1851&pound71=335&shilling71=0&pence71=0&amount=335&year_source=1851&year_result=2008 | archive-date=29 April 2009 | url-status=dead }}</ref> When Anderssen and Szén found they were to play each other, they agreed that, if either won the tournament, the other would receive one-third of the prize; this does not appear to have been considered in any way unethical.<ref name="StauntonLondon1851" />

Although most chess books regard [[Wilhelm Steinitz]] as the first true world champion,<ref name="Fine1952WorldsGreatChessGames">{{cite book | author=Fine, R. | title=The World's Great Chess Games | year=1976
 | publisher=Dover|pages=14–17}}</ref> one of the organizers of the [[London 1851 chess tournament|1851 London International Tournament]] had said the contest was for "the baton of the World's Chess Champion".<ref name="Spinrad2006EarlyWorldRankings">{{cite web | url=http://www.chesscafe.com/text/spinrad06.pdf | title=Early World Rankings | year=2006 | author=Spinrad, J.P. | publisher=chesscafe.com | access-date=17 June 2008 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080625170732/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/spinrad06.pdf| archive-date= 25 June 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref> In fact Anderssen was not described as "the world champion", but the tournament established Anderssen as the world's leading chess player.<ref name="Fine1952WorldsGreatChessGames" /> The London Chess Club, which had fallen out with Staunton and his colleagues, organised a tournament that was played a month later and included several players who had competed in the International Tournament. The result was the same – Anderssen won.<ref name="storiascacchiTorneiAl1879" />