Aaron Alexandre

Aaron (Albert) Alexandre (1765, Bavaria – 16 November 1850, London, England) was a German–French–English chess player and writer.

Aaron Alexandre, a Bavarian trained as a rabbi, arrived in France in 1793.Saint-Amant [Pierre-Charles Fournier de] , "Nécrologie: A. Alexandre", La Régence, 1st ser., 3, no. 1 (January 1851): 3–13.] Encouraged by the French Republic's policy of religious toleration, he became a French citizen. At first, he worked as a German teacher and as mechanical inventor. Eventually, chess became his primary occupation. He tried to make a complete survey of the chess openings, publishing his findings as the "Encyclopédie des échecs" ("Encyclopedia of Chess", Paris, 1837).

He continued with a survey of endgame analyses and a compilation of nearly two thousand chess problems, which he published in 1846 as "Collection des plus beaux Problèmes d'Echecs", Paris, and simultaneously in English and German translations: "Beauties of Chess", London, and "Praktische Sammlung bester Schachspiel-Probleme", Leipzig. [ [http://www.ktn.freeuk.com/cb.htm Knight's Tour Notes, Part Cb: Chronology 1800 – 1899 ] ]

Both books were accepted as standard reference collections, demonstrating Alexandre’s great technical knowledge. In chess as in his other activities, "he preferred erudition to performance". [ [http://content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=ft438nb2b6&doc.view=content&chunk.id=ch1&toc.depth=1&anchor.id=0&brand=eschol Crescendo of the Virtuoso "ch1" ] ] In 1838, he won a match against Howard Staunton in London.

References