Johann Nepomuk Berger

Johann Nepomuk Berger (* 11 April 1845 in Graz; † 17 October 1933 in Graz) was an Austrian chess theorist, chess composer and university teacher.

Chessplayer
Berger learnt to play chess at the age of 16. Between 1880 and 1908, he took part in a large number of chess tournaments, but was unable to win a single one, placing mostly in the middle of the field. He therefore announced his withdrawal from the tournament arena on several occasions, but always relapsed.

Professional

From 1899, he was director of the Graz Commercial Academy and professor at the Technical University. He taught commercial law and accounting there. In 1905 he became a government councillor, and in 1933 he was awarded the title of Hofrat.

Berger was also active in other areas of chess. In correspondence chess, he won the tournament organised by the magazine Monde Illustré between 1889 and 1892. He wrote chess books on several topics. He also developed a scoring system known as the Sonneborn-Berger system, which is still used today in chess tournaments to determine the ranking of players with equal points.

Editor

From 1898 to 1911, he was editor of the prestigious Deutsche Schachzeitung. He also published a number of opening analyses there, particularly on the Spanish Game. He gave a complete overview of his chess activities in his book Probleme, Studien und Partien 1862 bis 1912 (Problems, Studies and Games 1862 to 1912), published in 1914. Berger was an honorary member of the German Chess Federation from 1910.

Endgame theorist

He had an excellent reputation as an endgame theorist. His main work Theory and Practice of Endgames was first published in 1890 and in a second, enlarged edition in 1922. According to his own statement, he worked on this book for seven years. Shortly before his death, a booklet of supplements was published in 1933. He summarised the entire knowledge of endgames at the time and introduced several new terms, such as Berger's square, a method for simplifying the calculation of pawn endgames. His book was regarded as the standard work until André Chéron published the four-volume Lehr- und Handbuch der Endspiele in 1955.

Die Schwalbe (Germain magazine) wrote:

The great, if sometimes controversial Johann Nepomuk Berger (11.4.1845 - 17.10.1933) was born 175 years ago. He was introduced to chess composition by the slightly older J. Seeberger when they were both studying in Graz. After several years of banking experience, Berger was appointed to the Graz Academy of Industry and Commerce in 1877 and crowned his career with the title of State Councillor. His Catechism of Chess (Leipzig 1891) was very successful and appeared in seven editions. More important, however, are his works on composition. Das Schachproblem und seine kunstgerechte Darstellung, published as early as 1884, became to a certain extent the bible of the old German school of composition and triggered a passionate debate between supporters of the old and new German schools at the beginning of the last century because of its "laws of art", in which Berger's dogmatic positions were ultimately swept away. In his Probleme, Studien und Partien 1862-1912, he no longer addressed the previous discussions and apparently tacitly abandoned his earlier positions. Berger's Theory and Practice of Endgames, which appeared in 1890 and went through a second edition in 1922, to which a supplement was added in 1933, was well received in the long term. This remained the standard endgame work for decades.