Hermann von Gottschall

Hermann von Gottschall (* 16 October 1862 in Posen; † 7 March or 8 March 1933 in Görlitz) was a German chess player and important chess composer.

His life
Hermann von Gottschall, son of the writer Rudolf von Gottschall (1823-1909), was a lawyer by profession. However, Gottschall was also active as a literary critic. He played in numerous important international tournaments from the 1880s onwards. In Nuremberg in 1888, he finished joint second with Jacques Mieses behind Siegbert Tarrasch. At the end of his career, he achieved victories against Akiba Rubinstein, Friedrich Sämisch and Siegbert Tarrasch at the tournament in Breslau in 1925. In 1890 and 1895 he lost two matches in Berlin and Leipzig against Curt von Bardeleben by 1:5 and 1:4 respectively.

Gottschall edited the Deutsche Schachzeitung for several years and published an important biography of Anderssen: Adolf Anderssen, Altmeister deutscher Schachspielkunst, Leipzig 1912.

Chess composing

As a chess composer, he edited volumes 4 and 5 of the collection of chess problems (founded by Jean Dufresne), Leipzig 1898-1908. He also published the "Kleine Problem-Schule", Leipzig 1885 and Streifzüge durch das Gebiet des Schachproblems, Berlin/Leipzig 1926.

Gottschall did not join the new German school, but stuck to his own style, although he also often constructed Bohemian mating problems.

Source: dieschwalbe.de