Aaron Alexandre

Aaron (Albert) Alexandre (, around 1765/68 in Hohenfeld, Franconia – 16 November 1850 in London, England) was a Jewish German–French–English chess player and writer.

Aaron Alexandre trained as a rabbi. He 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. He taught German and was a mechanical inventor. He later became a full-time chess player. He wrote a book of all the known chess openings, the Encyclopédie des échecs (Encyclopedia of Chess, Paris, 1837). In the book, he used the algebraic notation and the castling symbols 0–0 and 0–0–0.

His next book was about the endgame and a collection of about 2000 chess problems, which he published in 1846 as Collection des plus beaux Problèmes d'Echecs, Paris. English and German translations: Beauties of Chess, London, and Praktische Sammlung bester Schachspiel-Probleme, Leipzig.Knight's Tour Notes, Part Cb: Chronology 1800 – 1899.

Both books became standard reference books, demonstrating Alexandre’s great technical knowledge.David Hooper & Ken Whyld 1984. The Oxford companion to chess, page 326; and page 390 in the second edition of 1996. Alexandre was also one of the chess players who worked inside the chess playing machine, the Turk.

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Category:1766 births
Category:1850 deaths
Category:British Jews
Category:British chess players
Category:French Jews
Category:German Jews
Category:German chess players
Category:European writers