Louis Paulsen

Louis Paulsen (15 January 1833 in Gut Nassengrund near Blomberg, Principality of Lippe – 18 August 1891) was a German chess player. In the 1860s and 1870s, he was among the top players in the world. He was a younger brother of Wilfried Paulsen.

Paulsen was one of the first players to challenge the notion that an attack could be constructed out of brilliance. He put forward the idea that any brilliant attack would have failed against correct defence. His ideas were grasped by Wilhelm Steinitz, who declared that attack and defence have equal status, and particularly by Aron Nimzowitsch, who listed Paulsen among his six greatest "purely defensive players". Paul Morphy and Paulsen were early masters of the game and of blindfold chess; they were capable of playing 10 blindfold games at the same time without any major errors.

Paulsen played in the final match of the 1857 First American Chess Congress, losing to Paul Morphy five games to one with two draws. In 1862 Paulsen drew an eight-game match with Adolf Anderssen. Paulsen defeated Anderssen in matches in 1876 and 1877.

Paulsen pawns

Chess opening contributions

Sicilian Dragon The modern form of the Dragon was originated by Paulsen around 1880. It was played frequently by Henry Bird that decade, then received general acceptance around 1900. In chess, the Dragon Variation is one of the main lines of the Sicilian Defence and begins with the moves:

In the Dragon, Black fianchettoes his bishop on the h8–a1 diagonal. The line is one of the variations of the Sicilian Defence, making it one of the sharpest of all chess openings.

Sicilian Defence, Paulsen Variation A less famous variation in the Sicilian Defence is the Paulsen Variation. The line goes as follows: or

Paulsen Attack in the Scotch Game

Paulsen Variation in the Vienna Game

Paulsen Attack in the Center Game

Paulsen Countergambit 1.e4 e5 2. Nf3 d5!? is the Paulsen Countergambit and now usually known as the Elephant gambit (amongst other names). Louis Paulsen drew once and lost once to Paul Morphy in 1857 whilst playing casual games during the 1st American Chess Congress.

Sicilian Defence, Paulsen-Basman Defence