Ernst Falkbeer

Ernst Falkbeer (June 27, 1819 – December 14, 1885) was a 19th Century Austrian chess master.

Born in Brunn am Gebirge, Austria, Falkbeer moved to Vienna to study law, but ended up becoming a journalist. During the European Revolutions of 1848, Falkbeer fled Vienna for Germany. He played chess with the likes of Anderssen and Dufresne in Leipzig, Berlin, Dresden and Bremen.

In 1853 he was allowed to return to Vienna, and two years later he started a Viennese chess newspaper. Subsequently, he went to England and wrote the Sunday chess column for the London Times.

Falkbeer won numerous chess matches, against the likes of Bird and Brien, and earned his master status. He finished second in the 1858 tournament of Birmingham.

Falkbeer is more famous for his contributions to chess theory, than he is for individual play. He introduced the Falkbeer Counter Gambit, still considered one of the main lines in the King's Gambit Declined. Siegbert Tarrasch held the view that Falkbeer's Counter Gambit disproved the King's Gambit entirely.

Falkbeer died in Vienna on December 14, 1885.