Emanuel Lasker

About

Widely regarded as one of the greatest chess players of all time and a forefather of modern chess competition.

Before Fame

He studied mathematics in Berlin and to make money he would play chess and card games for small stakes.

Trivia

He was a good friend of Albert Einstein's and used to play chess against him and he was also a first-class contract bridge player, who wrote several books about the card game.

Family Life

He is a distant relative of chess champion Edward Lasker and his father was a Jewish Cantor.

Associated With

He and physicist Albert Einstein had many a chess game together.