Paulsen–Neumann Match, Berlin 1864

Louis Paulsen won the eleven-game match against Gustav Richard Neumann, 6½–4½. Paulsen won the first four games; Neumann recovered with three wins and three draws from the final seven but could not erase the early deficit.

◇A match and separate offhand games

The contemporary journal identifies the eleven match games as a single contest played from May 3 to May 14. Neumann later distinguished those games from light games played during Paulsen’s visit. The separate May 1 draw is outside this collection.

◇Neumann’s account

Neumann’s signed report confirms that he lost the first four games, then scored three wins, three draws and one loss. He asked Paulsen to stay for a longer prize match, but Paulsen declined. The eleven-game record supports the final score of 6½–4½.

◇The surviving scores

All eleven match games are represented. The native score of game six stops after 21...Rbd8; the original journal prints one further move, 22.Nf4, before the draw. Game five continues to checkmate in the native record, while the original stops earlier with an announced mate. The approved native moves are retained unchanged.