Background

He was born in Bucharest to a wealthy family.

Career

After completing his studies in Vienna, he went back to Romania, where he ran the Frothier Printing House in Bucharest. He died at age 72 in a Vienna sanatorium. Albin came to chess relatively late: according to the Oxford Companion to Chess he only learnt the game in his 20s and did not play in international events until his 40s.

His best result came at New York 1893, where he finished second behind Emanuel Lasker (who scored a perfect 13/13), ahead of Jackson Showalter, Harry Nelson Pillsbury and others

He played in the very strong tournaments at Hastings 1895 (scoring 85/21) and Nuremberg 1896 (scoring 7/18). He authored the first chess book in Romanian, Amiculŭ Joculu de Scachu Teoreticu şi Practicu (published in Bucharest in 1872).

Albin is the eponym of several chess opening variations, notably the Albin Countergambit in the Queen"s Gambit (1d4 d5 2c4 e5) and the Albin Attack in the French Defence (1e4 e6 2d4 d5 3Nc3 Nf6 4Bg5 Be7 5e5 Nfd7 6h4. Also known as the Alekhine-Chatard Attack).

Achievements

• His tournament results on the whole were spotty, though he won individual games against several notable players, including world champion Wilhelm Steinitz at New York 1894 and Nuremberg 1896.