Viktor Knorre

Viktor Karlovich Knorre (Template:Langx; 4 October 1840 – 25 August 1919) was a Russian astronomer of German origin. He worked in Nikolaev, Pulkovo and Berlin and is best known for having discovered 158 Koronis and three other minor planets. Knorre's father, Karl Friedrich Knorre, and grandfather, Ernst Friedrich Knorre, were also prominent astronomers. Recently, the main-belt asteroid 14339 Knorre was named in honor of the three generations of Knorre astronomers.<ref name="jpldata" />

Biography and family background

Knorre was born into a three-generation astronomer family.<ref name="BEoA" /> His grandfather, Ernst Friedrich Knorre (1759–1810),<ref name="knorre" /> had moved from Germany to Dorpat (now Tartu, Estonia) where he worked (1803–10) as Observator for the Dorpat observatory (opened in 1802) and professor of Mathematics at the University of Dorpat. Victor Knorre's father, Karl Friedrich Knorre (1801–1883),<ref name="knorre" /> set up and was director of the Nikolayev Astronomical Observatory starting in 1827.

Viktor was born the fifth of fifteen children in Nikolayev (now Mykolaiv, Ukraine). He moved to Berlin in 1862 to study astronomy<ref name="Jenam" /> with Wilhelm Julius Foerster. He worked at Pulkovo Observatory in 1867 as an astronomical calculator<ref name="Batten" /> and then at Berlin Observatory, where his father moved circa 1871.

Astronomer

From 1873, he was observer at the Berlin Observatory. Knorre discovered four asteroids.<ref name="MPC-Discoverers" /> He did not teach students at the University of Berlin; instead he gave introductions into the use of the telescopes of the Observatory. In 1892 he was appointed Professor of Astronomy. Knorre took an interest in the improvement of astronomical equipment, and published papers on an improved equatorial telescope mount, referred to as the "Knorre & Heele" mount.<ref name="Jenam" />

Minor planets discovered: 4<ref name="MPC-Discoverers" />

158 Koronis	4 January 1876	Template:MPC
215 Oenone	7 April 1880	Template:MPC
238 Hypatia	1 July 1884	Template:MPC
271 Penthesilea	13 October 1887	Template:MPC

Chess master

Knorre was also known as a strong chess player, playing among others against Adolf Anderssen, Gustav Neumann and Johannes Zukertort. He took part in several chess tournaments during the 1860s.<ref>Name Index to Jeremy Gaige's Chess Tournament Crosstables, An Electronic Edition Template:Webarchive, Anders Thulin, Malmö, 2004-09-01</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> According to the ChessMetrics site, He was ranked among top 50 players in the world at his peak.

In the Two Knights Defense, the Knorre Variation (ECO code C59) is named after him. Continuing from the main line, it is characterized by the moves 8.Be2 h6 9.Nf3 e4 10.Ne5 Bd6 11.d4 Qc7 12.Bd2.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref> The Knorre variation of the Open defense in the Ruy Lopez, characterized by the move 6. Nc3, is also named after Knorre.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref> Template:Chess notation

External links

• M. Ebell: Obituary on Viktor Knorre, in: Astronomische Nachrichten, 1919, volume 209, p. 367 (in German)
• Biographical information on Viktor Knorre Template:Webarchive
• Template:Chessgames player