Wilhelm Steinitz
Encyclopedia
Wilhelm Steinitz (Prague, May 17, 1836 – August 12, 1900) was an Austrian and then American chess
player and the first undisputed world chess champion
from 1886 to 1894. From the 1870s onwards, commentators have debated whether Steinitz was effectively the champion earlier. Steinitz lost his title to Emanuel Lasker
in 1894 and also lost a rematch in 1897.
Statistical rating systems give Steinitz a rather low ranking among world champions, mainly because he took several long breaks from competitive play. However, an analysis based on one of these rating systems shows that he was one of the most dominant players in the history of the game. As author Will Hartson wrote in his chess historical, Steinitz was unbeaten in over 25 years of match play. He was perhaps the first of what's deemed the modern champions with and established greater in depth playing.
Although Steinitz became "world number one" by winning in the all-out attacking style that was common in the 1860s, he unveiled in 1873 a new positional style of play and demonstrated that it was superior to the previous style. His new style was controversial and some even branded it as "cowardly", but many of Steinitz's games showed that it could also set up attacks as ferocious as those of the old school. Steinitz was also a prolific writer on chess, and defended his new ideas vigorously. The debate was so bitter and sometimes abusive that it became known as the "Ink War". By the early 1890s, Steinitz's approach was widely accepted and the next generation of top players acknowledged their debt to him, most notably his successor as world champion, Emanuel Lasker.
As a result of the "Ink War", traditional accounts of Steinitz's character depict him as ill-tempered and aggressive; but more recent research shows that he had long and friendly relationships with some players and chess organizations. Most notably from 1888 to 1889 he co-operated with the American Chess Congress in a project to define rules governing the conduct of future world championships. Steinitz was unskilled at managing money and lived in poverty all his life.
(now capital of the Czech Republic
; then in Bohemia
, a part of the Austrian Empire
). The last of a hardware retailer's thirteen sons, he learned to play chess at age 12. He began playing serious chess in his twenties, after leaving Prague to study mathematics
in Vienna
, at the Vienna Polytecnic
. He improved rapidly in the late 1850s, progressing from third place in the 1859 Vienna championship to first in 1861 with a score of 30/31. In this period he was nicknamed "the Austrian Morphy
".
Steinitz was then sent to represent Austria in the London 1862 chess tournament
. He placed sixth, but his win over Augustus Mongredien
was awarded the tournament's brilliancy prize. He immediately challenged the fifth-placed contestant, the Italian player Serafino Dubois
, to a match, which Steinitz won (five wins, one draw
, three losses). This encouraged him to turn professional and he took residence in London. In 1862–63 Steinitz scored a crushing win in a match with Joseph Henry Blackburne
, who went on to be one of the world's top ten for 20 years but had only started playing chess two years earlier. Steinitz then convincingly beat most of the leading UK-resident players in matches: Frederic Deacon
, Augustus Mongredien
, Green, and Robey. This charge up the rankings had a price: in March 1863 Steinitz apologized in a letter to Ignác Kolisch
for not repaying a loan, because while Steinitz had been beating Blackburne, Daniel Harrwitz
had "taken over" all of Steinitz's clients at the London chess club, who had been Steinitz's main source of income.
These successes established Steinitz as one of the world's top players, and he was able to arrange a match in 1866 in London against Adolf Anderssen
, who was regarded as the world's strongest active player because he had won the 1851 and 1862 London International Tournaments and his one superior, Paul Morphy
, had retired from competitive chess. Steinitz won with eight wins and six losses (there were no draws), but it was a hard fight; after 12 games the scores were level at 6–6, then Steinitz won the last two games. As a result of this win Steinitz was generally regarded as the world's best player. The prize money for this match was £100 to the winner (Steinitz) and £20 for the loser (Anderssen). The winner's prize was a large sum by the standards of the times, equivalent to about £57,500 in 2007's money.
Steinitz won every serious match he played from 1862 until 1892 inclusive, sometimes by wide margins. In the years following his victory over Anderssen he beat Henry Bird in 1866 (seven wins, five losses, five draws) and comfortably beat Johannes Zukertort
in 1872 (seven wins, four draws, one loss; Zukertort had proved himself one of the elite by beating Anderssen convincingly in 1871). But it took longer for him to reach the top in tournament play. In the next few years he took: third place at Paris 1867 behind Ignatz Kolisch and Simon Winawer; and second places at Dundee
(1868; Gustav Neumann
won), and Baden-Baden 1870 chess tournament
; behind Anderssen but ahead of Blackburne, Louis Paulsen
and other strong players. His first victory in a strong tournament was London 1872, ahead of Blackburne and Zukertort; and the first tournament in which Steinitz finished ahead of Anderssen was Vienna 1873, when Anderssen was 55 years old.
Steinitz unveiled a new "positional" style of play which was to become the basis of modern chess. He tied for first place with Blackburne, ahead of Anderssen, Samuel Rosenthal
, Paulsen and Henry Bird, and won the play-off against Blackburne. Steinitz made a shaky start but won his last 14 games in the main tournament (including 2–0 results over Paulsen, Anderssen, and Blackburne) plus the 2 play-off games – this was the start of a 25-game winning streak in serious competition.
Between 1873 and 1882 Steinitz played no tournaments and only one match (a 7–0 win against Blackburne in 1876). His other games during this period were in simultaneous
and blindfold
exhibitions, which contributed an important part of a professional chess-player's income in those days (for example in 1887 Blackburne was paid 9 guineas
for two simultaneous exhibitions and a blindfold exhibition hosted by the Teesside Chess Association; this was equivalent to about £4,800 at 2007 values).
Instead Steinitz concentrated on his work as a chess journalist, notably for The Field
, which was Britain's leading sports magazine. Some of Steinitz's commentaries aroused heated debates, notably from Zukertort and Leopold Hoffer
in The Chess Monthly (which they founded in 1879). This "Ink War" escalated sharply in 1881, when Steinitz mercilessly criticized Hoffer's annotations of games in the 1881 Berlin Congress (won by Blackburne ahead of Zukertort). Steinitz was eager to settle the analytical debates by a second match against Zukertort, whose unwillingness to play provoked scornful comments from Steinitz. In mid-1882 James Mason
, a consistently strong player, challenged Steinitz to a match, and accused Steinitz of cowardice when Steinitz insisted the issue with Zukertort should be settled first. Steinitz responded by inviting Mason to name a sufficiently high stake for a match, at least £150 per player (equivalent to about £73,000 in 2007's money), but Mason was unwilling to stake more than £100. Mason later agreed to play a match with Zukertort for a stake of £100 per player, but soon "postponed" that match, "circumstances having arisen that make it highly inconvenient for me to proceed ..."
Steinitz's long lay-off caused some commentators to suggest that Zukertort, who had scored some notable tournament victories, should be regarded as the world chess champion. Steinitz returned to serious competitive chess in the Vienna 1882 chess tournament
, which has been described as the strongest chess tournament of all time at that point. Despite a shaky start he took equal first place with Szymon Winawer
, ahead of James Mason
, Zukertort, George Henry Mackenzie
, Blackburne, Berthold Englisch
, Paulsen and Mikhail Chigorin
, and drew the play-off match. While Steinitz was playing in Vienna and sending weekly reports on the tournament to The Field, there was a plot against him back in England. Just after the end of the tournament The Field published a xenophobic article that praised the efforts of the English players and those of English origin in Vienna but disparaged the victory of Steinitz and Winawer. Steinitz stopped working for The Field and was replaced by Hoffer, a close friend of Zukertort and a bitter enemy of Steinitz.
Steinitz visited the USA, mainly the Philadelphia area, from December 1882 to May 1883. He was given an enthusiastic reception, played several exhibitions, many casual games, a match for stakes of £50 with a wealthy amateur, and slightly more serious matches with two New World professionals, Sellman and the Cuban champion Celso Golmayo Zúpide
– the match with Golmayo was abandoned when Steinitz was leading (eight wins, one draw, one loss). His hosts even arranged a visit to New Orleans, where Paul Morphy lived.
Later in 1883 Steinitz took second place in the extremely strong London 1883 chess tournament
behind Zukertort, who made a brilliant start, faded at the end but finished 3 points ahead. Steinitz finished 2½ points ahead of the third-placed competitor, Blackburne. Zukertort's victory again led some commentators to suggest that Zukertort should be regarded as the world chess champion, while others said the issue could only be resolved by a match between Steinitz and Zukertort.
In 1883, shortly after the London tournament, Steinitz decided to leave England and moved to New York
, where he lived for the rest of his life. This did not end the "Ink War": his enemies persuaded some of the American press to publish anti-Steinitz articles, and in 1885 Steinitz founded the International Chess Magazine, which he edited until 1895. In his magazine he chronicled the lengthy negotiations for a match with Zukertort. He also managed to find supporters in other sections of the American press including Turf, Field and Farm and the St. Louis Globe-Democrat
, both of which reported Steinitz's offer to forgo all fees, expenses or share in the stake and make the match "a benefit performance, solely for Mr Zukertort's pecuniary profit".
Eventually it was agreed that in 1886 Steinitz and Zukertort would play a match in New York, St. Louis and New Orleans, and that the victor would be the player who first won 10 games. At Steinitz's insistence the contract said it would be "for the Championship of the World". After the five games played in New York, Zukertort led by 4–1, but in the end Steinitz won decisively by 12½–7½ (ten wins, five draws, five losses). Though not yet officially an American citizen, Steinitz wanted the United States flag to be placed next to him during the match. He became a U.S. citizen on November 23, 1888, having resided for five years in New York, and changed his first name from Wilhelm to William.
In 1887 the American Chess Congress
started work on drawing up regulations for the future conduct of world championship contests. Steinitz actively supported this endeavor, as he thought he was becoming too old to remain world champion – he wrote in his own magazine "I know I am not fit to be the champion, and I am not likely to bear that title for ever".
In 1888 Havana
Chess Club offered to sponsor a match between Steinitz and whomever he would select as a worthy opponent. Steinitz nominated the Russian Mikhail Chigorin
, on the condition that the invitation should not be presented as a challenge from him. There is some doubt about whether this was intended to be a match for the world championship: both Steinitz's letters and the publicity material just before the match conspicuously avoided the phrase. The proposed match was to have a maximum of 20 games, and Steinitz had said that fixed-length matches were unsuitable for world championship contests because the first player to take the lead could then play for draws; and Steinitz was at the same time supporting the American Chess Congress' world championship project. Whatever the status of the match, it was played in Havana in January to February 1889 and won by Steinitz (ten wins, one draw, six losses).
The American Chess Congress' final proposal was that the winner of a tournament to be held in New York in 1889 should be regarded as world champion for the time being, but must be prepared to face a challenge from the second- or third-placed competitor within a month. Steinitz wrote that he would not play in the tournament and would not challenge the winner unless the second and third placed competitors failed to do so. The tournament was duly played, but the outcome was not quite as planned: Mikhail Chigorin
and Max Weiss
tied for first place; their play-off resulted in four draws, and neither wanted to play a championship match – Chigorin had just lost a match against Steinitz and Weiss wanted to get back to his work for the Rothschild Bank. The third prize-winner Isidore Gunsberg was prepared to play Steinitz for the title in New York, and Steinitz won their match in 1890–91 (six wins, nine draws, four losses). The American Chess Congress's experiment was not repeated and Steinitz's last three world championship matches were private arrangements between the players.
In 1891 the Saint Petersburg
Chess Society and the Havana Chess Club offered to organize another Steinitz–Chigorin match for the world championship. Steinitz played against Chigorin in Havana in 1892 and won narrowly (ten wins, five draws, eight losses). This was his last successful defense of his title.
Around this time Steinitz publicly spoke of retiring, but changed his mind when Emanuel Lasker
challenged him. Initially Lasker wanted to play for $5,000 a side and a match was agreed at stakes of $3,000 a side, but Steinitz agreed to a series of reductions when Lasker found it difficult to raise the money, and the final figure was $2,000 each, which was less than for some of Steinitz's earlier matches (the final combined stake of $4,000 would be worth about $495,500 at 2007 values.) Although this was publicly praised as an act of sportsmanship on Steinitz's part, Steinitz may have desperately needed the money. The match was played in 1894, at venues in New York, Philadelphia and Montreal
. Steinitz had previously declared he would win without doubt, so it came as a shock when Lasker won the first game. Steinitz responded by winning the second, and was able to maintain the balance until the sixth. However Lasker won all the games from the seventh to the 11th, and Steinitz asked for a one-week rest. When the match resumed, Steinitz looked in better shape and won the 13th and 14th games. Lasker struck back in the 15th and 16th, and Steinitz was unable to compensate for his losses in the middle of the match. Hence Lasker won convincingly
with ten wins, five losses and four draws. Some commentators thought Steinitz's habit of playing "experimental" moves in serious competition was a major factor in his downfall.
After losing the title, Steinitz played in tournaments more frequently than he had previously: he won at New York
1894 and was fifth at Hastings 1895
(winning the first brilliancy prize for his game with Curt von Bardeleben
); at Saint Petersburg
1895, a four-players round-robin event with Lasker, Chigorin and Pillsbury, he took second place. Later his results began to decline: 6th in Nuremberg
1896, 5th in Cologne 1898, 10th in London 1899.
In early 1896 Steinitz defeated the Russian Emanuel Schiffers
in a match (winning 6 games, drawing 1, losing 4). In November, 1896 to January, 1897 Steinitz played a return match with Lasker in Moscow but won only 2 games, drawing 5, and losing 10. This was the last world chess championship match for eleven years. Shortly after the match, Steinitz had a mental breakdown and was confined for 40 days in a Moscow sanatorium, where he played chess with the inmates.
There is a long-running debate among chess writers about whether Steinitz's reign as World Chess Champion began in 1866, when he beat Anderssen, or in 1886, when he beat Zukertort.Supporting 1866:
Undecided:
In April 1894 the British Chess Magazine
described Steinitz as holding "the chess championship of the world for 28 years". However there is no evidence that he claimed the title for himself in 1866, although in the 1880s he claimed to have been the champion since his win over Anderssen. It has been suggested that Steinitz could not make such a claim while Paul Morphy
was alive. Morphy had defeated Anderssen by a far wider margin, 8–3, in 1858, but retired from chess competition soon after he returned to the USA in 1859, and died in 1884. The 1886 Steinitz–Zukertort match was the first that was explicitly described as being for the World Championship, but Howard Staunton
and Paul Morphy had been unofficially described as "World Chess Champion" around the middle of the 19th century. In fact one of the organizers of the 1851 London International tournament
had said the contest was for "the baton of the World's Chess Champion", and in mid-1840s Ludwig Bledow
wrote a letter to Tassilo von Heydebrand und der Lasa
suggesting they should organize a world championship tournament in Germany. Some commentators described Steinitz as "the champion" in the years following his 1872 match victory against Zukertort. In the late 1870s and early 1880s some regarded Steinitz as the champion and others supported Johannes Zukertort, and the 1886 match was not regarded as creating the title of World Champion but as resolving conflicting claims to the title. On the other hand George Alcock MacDonnell
hailed Joseph Blackburne as "World Champion" for his win in the 1881 Berlin Tournament, George Henry Mackenzie
as having "won the Chess Championship of the World" in 1887, and Isidore Gunsberg as "among the champions of the world" following his win at "Bradford Place" in 1888. However Steinitz regarded G.A. MacDonnell as "one of my bitterest and most untruthful persecutors".
In February 1897 the New York Times prematurely reported his death in a New York mental asylum. Some authors claim that he contracted syphilis
, which may have been a cause of the mental breakdowns he suffered in his last years. In the months prior to his death, he spent some time in institutions as a result of his failing mental health. His chess activities had not yielded any great financial rewards, and he died a pauper in the Manhattan State Hospital
(Ward island) of a heart attack on August 12, 1900. Steinitz is buried in the Cemetery of the Evergreens in Brooklyn
, New York
. His second wife and their two young children were still alive at his death. Lasker, who took the championship from Steinitz, wrote, "I who vanquished him must see to it that his great achievement, his theories should find justice, and I must avenge the wrongs he suffered."
(in London) from 1872 to 1882, and used this to present his ideas about chess strategy. In 1885 he founded the International Chess Magazine
in New York
and edited it until 1891. In addition to game commentaries and blow-by-blow accounts of the negotiations leading to his 1886 match with Johann Zukertort and of the American Chess Congress' world championship project, he wrote a long series of articles about Paul Morphy
, who had died in 1884. He wrote the book of the 1889 New York tournament, in which he commented on all the games, and in 1889 he published a textbook, The Modern Chess Instructor.
Steinitz also allegedly wrote a pamphlet entitled Capital, Labor, and Charity while confined at River Crest Sanitarium in New York during the final months of his life.
The book of the Hastings 1895 chess tournament
, written collectively by the players, described Steinitz as follows:
play. This was the style in which he became "world number one" by beating Adolf Anderssen
in 1866 and confirmed his position by convincingly beating Zukertort
in 1872 and winning the 1872 London International tournament (Zukertort had claimed the rank of number two by beating Anderssen in 1871).
In 1873, however, Steinitz's play suddenly changed, giving priority to what is now called the positional elements in chess: pawn structure
, space, outposts for knights, the advantage of the two bishops, etc. Although Steinitz often accepted unnecessarily difficult defensive positions in order to demonstrate the superiority of his theories, he also showed that his methods could provide a platform for crushing attacks. Steinitz's successor as world champion, Emanuel Lasker
, summed up the new style as: "In the beginning of the game ignore the search for combination
s, abstain from violent moves, aim for small advantages, accumulate them, and only after having attained these ends search for the combination – and then with all the power of will and intellect, because then the combination must exist, however deeply hidden."
Although Steinitz's play changed abruptly, he said had been thinking along such lines for some years: "Some of the games which I saw Paulsen
play during the London Congress of 1862 gave a still stronger start to the modification of my own opinions, which has since developed, and I began to recognize that Chess genius is not confined to the more or less deep and brilliant finishing strokes after the original balance of power and position has been overthrown, but that it also requires the exercise of still more extraordinary powers, though perhaps of a different kind to maintain that balance or respectively to disturb it at the proper time in one's own favor."
During his nine-year layoff from tournament play (1873–82) and later in his career, Steinitz used his chess writings to present his theories – while in the UK he wrote for The Field; in 1885 after moving to New York he founded the "International Chess Magazine", of which he was the chief editor; and in 1889 he edited the book of the great New York 1889 tournament (won by Mikhail Chigorin
and Max Weiss
), in which he did not compete as the tournament was designed to produce his successor as World Champion. Many other writers found his new approach incomprehensible, boring or even cowardly; for example Adolf Anderssen
said, "Kolisch is a highwayman and points the pistol at your breast. Steinitz is a pick-pocket, he steals a pawn and wins a game with it."
But when he contested the first World Championship match in 1886 against Johannes Zukertort
, it became evident that Steinitz was playing on another level. Although Zukertort was at least Steinitz's equal in spectacular attacking play, Steinitz often out-maneuvered him fairly simply by the use of positional principles.
By the time of his match in 1890–91 against Gunsberg, some commentators showed an understanding of and appreciation for Steinitz's theories. Shortly before the 1894 match with Emanuel Lasker even the New York Times, which had earlier published attacks on his play and character, paid tribute to his playing record, the importance of his theories, and his sportsmanship in agreeing to the most difficult match of his career despite his previous intention of retiring.
By the end of his career Steinitz was more highly esteemed as a theoretician than as a player. The comments about him in the book of the Hastings 1895 chess tournament focus on his theories and writings, and Emanuel Lasker
was more explicit: "He was a thinker worthy of a seat in the halls of a University. A player, as the world believed he was, he was not; his studious temperament made that impossible; and thus he was conquered by a player ..."
As a result of his play and writings Steinitz, along with Paul Morphy
, is considered by many chess commentators to be the founder of modern chess. Vladmir Kramnik emphasizes Steinitz's importance as a pioneer in the field of chess theory: "Steinitz was the first to realise that chess, despite being a complicated game, obeys some common principles. ... But as often happens the first time is just a try. ... I can't say he was the founder of a chess theory. He was an experimenter and pointed out that chess obeys laws that should be considered."
'Steinitz Papers' by Soltis, McFarland pub.
'The Games of Wilhelm Steinitz, first world chess champion' by Sid Pickard (in Algebraic notation)ISBN:1-886846-00-6, Pickard & Son publishers in 1995.
places him only 15th on its all-time list. Chessmetrics penalizes players who play infrequently; opportunities for competitive chess were infrequent in Steinitz's best years, and Steinitz had a few long absences from competitive play (1873–76, 1876–82, 1883–86, 1886–89). However in 2005 Chessmetrics' author, Jeff Sonas, wrote an article which examined various ways of comparing the strength of "world number one" players, using data provided by Chessmetrics, and found that: Steinitz was further ahead of his contemporaries in the 1870s than Bobby Fischer
was in his peak period (1970–72); that Steinitz had the third-highest total number of years as the world's top player, behind Emanuel Lasker
and Garry Kasparov
; and that Steinitz placed 7th in a comparison of how long the great players were ranked in the world's top three. Between his victory over Anderssen (1866) and his loss to Emanuel Lasker (1894), Steinitz won all his "normal" matches, sometimes by wide margins; and his worst tournament performance in that 28-year period was third place in Paris (1867). (He also lost two handicap matches and a match by telegraph in 1890 against Mikhail Chigorin
, where Chigorin was allowed to choose the openings in both games and won both.)
Initially Steinitz played in the all-out attacking style of contemporaries like Anderssen, and then changed to the positional style with which he dominated competitive chess in the 1870s and 1880s. Max Euwe
wrote, "Steinitz aimed at positions with clear-cut features, to which his theory was best applicable." However he retained his capacity for brilliant attacks right to the end of his career; for example in the 1895 Hastings tournament
(when he was 59) he beat von Bardeleben
in a spectacular game in which in the closing stages Steinitz deliberately exposed all his pieces to attack simultaneously (except his king, of course). His most significant weaknesses were his habits of playing "experimental" moves and getting into unnecessarily difficult defensive positions in top-class competitive games.
However, his personal correspondence, his own articles and some third-party articles show that he had long and friendly relationships with many people and groups in the chess world, including Ignác Kolisch
(one of his earliest sponsors), Mikhail Chigorin
, Harry Nelson Pillsbury
, Bernhard Horwitz
, Amos Burn
and the Cuban and Russian chess communities. He even co-operated with the American Chess Congress in its project to regulate future contests for the world title that he had earned.
Steinitz strove to be objective in his writings about chess competitions and games, for example he attributed to sheer bad luck a poor tournament score by Henry Edward Bird, whom he considered no friend of his, and was generous in his praise of great play by even his bitter enemies. He could poke fun at some of his own rhetoric, for example "I remarked that I would rather die in America than live in England. ... I added that I would rather lose a match in America than win one in England. But after having carefully considered the subject in all its bearings, I have come to the conclusion that I neither mean to die yet nor to lose the match." At a joint simultaneous display in Russia around the time of the 1895–96 Saint Petersburg
tournament, Emanuel Lasker
and Steinitz formed an impromptu comedy double act.
Although he had a strong sense of honour about repaying debts, Steinitz was poor at managing his finances: he let a competitor "poach" many of his clients in 1862–63, offered to play the 1886 world title match against Johannes Zukertort
for free, and died in poverty in 1900, leaving his widow to survive by running a small shop.
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
player and the first undisputed world chess champion
World Chess Championship
The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the board game chess. Men and women of any age are eligible to contest this title....
from 1886 to 1894. From the 1870s onwards, commentators have debated whether Steinitz was effectively the champion earlier. Steinitz lost his title to Emanuel Lasker
Emanuel Lasker
Emanuel Lasker was a German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher who was World Chess Champion for 27 years...
in 1894 and also lost a rematch in 1897.
Statistical rating systems give Steinitz a rather low ranking among world champions, mainly because he took several long breaks from competitive play. However, an analysis based on one of these rating systems shows that he was one of the most dominant players in the history of the game. As author Will Hartson wrote in his chess historical, Steinitz was unbeaten in over 25 years of match play. He was perhaps the first of what's deemed the modern champions with and established greater in depth playing.
Although Steinitz became "world number one" by winning in the all-out attacking style that was common in the 1860s, he unveiled in 1873 a new positional style of play and demonstrated that it was superior to the previous style. His new style was controversial and some even branded it as "cowardly", but many of Steinitz's games showed that it could also set up attacks as ferocious as those of the old school. Steinitz was also a prolific writer on chess, and defended his new ideas vigorously. The debate was so bitter and sometimes abusive that it became known as the "Ink War". By the early 1890s, Steinitz's approach was widely accepted and the next generation of top players acknowledged their debt to him, most notably his successor as world champion, Emanuel Lasker.
As a result of the "Ink War", traditional accounts of Steinitz's character depict him as ill-tempered and aggressive; but more recent research shows that he had long and friendly relationships with some players and chess organizations. Most notably from 1888 to 1889 he co-operated with the American Chess Congress in a project to define rules governing the conduct of future world championships. Steinitz was unskilled at managing money and lived in poverty all his life.
Early stages
Steinitz was born on May 17, 1836 in the Jewish ghetto of PraguePrague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
(now capital of the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
; then in Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
, a part of the Austrian Empire
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...
). The last of a hardware retailer's thirteen sons, he learned to play chess at age 12. He began playing serious chess in his twenties, after leaving Prague to study mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, at the Vienna Polytecnic
Vienna University of Technology
Vienna University of Technology is one of the major universities in Vienna, the capital of Austria. Founded in 1815 as the "Imperial-Royal Polytechnic Institute" , it currently has about 26,200 students , 8 faculties and about 4,000 staff members...
. He improved rapidly in the late 1850s, progressing from third place in the 1859 Vienna championship to first in 1861 with a score of 30/31. In this period he was nicknamed "the Austrian Morphy
Paul Morphy
Paul Charles Morphy was an American chess player. He is considered to have been the greatest chess master of his era and an unofficial World Chess Champion. He was a chess prodigy...
".
London 1862 chess tournament
An international chess tournament was held in London, during the second British world exhibition, in 1862. Fourteen players participated in the main chess event from 16 June to 28 June 1862. They played at the St. George's Club, St. James's Club and Divan. All-play-all and time controls were...
. He placed sixth, but his win over Augustus Mongredien
Augustus Mongredien
Augustus Mongredien was a leading English chess master. Political economist and miscellaneous writer; born in London of French parents; gradually withdrew from business and devoted himself to literary pursuits; joined National Political Union, 1831; member of the Cobden Club, 1872; received a...
was awarded the tournament's brilliancy prize. He immediately challenged the fifth-placed contestant, the Italian player Serafino Dubois
Serafino Dubois
Serafino Dubois was an Italian chess player. He was known for his writings on the game and for his promotion of chess in Italy.-Chess career:Serafino Dubois was born in Rome...
, to a match, which Steinitz won (five wins, one draw
Draw (chess)
In chess, a draw is when a game ends in a tie. It is one of the possible outcomes of a game, along with a win for White and a win for Black . Usually, in tournaments a draw is worth a half point to each player, while a win is worth one point to the victor and none to the loser.For the most part,...
, three losses). This encouraged him to turn professional and he took residence in London. In 1862–63 Steinitz scored a crushing win in a match with Joseph Henry Blackburne
Joseph Henry Blackburne
Joseph Henry Blackburne , nicknamed "The Black Death", dominated British chess during the latter part of the 19th century. He learned the game at the relatively late age of 18 but quickly became a strong player and went on to develop a professional chess career that spanned over 50 years...
, who went on to be one of the world's top ten for 20 years but had only started playing chess two years earlier. Steinitz then convincingly beat most of the leading UK-resident players in matches: Frederic Deacon
Frederic Deacon
Frederic Deacon was a Belgian chess master.He won a match against W. Gilby and lost a match to Charles Edward Ranken at London 1851 ....
, Augustus Mongredien
Augustus Mongredien
Augustus Mongredien was a leading English chess master. Political economist and miscellaneous writer; born in London of French parents; gradually withdrew from business and devoted himself to literary pursuits; joined National Political Union, 1831; member of the Cobden Club, 1872; received a...
, Green, and Robey. This charge up the rankings had a price: in March 1863 Steinitz apologized in a letter to Ignác Kolisch
Ignác Kolisch
Baron Ignatz von Kolisch , also Baron Ignaz von Kolisch or báró Kolisch Ignác , was a merchant, journalist and chess master with Jewish roots....
for not repaying a loan, because while Steinitz had been beating Blackburne, Daniel Harrwitz
Daniel Harrwitz
Daniel Harrwitz was a Jewish German chess master.Harrwitz was born in Breslau in the Prussian Province of Silesia. He established his reputation in Paris, particularly as a player of blindfold games...
had "taken over" all of Steinitz's clients at the London chess club, who had been Steinitz's main source of income.
Adolf Anderssen
Karl Ernst Adolf Anderssen was a German chess master. He is considered to have been the world's leading chess player in the 1850s and 1860s...
, who was regarded as the world's strongest active player because he had won the 1851 and 1862 London International Tournaments and his one superior, Paul Morphy
Paul Morphy
Paul Charles Morphy was an American chess player. He is considered to have been the greatest chess master of his era and an unofficial World Chess Champion. He was a chess prodigy...
, had retired from competitive chess. Steinitz won with eight wins and six losses (there were no draws), but it was a hard fight; after 12 games the scores were level at 6–6, then Steinitz won the last two games. As a result of this win Steinitz was generally regarded as the world's best player. The prize money for this match was £100 to the winner (Steinitz) and £20 for the loser (Anderssen). The winner's prize was a large sum by the standards of the times, equivalent to about £57,500 in 2007's money.
Steinitz won every serious match he played from 1862 until 1892 inclusive, sometimes by wide margins. In the years following his victory over Anderssen he beat Henry Bird in 1866 (seven wins, five losses, five draws) and comfortably beat Johannes Zukertort
Johannes Zukertort
Johannes Hermann Zukertort was a leading chess master of German-Polish-Jewish origin. He was one of the leading world players for most of the 1870s and 1880s, and lost to Wilhelm Steinitz in the World Chess Championship 1886, which is generally seen as the first World Chess Championship match, he...
in 1872 (seven wins, four draws, one loss; Zukertort had proved himself one of the elite by beating Anderssen convincingly in 1871). But it took longer for him to reach the top in tournament play. In the next few years he took: third place at Paris 1867 behind Ignatz Kolisch and Simon Winawer; and second places at Dundee
Dundee
Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...
(1868; Gustav Neumann
Gustav Neumann
Gustav Richard Ludwig Neumann was a German chess master.Neumann was born in Gleiwitz in the Prussian Province of Silesia. In matches he lost to Louis Paulsen at Leipzig 1864, and defeated Celso Golmayo Zúpide , and Simon Winawer at Paris 1867...
won), and Baden-Baden 1870 chess tournament
Baden-Baden 1870 chess tournament
The 1870 chess tournament in Baden-Baden can be regarded as the first strong tournament. In comparison with London 1851 chess tournament, London 1862 and Paris 1867, three main changes were made: a) first chess clocks used , b) draws counted as half points, c) only top international players were...
; behind Anderssen but ahead of Blackburne, Louis Paulsen
Louis Paulsen
Louis Paulsen was a German chess player.In 1860s and 1870s, he was among the top five players in the world. He was a younger brother of Wilfried Paulsen....
and other strong players. His first victory in a strong tournament was London 1872, ahead of Blackburne and Zukertort; and the first tournament in which Steinitz finished ahead of Anderssen was Vienna 1873, when Anderssen was 55 years old.
Dominance and controversies
All of Steinitz's successes up to 1872 inclusive were achieved in the attack-at-all-costs "Romantic" style exemplified by Anderssen. But in the Vienna 1873 chess tournamentVienna 1873 chess tournament
The Vienna 1873 chess tournament was a side event of the world exhibition of 1873 .-Background:...
Steinitz unveiled a new "positional" style of play which was to become the basis of modern chess. He tied for first place with Blackburne, ahead of Anderssen, Samuel Rosenthal
Samuel Rosenthal
Samuel Rosenthal was a Jewish chess master. Chess historian Edward Winter wrote, "He dedicated his life to chess-playing, touring, writing, teaching and analysing...
, Paulsen and Henry Bird, and won the play-off against Blackburne. Steinitz made a shaky start but won his last 14 games in the main tournament (including 2–0 results over Paulsen, Anderssen, and Blackburne) plus the 2 play-off games – this was the start of a 25-game winning streak in serious competition.
Between 1873 and 1882 Steinitz played no tournaments and only one match (a 7–0 win against Blackburne in 1876). His other games during this period were in simultaneous
Simultaneous exhibition
A simultaneous exhibition or simultaneous display is a board game exhibition in which one player plays multiple games at a time with a number of other players. Such an exhibition is often referred to simply as a "simul".In a regular simul, no chess clocks are used...
and blindfold
Blindfold chess
Blindfold chess is a form of chess play wherein the players do not see the positions of the pieces or touch them. This forces players to maintain a mental model of the positions of the pieces...
exhibitions, which contributed an important part of a professional chess-player's income in those days (for example in 1887 Blackburne was paid 9 guineas
Guinea (British coin)
The guinea is a coin that was minted in the Kingdom of England and later in the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United Kingdom between 1663 and 1813...
for two simultaneous exhibitions and a blindfold exhibition hosted by the Teesside Chess Association; this was equivalent to about £4,800 at 2007 values).
Instead Steinitz concentrated on his work as a chess journalist, notably for The Field
The Field (magazine)
The Field is the world's oldest country and field sports magazine, having been published continuously since 1853.The famous sportsman Robert Smith Surtees, the creator of Jorrocks, was the driving force behind the initial publication...
, which was Britain's leading sports magazine. Some of Steinitz's commentaries aroused heated debates, notably from Zukertort and Leopold Hoffer
Leopold Hoffer
Leopold Hoffer was an English chess player and journalist.He left Budapest for Switzerland. From 1867, he lived in Paris, where he won matches against, among others, Ignatz von Kolisch, Samuel Rosenthal and Jules Arnous de Rivière...
in The Chess Monthly (which they founded in 1879). This "Ink War" escalated sharply in 1881, when Steinitz mercilessly criticized Hoffer's annotations of games in the 1881 Berlin Congress (won by Blackburne ahead of Zukertort). Steinitz was eager to settle the analytical debates by a second match against Zukertort, whose unwillingness to play provoked scornful comments from Steinitz. In mid-1882 James Mason
James Mason (chess player)
James Mason was a famous chess player and writer. He was born in Kilkenny in Ireland. His original name is unknown: he was adopted as a child and only took the name James Mason when he and his family moved to the United States in 1861...
, a consistently strong player, challenged Steinitz to a match, and accused Steinitz of cowardice when Steinitz insisted the issue with Zukertort should be settled first. Steinitz responded by inviting Mason to name a sufficiently high stake for a match, at least £150 per player (equivalent to about £73,000 in 2007's money), but Mason was unwilling to stake more than £100. Mason later agreed to play a match with Zukertort for a stake of £100 per player, but soon "postponed" that match, "circumstances having arisen that make it highly inconvenient for me to proceed ..."
Vienna 1882 chess tournament
The second international Vienna 1882 chess tournament was one of the longest and strongest chess tournaments ever played. According to the unofficial Chessmetrics ratings, the tournament was the strongest tournament in history, on the basis that nine of the ten top players in the world...
, which has been described as the strongest chess tournament of all time at that point. Despite a shaky start he took equal first place with Szymon Winawer
Szymon Winawer
Szymon Abramowicz Winawer , born in Warsaw, Poland, was a leading chess player who won the German Chess Championship in 1883...
, ahead of James Mason
James Mason (chess player)
James Mason was a famous chess player and writer. He was born in Kilkenny in Ireland. His original name is unknown: he was adopted as a child and only took the name James Mason when he and his family moved to the United States in 1861...
, Zukertort, George Henry Mackenzie
George Henry Mackenzie
George Henry Mackenzie was a Scottish–American chess master....
, Blackburne, Berthold Englisch
Berthold Englisch
Berthold Englisch was a leading Austrian chess master.Englisch was born in Czech Silesia into a Jewish family. He earned his living as a stock-market agent....
, Paulsen and Mikhail Chigorin
Mikhail Chigorin
Mikhail Ivanovich Chigorin also was a leading Russian chess player...
, and drew the play-off match. While Steinitz was playing in Vienna and sending weekly reports on the tournament to The Field, there was a plot against him back in England. Just after the end of the tournament The Field published a xenophobic article that praised the efforts of the English players and those of English origin in Vienna but disparaged the victory of Steinitz and Winawer. Steinitz stopped working for The Field and was replaced by Hoffer, a close friend of Zukertort and a bitter enemy of Steinitz.
Steinitz visited the USA, mainly the Philadelphia area, from December 1882 to May 1883. He was given an enthusiastic reception, played several exhibitions, many casual games, a match for stakes of £50 with a wealthy amateur, and slightly more serious matches with two New World professionals, Sellman and the Cuban champion Celso Golmayo Zúpide
Celso Golmayo Zúpide
Celso Golmayo y Zúpide was a Spanish–Cuban chess master.He had been generally accepted as Cuban champion since his 1862 match defeat of Félix Sicre...
– the match with Golmayo was abandoned when Steinitz was leading (eight wins, one draw, one loss). His hosts even arranged a visit to New Orleans, where Paul Morphy lived.
Later in 1883 Steinitz took second place in the extremely strong London 1883 chess tournament
London 1883 chess tournament
The London 1883 chess tournament was a strong chess tournament among most of the leading players of the day. It was won convincingly by Johannes Zukertort ahead of Wilhelm Steinitz . Remarkably, Zukertort was already assured of victory with three rounds to go, having scored an astonishing 22/23...
behind Zukertort, who made a brilliant start, faded at the end but finished 3 points ahead. Steinitz finished 2½ points ahead of the third-placed competitor, Blackburne. Zukertort's victory again led some commentators to suggest that Zukertort should be regarded as the world chess champion, while others said the issue could only be resolved by a match between Steinitz and Zukertort.
In 1883, shortly after the London tournament, Steinitz decided to leave England and moved to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, where he lived for the rest of his life. This did not end the "Ink War": his enemies persuaded some of the American press to publish anti-Steinitz articles, and in 1885 Steinitz founded the International Chess Magazine, which he edited until 1895. In his magazine he chronicled the lengthy negotiations for a match with Zukertort. He also managed to find supporters in other sections of the American press including Turf, Field and Farm and the St. Louis Globe-Democrat
St. Louis Globe-Democrat
The St. Louis Globe-Democrat was originally a daily print newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri from 1852 until 1986...
, both of which reported Steinitz's offer to forgo all fees, expenses or share in the stake and make the match "a benefit performance, solely for Mr Zukertort's pecuniary profit".
Eventually it was agreed that in 1886 Steinitz and Zukertort would play a match in New York, St. Louis and New Orleans, and that the victor would be the player who first won 10 games. At Steinitz's insistence the contract said it would be "for the Championship of the World". After the five games played in New York, Zukertort led by 4–1, but in the end Steinitz won decisively by 12½–7½ (ten wins, five draws, five losses). Though not yet officially an American citizen, Steinitz wanted the United States flag to be placed next to him during the match. He became a U.S. citizen on November 23, 1888, having resided for five years in New York, and changed his first name from Wilhelm to William.
In 1887 the American Chess Congress
American Chess Congress
The American Chess Congress was a series of chess tournaments held in the United States, a predecessor to the current U.S. Chess Championship. It had nine editions, the first played in 1857 and the last in 1923.-First American Chess Congress :...
started work on drawing up regulations for the future conduct of world championship contests. Steinitz actively supported this endeavor, as he thought he was becoming too old to remain world champion – he wrote in his own magazine "I know I am not fit to be the champion, and I am not likely to bear that title for ever".
In 1888 Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
Chess Club offered to sponsor a match between Steinitz and whomever he would select as a worthy opponent. Steinitz nominated the Russian Mikhail Chigorin
Mikhail Chigorin
Mikhail Ivanovich Chigorin also was a leading Russian chess player...
, on the condition that the invitation should not be presented as a challenge from him. There is some doubt about whether this was intended to be a match for the world championship: both Steinitz's letters and the publicity material just before the match conspicuously avoided the phrase. The proposed match was to have a maximum of 20 games, and Steinitz had said that fixed-length matches were unsuitable for world championship contests because the first player to take the lead could then play for draws; and Steinitz was at the same time supporting the American Chess Congress' world championship project. Whatever the status of the match, it was played in Havana in January to February 1889 and won by Steinitz (ten wins, one draw, six losses).
The American Chess Congress' final proposal was that the winner of a tournament to be held in New York in 1889 should be regarded as world champion for the time being, but must be prepared to face a challenge from the second- or third-placed competitor within a month. Steinitz wrote that he would not play in the tournament and would not challenge the winner unless the second and third placed competitors failed to do so. The tournament was duly played, but the outcome was not quite as planned: Mikhail Chigorin
Mikhail Chigorin
Mikhail Ivanovich Chigorin also was a leading Russian chess player...
and Max Weiss
Max Weiss
Miksa Weisz was an Austrian chess player born in the Kingdom of Hungary.Weiss was born in Sereď. Moving to Vienna, he studied mathematics and physics at the university, and later taught those subjects....
tied for first place; their play-off resulted in four draws, and neither wanted to play a championship match – Chigorin had just lost a match against Steinitz and Weiss wanted to get back to his work for the Rothschild Bank. The third prize-winner Isidore Gunsberg was prepared to play Steinitz for the title in New York, and Steinitz won their match in 1890–91 (six wins, nine draws, four losses). The American Chess Congress's experiment was not repeated and Steinitz's last three world championship matches were private arrangements between the players.
In 1891 the Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
Chess Society and the Havana Chess Club offered to organize another Steinitz–Chigorin match for the world championship. Steinitz played against Chigorin in Havana in 1892 and won narrowly (ten wins, five draws, eight losses). This was his last successful defense of his title.
Final years of career
Emanuel Lasker
Emanuel Lasker was a German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher who was World Chess Champion for 27 years...
challenged him. Initially Lasker wanted to play for $5,000 a side and a match was agreed at stakes of $3,000 a side, but Steinitz agreed to a series of reductions when Lasker found it difficult to raise the money, and the final figure was $2,000 each, which was less than for some of Steinitz's earlier matches (the final combined stake of $4,000 would be worth about $495,500 at 2007 values.) Although this was publicly praised as an act of sportsmanship on Steinitz's part, Steinitz may have desperately needed the money. The match was played in 1894, at venues in New York, Philadelphia and Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
. Steinitz had previously declared he would win without doubt, so it came as a shock when Lasker won the first game. Steinitz responded by winning the second, and was able to maintain the balance until the sixth. However Lasker won all the games from the seventh to the 11th, and Steinitz asked for a one-week rest. When the match resumed, Steinitz looked in better shape and won the 13th and 14th games. Lasker struck back in the 15th and 16th, and Steinitz was unable to compensate for his losses in the middle of the match. Hence Lasker won convincingly
World Chess Championship 1894
The fifth World Chess Championship was held in New York , Philadelphia and Montreal between March 15 and May 26, 1894. Holder William Steinitz lost his title to challenger Emanuel Lasker, who was 32 years his junior.-Results:...
with ten wins, five losses and four draws. Some commentators thought Steinitz's habit of playing "experimental" moves in serious competition was a major factor in his downfall.
After losing the title, Steinitz played in tournaments more frequently than he had previously: he won at New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
1894 and was fifth at Hastings 1895
Hastings 1895 chess tournament
The Hastings 1895 chess tournament was a round-robin tournament of chess conducted in Hastings, England from August 5 to September 2, 1895.Hastings 1895 was arguably the strongest tournament in history at the time it occurred. All of the strongest players of the generation competed...
(winning the first brilliancy prize for his game with Curt von Bardeleben
Curt von Bardeleben
Curt von Bardeleben was a Count and a German chess master who committed suicide by jumping out of a window in 1924. His life and death were the basis for that of the main character in the novel The Defense by Vladimir Nabokov, which was made into the movie The Luzhin Defence...
); at Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
1895, a four-players round-robin event with Lasker, Chigorin and Pillsbury, he took second place. Later his results began to decline: 6th in Nuremberg
Nuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
1896, 5th in Cologne 1898, 10th in London 1899.
In early 1896 Steinitz defeated the Russian Emanuel Schiffers
Emanuel Schiffers
Emanuel Stepanovich Schiffers was a Russian chess player and chess writer. For many years he was the second leading Russian player after Mikhail Chigorin.Schiffers parents emigrated from Germany...
in a match (winning 6 games, drawing 1, losing 4). In November, 1896 to January, 1897 Steinitz played a return match with Lasker in Moscow but won only 2 games, drawing 5, and losing 10. This was the last world chess championship match for eleven years. Shortly after the match, Steinitz had a mental breakdown and was confined for 40 days in a Moscow sanatorium, where he played chess with the inmates.
The beginning of Steinitz's reign
There is a long-running debate among chess writers about whether Steinitz's reign as World Chess Champion began in 1866, when he beat Anderssen, or in 1886, when he beat Zukertort.Supporting 1866:
Undecided:
In April 1894 the British Chess Magazine
British Chess Magazine
British Chess Magazine is the world's oldest chess magazine in continuous publication. First published in January 1881, it has appeared at monthly intervals ever since. It is frequently known in the chess world as BCM....
described Steinitz as holding "the chess championship of the world for 28 years". However there is no evidence that he claimed the title for himself in 1866, although in the 1880s he claimed to have been the champion since his win over Anderssen. It has been suggested that Steinitz could not make such a claim while Paul Morphy
Paul Morphy
Paul Charles Morphy was an American chess player. He is considered to have been the greatest chess master of his era and an unofficial World Chess Champion. He was a chess prodigy...
was alive. Morphy had defeated Anderssen by a far wider margin, 8–3, in 1858, but retired from chess competition soon after he returned to the USA in 1859, and died in 1884. The 1886 Steinitz–Zukertort match was the first that was explicitly described as being for the World Championship, but Howard Staunton
Howard Staunton
Howard Staunton was an English chess master who is generally regarded as having been the world's strongest player from 1843 to 1851, largely as a result of his 1843 victory over Saint-Amant. He promoted a chess set of clearly distinguishable pieces of standardised shape—the Staunton pattern—that...
and Paul Morphy had been unofficially described as "World Chess Champion" around the middle of the 19th century. In fact one of the organizers of the 1851 London International tournament
London 1851 chess tournament
right|thumb|[[Adolf Anderssen]] won both the London International Tournament and the rival London Club Tournament.London 1851 was the first international chess tournament. The tournament was conceived and organised by English player Howard Staunton, and marked the first time that the best chess...
had said the contest was for "the baton of the World's Chess Champion", and in mid-1840s Ludwig Bledow
Ludwig Bledow
Dr Ludwig Erdmann Bledow was a German chess master and chess organizer ....
wrote a letter to Tassilo von Heydebrand und der Lasa
Tassilo von Heydebrand und der Lasa
Tassilo, Baron von Heydebrand und der Lasa was an important German chess master, chess historian and theoretician of the nineteenth century, a member of the Berlin Chess Club and a founder of the Berlin Chess School .His...
suggesting they should organize a world championship tournament in Germany. Some commentators described Steinitz as "the champion" in the years following his 1872 match victory against Zukertort. In the late 1870s and early 1880s some regarded Steinitz as the champion and others supported Johannes Zukertort, and the 1886 match was not regarded as creating the title of World Champion but as resolving conflicting claims to the title. On the other hand George Alcock MacDonnell
George Alcock MacDonnell
George Alcock MacDonnell was an Irish chess master.He tied for 3rd-4th at London 1862 ,...
hailed Joseph Blackburne as "World Champion" for his win in the 1881 Berlin Tournament, George Henry Mackenzie
George Henry Mackenzie
George Henry Mackenzie was a Scottish–American chess master....
as having "won the Chess Championship of the World" in 1887, and Isidore Gunsberg as "among the champions of the world" following his win at "Bradford Place" in 1888. However Steinitz regarded G.A. MacDonnell as "one of my bitterest and most untruthful persecutors".
Personal life
Steinitz married a lady named Caroline (born 1846) in the 1860s, and their only daughter Flora was born in 1867. Flora died in 1888 at the age of 21, and Caroline died in 1892. He married his second wife a few years later and had two children by her. However, in 1897 he dedicated a pamphlet to the memory of his first wife and their daughter.In February 1897 the New York Times prematurely reported his death in a New York mental asylum. Some authors claim that he contracted syphilis
Syphilis
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the spirochete bacterium Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum. The primary route of transmission is through sexual contact; however, it may also be transmitted from mother to fetus during pregnancy or at birth, resulting in congenital syphilis...
, which may have been a cause of the mental breakdowns he suffered in his last years. In the months prior to his death, he spent some time in institutions as a result of his failing mental health. His chess activities had not yielded any great financial rewards, and he died a pauper in the Manhattan State Hospital
Manhattan State Hospital
The Manhattan Psychiatric Center is a New York-state run psychiatric hospital on 125th Street on Wards Island in New York City. As of 2009 it is licensed for 509 beds, but only holds around 200 patients. The current building is 17-stories tall....
(Ward island) of a heart attack on August 12, 1900. Steinitz is buried in the Cemetery of the Evergreens in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. His second wife and their two young children were still alive at his death. Lasker, who took the championship from Steinitz, wrote, "I who vanquished him must see to it that his great achievement, his theories should find justice, and I must avenge the wrongs he suffered."
Writings
Steinitz was the main chess correspondent of the The FieldThe Field
The Field is a play written by John B. Keane, first performed in 1965. It tells the story of the hardened farmer "Bull" McCabe and his love for the land he rents. The play debuted at Dublin's Olympia Theatre in 1965, with Ray McAnally as "The Bull" and Eamon Keane as "The Bird" O'Donnell. The play...
(in London) from 1872 to 1882, and used this to present his ideas about chess strategy. In 1885 he founded the International Chess Magazine
International Chess Magazine
International Chess Magazine was a chess magazine established in 1885 by World Chess Champion Wilhelm Steinitz until 1891.-External links:* * * *...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and edited it until 1891. In addition to game commentaries and blow-by-blow accounts of the negotiations leading to his 1886 match with Johann Zukertort and of the American Chess Congress' world championship project, he wrote a long series of articles about Paul Morphy
Paul Morphy
Paul Charles Morphy was an American chess player. He is considered to have been the greatest chess master of his era and an unofficial World Chess Champion. He was a chess prodigy...
, who had died in 1884. He wrote the book of the 1889 New York tournament, in which he commented on all the games, and in 1889 he published a textbook, The Modern Chess Instructor.
Steinitz also allegedly wrote a pamphlet entitled Capital, Labor, and Charity while confined at River Crest Sanitarium in New York during the final months of his life.
Assessment
Hastings 1895 chess tournament
The Hastings 1895 chess tournament was a round-robin tournament of chess conducted in Hastings, England from August 5 to September 2, 1895.Hastings 1895 was arguably the strongest tournament in history at the time it occurred. All of the strongest players of the generation competed...
, written collectively by the players, described Steinitz as follows:
-
- Mr. Steinitz stands high as a theoretician and as a writer; he has a powerful pen, and when he chooses can use expressive English. He evidently strives to be fair to friends and foes alike, but appears sometimes to fail to see that after all he is much like many others in this respect. Possessed of a fine intellect, and extremely fond of the game, he is apt to lose sight of all other considerations, people and business alike. Chess is his very life and soul, the one thing for which he lives.
Influence on the game
Steinitz's play up to and including 1872 was similar to that of his contemporaries: sharp, aggressive, and full of sacrificialSacrifice (chess)
In chess, a sacrifice is a move giving up a piece in the hopes of gaining tactical or positional compensation in other forms. A sacrifice could also be a deliberate exchange of a chess piece of higher value for an opponent's piece of lower value....
play. This was the style in which he became "world number one" by beating Adolf Anderssen
Adolf Anderssen
Karl Ernst Adolf Anderssen was a German chess master. He is considered to have been the world's leading chess player in the 1850s and 1860s...
in 1866 and confirmed his position by convincingly beating Zukertort
Johannes Zukertort
Johannes Hermann Zukertort was a leading chess master of German-Polish-Jewish origin. He was one of the leading world players for most of the 1870s and 1880s, and lost to Wilhelm Steinitz in the World Chess Championship 1886, which is generally seen as the first World Chess Championship match, he...
in 1872 and winning the 1872 London International tournament (Zukertort had claimed the rank of number two by beating Anderssen in 1871).
In 1873, however, Steinitz's play suddenly changed, giving priority to what is now called the positional elements in chess: pawn structure
Pawn structure
In chess, the pawn structure is the configuration of pawns on the chessboard. Since pawns are the least mobile of the chess pieces, the pawn structure is relatively static and thus largely determines the strategic nature of the position.-General observations:Weaknesses in the pawn structure, such...
, space, outposts for knights, the advantage of the two bishops, etc. Although Steinitz often accepted unnecessarily difficult defensive positions in order to demonstrate the superiority of his theories, he also showed that his methods could provide a platform for crushing attacks. Steinitz's successor as world champion, Emanuel Lasker
Emanuel Lasker
Emanuel Lasker was a German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher who was World Chess Champion for 27 years...
, summed up the new style as: "In the beginning of the game ignore the search for combination
Combination (chess)
In chess, a combination is a sequence of moves, often initiated by a sacrifice, which leaves the opponent few options and results in tangible gain. At most points in a chess game, each player has several reasonable options from which to choose, which makes it difficult to plan ahead except in...
s, abstain from violent moves, aim for small advantages, accumulate them, and only after having attained these ends search for the combination – and then with all the power of will and intellect, because then the combination must exist, however deeply hidden."
Although Steinitz's play changed abruptly, he said had been thinking along such lines for some years: "Some of the games which I saw Paulsen
Louis Paulsen
Louis Paulsen was a German chess player.In 1860s and 1870s, he was among the top five players in the world. He was a younger brother of Wilfried Paulsen....
play during the London Congress of 1862 gave a still stronger start to the modification of my own opinions, which has since developed, and I began to recognize that Chess genius is not confined to the more or less deep and brilliant finishing strokes after the original balance of power and position has been overthrown, but that it also requires the exercise of still more extraordinary powers, though perhaps of a different kind to maintain that balance or respectively to disturb it at the proper time in one's own favor."
During his nine-year layoff from tournament play (1873–82) and later in his career, Steinitz used his chess writings to present his theories – while in the UK he wrote for The Field; in 1885 after moving to New York he founded the "International Chess Magazine", of which he was the chief editor; and in 1889 he edited the book of the great New York 1889 tournament (won by Mikhail Chigorin
Mikhail Chigorin
Mikhail Ivanovich Chigorin also was a leading Russian chess player...
and Max Weiss
Max Weiss
Miksa Weisz was an Austrian chess player born in the Kingdom of Hungary.Weiss was born in Sereď. Moving to Vienna, he studied mathematics and physics at the university, and later taught those subjects....
), in which he did not compete as the tournament was designed to produce his successor as World Champion. Many other writers found his new approach incomprehensible, boring or even cowardly; for example Adolf Anderssen
Adolf Anderssen
Karl Ernst Adolf Anderssen was a German chess master. He is considered to have been the world's leading chess player in the 1850s and 1860s...
said, "Kolisch is a highwayman and points the pistol at your breast. Steinitz is a pick-pocket, he steals a pawn and wins a game with it."
But when he contested the first World Championship match in 1886 against Johannes Zukertort
Johannes Zukertort
Johannes Hermann Zukertort was a leading chess master of German-Polish-Jewish origin. He was one of the leading world players for most of the 1870s and 1880s, and lost to Wilhelm Steinitz in the World Chess Championship 1886, which is generally seen as the first World Chess Championship match, he...
, it became evident that Steinitz was playing on another level. Although Zukertort was at least Steinitz's equal in spectacular attacking play, Steinitz often out-maneuvered him fairly simply by the use of positional principles.
By the time of his match in 1890–91 against Gunsberg, some commentators showed an understanding of and appreciation for Steinitz's theories. Shortly before the 1894 match with Emanuel Lasker even the New York Times, which had earlier published attacks on his play and character, paid tribute to his playing record, the importance of his theories, and his sportsmanship in agreeing to the most difficult match of his career despite his previous intention of retiring.
By the end of his career Steinitz was more highly esteemed as a theoretician than as a player. The comments about him in the book of the Hastings 1895 chess tournament focus on his theories and writings, and Emanuel Lasker
Emanuel Lasker
Emanuel Lasker was a German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher who was World Chess Champion for 27 years...
was more explicit: "He was a thinker worthy of a seat in the halls of a University. A player, as the world believed he was, he was not; his studious temperament made that impossible; and thus he was conquered by a player ..."
As a result of his play and writings Steinitz, along with Paul Morphy
Paul Morphy
Paul Charles Morphy was an American chess player. He is considered to have been the greatest chess master of his era and an unofficial World Chess Champion. He was a chess prodigy...
, is considered by many chess commentators to be the founder of modern chess. Vladmir Kramnik emphasizes Steinitz's importance as a pioneer in the field of chess theory: "Steinitz was the first to realise that chess, despite being a complicated game, obeys some common principles. ... But as often happens the first time is just a try. ... I can't say he was the founder of a chess theory. He was an experimenter and pointed out that chess obeys laws that should be considered."
Books on Steinitz
'Steinitz Chess Champion' by Landsberger, McFarland pub.'Steinitz Papers' by Soltis, McFarland pub.
'The Games of Wilhelm Steinitz, first world chess champion' by Sid Pickard (in Algebraic notation)ISBN:1-886846-00-6, Pickard & Son publishers in 1995.
Playing strength and style
Statistical rating systems are unkind to Steinitz. "Warriors of the Mind" gives him a surprisingly low ranking of 47th, below several obscure Soviet grandmasters; ChessmetricsChessmetrics
Chessmetrics is a system for rating chess players devised by Jeff Sonas. It is intended as an improvement over the Elo rating system.-Implementation:...
places him only 15th on its all-time list. Chessmetrics penalizes players who play infrequently; opportunities for competitive chess were infrequent in Steinitz's best years, and Steinitz had a few long absences from competitive play (1873–76, 1876–82, 1883–86, 1886–89). However in 2005 Chessmetrics' author, Jeff Sonas, wrote an article which examined various ways of comparing the strength of "world number one" players, using data provided by Chessmetrics, and found that: Steinitz was further ahead of his contemporaries in the 1870s than Bobby Fischer
Bobby Fischer
Robert James "Bobby" Fischer was an American chess Grandmaster and the 11th World Chess Champion. He is widely considered one of the greatest chess players of all time. Fischer was also a best-selling chess author...
was in his peak period (1970–72); that Steinitz had the third-highest total number of years as the world's top player, behind Emanuel Lasker
Emanuel Lasker
Emanuel Lasker was a German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher who was World Chess Champion for 27 years...
and Garry Kasparov
Garry Kasparov
Garry Kimovich Kasparov is a Russian chess grandmaster, a former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist, and one of the greatest chess players of all time....
; and that Steinitz placed 7th in a comparison of how long the great players were ranked in the world's top three. Between his victory over Anderssen (1866) and his loss to Emanuel Lasker (1894), Steinitz won all his "normal" matches, sometimes by wide margins; and his worst tournament performance in that 28-year period was third place in Paris (1867). (He also lost two handicap matches and a match by telegraph in 1890 against Mikhail Chigorin
Mikhail Chigorin
Mikhail Ivanovich Chigorin also was a leading Russian chess player...
, where Chigorin was allowed to choose the openings in both games and won both.)
Initially Steinitz played in the all-out attacking style of contemporaries like Anderssen, and then changed to the positional style with which he dominated competitive chess in the 1870s and 1880s. Max Euwe
Max Euwe
Machgielis Euwe was a Dutch chess Grandmaster, mathematician, and author. He was the fifth player to become World Chess Champion . Euwe also served as President of FIDE, the World Chess Federation, from 1970 to 1978.- Early years :Euwe was born in Watergraafsmeer, near Amsterdam...
wrote, "Steinitz aimed at positions with clear-cut features, to which his theory was best applicable." However he retained his capacity for brilliant attacks right to the end of his career; for example in the 1895 Hastings tournament
Hastings 1895 chess tournament
The Hastings 1895 chess tournament was a round-robin tournament of chess conducted in Hastings, England from August 5 to September 2, 1895.Hastings 1895 was arguably the strongest tournament in history at the time it occurred. All of the strongest players of the generation competed...
(when he was 59) he beat von Bardeleben
Curt von Bardeleben
Curt von Bardeleben was a Count and a German chess master who committed suicide by jumping out of a window in 1924. His life and death were the basis for that of the main character in the novel The Defense by Vladimir Nabokov, which was made into the movie The Luzhin Defence...
in a spectacular game in which in the closing stages Steinitz deliberately exposed all his pieces to attack simultaneously (except his king, of course). His most significant weaknesses were his habits of playing "experimental" moves and getting into unnecessarily difficult defensive positions in top-class competitive games.
Personality
"Traditional" accounts of Steinitz describe him as having a sharp tongue and violent temper, perhaps partly because of his short stature (barely five feet) and congenital lameness. He admitted that "Like the Duke of Parma, I always hold the sword in one hand and the olive branch in the other", and under severe provocation he could become abusive in published articles. He was aware of his own tendencies and said early in his career, "Nothing would induce me to take charge of a chess column ...Because I should be so fair in dispensing blame as well as praise that I should be sure to give offence and make enemies." When he embarked on chess journalism, his brutally frank review of Wormald's "The Chess Openings" in 1875 proved him right on both counts.However, his personal correspondence, his own articles and some third-party articles show that he had long and friendly relationships with many people and groups in the chess world, including Ignác Kolisch
Ignác Kolisch
Baron Ignatz von Kolisch , also Baron Ignaz von Kolisch or báró Kolisch Ignác , was a merchant, journalist and chess master with Jewish roots....
(one of his earliest sponsors), Mikhail Chigorin
Mikhail Chigorin
Mikhail Ivanovich Chigorin also was a leading Russian chess player...
, Harry Nelson Pillsbury
Harry Nelson Pillsbury
Harry Nelson Pillsbury , was a leading chess player. At age 22, he won one of the strongest tournaments of the time , but his illness and early death prevented him from challenging for the World Chess Championship.- Early life :Pillsbury was born in Somerville, Massachusetts, moved to New York City...
, Bernhard Horwitz
Bernhard Horwitz
Bernhard Horwitz was a German English chess master and chess writer.Horwitz was born in Neustrelitz, and went to school in Berlin, where he studied art. From 1837 to 1843, he was part of a group of German chess players known as "The Pleiades".He moved to London in 1845...
, Amos Burn
Amos Burn
Amos Burn was an English chess player, one of the world's leading players at the end of the 19th century, and a chess writer....
and the Cuban and Russian chess communities. He even co-operated with the American Chess Congress in its project to regulate future contests for the world title that he had earned.
Steinitz strove to be objective in his writings about chess competitions and games, for example he attributed to sheer bad luck a poor tournament score by Henry Edward Bird, whom he considered no friend of his, and was generous in his praise of great play by even his bitter enemies. He could poke fun at some of his own rhetoric, for example "I remarked that I would rather die in America than live in England. ... I added that I would rather lose a match in America than win one in England. But after having carefully considered the subject in all its bearings, I have come to the conclusion that I neither mean to die yet nor to lose the match." At a joint simultaneous display in Russia around the time of the 1895–96 Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
tournament, Emanuel Lasker
Emanuel Lasker
Emanuel Lasker was a German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher who was World Chess Champion for 27 years...
and Steinitz formed an impromptu comedy double act.
Although he had a strong sense of honour about repaying debts, Steinitz was poor at managing his finances: he let a competitor "poach" many of his clients in 1862–63, offered to play the 1886 world title match against Johannes Zukertort
Johannes Zukertort
Johannes Hermann Zukertort was a leading chess master of German-Polish-Jewish origin. He was one of the leading world players for most of the 1870s and 1880s, and lost to Wilhelm Steinitz in the World Chess Championship 1886, which is generally seen as the first World Chess Championship match, he...
for free, and died in poverty in 1900, leaving his widow to survive by running a small shop.
Notable games
- Wilhelm Steinitz vs Augustus Mongredien, London 1862 Awarded the brilliancy prize at the 1862 London International Tournament.
- Adolf Anderssen vs Wilhelm Steinitz; 13th match game, London 1866 Emanuel LaskerEmanuel LaskerEmanuel Lasker was a German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher who was World Chess Champion for 27 years...
regarded this well-prepared attack as a precursor of the positional approach that Steinitz later advocated. - Johannes Zukertort vs Wilhelm Steinitz, WCH (9th game of the match) 1886, Queen's Gambit Declined: Vienna. Quiet Variation (D37), 0–1 Steinitz exchanges his powerful centre to create two weak hanging pawnsPawn structureIn chess, the pawn structure is the configuration of pawns on the chessboard. Since pawns are the least mobile of the chess pieces, the pawn structure is relatively static and thus largely determines the strategic nature of the position.-General observations:Weaknesses in the pawn structure, such...
on White's queenside and creates strong pressure against them. Zukertort eventually tries to slug his way out of trouble, but Steinitz wins with a sharp counter-attack. - Wilhelm Steinitz vs Mikhail Chigorin, Havana WCH 1892 (2nd game of the match), Ruy Lopez, 1–0 Steinitz weakens Chigorin's pawns, gains superior mobility then forces a pawn promotion with the aid of a little combination.
- Wilhelm Steinitz vs Mikhail Chigorin, Havana WCH 1892 (4th game of the match), Spanish Game: General (C65), 1–0 Positional preparation creates the opportunity for a swift attack leading to mate on the 29th move.
- Wilhelm Steinitz vs Curt von Bardeleben, Hastings 1895, Italian Game: Classical Variation. Greco Gambit Traditional Line (C54), 1–0 A great attacking combination in the old 1860s style. After White's 22nd move, all the White pieces are en prise but Black is lost. The game won the first brilliancy prize of the tournament.
Tournament results
Sources:| Date | Location | Place | Score | Vienna Vienna Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre... championship | 3rd | ??? | Behind Carl Hamppe Carl Hamppe Carl Hamppe was a senior government official in Vienna as well as a Swiss–Austrian chess master and theoretician.... and Eduard Jenay Eduard Jenay Eduard Jenay was an Austrian chess master.Jenay was a Viennese liberal, such as Matschenko, Mayerhofer, Hamppe, Schlemm, Klotz, who played at Café bei Neuner in der Plankengassecafé, while conservatives and military officers would never enter it in the 1840s.He lost matches to Adolf Anderssen at... . |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1860 | Vienna championship | 2nd | ??? | Hamppe won. |
| 1861 | Vienna championship | 1st | 30/31 | |
| 1862 London 1862 chess tournament An international chess tournament was held in London, during the second British world exhibition, in 1862. Fourteen players participated in the main chess event from 16 June to 28 June 1862. They played at the St. George's Club, St. James's Club and Divan. All-play-all and time controls were... |
London International Tournament | 6th | 8/13 | Behind Adolf Anderssen Adolf Anderssen Karl Ernst Adolf Anderssen was a German chess master. He is considered to have been the world's leading chess player in the 1850s and 1860s... , Louis Paulsen Louis Paulsen Louis Paulsen was a German chess player.In 1860s and 1870s, he was among the top five players in the world. He was a younger brother of Wilfried Paulsen.... , John Owen John Owen (chess player) John Owen was an English vicar and strong amateur chess player.In 1858 he won a game against Paul Morphy, which led to a match between the two... , George Alcock MacDonnell George Alcock MacDonnell George Alcock MacDonnell was an Irish chess master.He tied for 3rd-4th at London 1862 ,... and Serafino Dubois Serafino Dubois Serafino Dubois was an Italian chess player. He was known for his writings on the game and for his promotion of chess in Italy.-Chess career:Serafino Dubois was born in Rome... . Draws were not scored in this tournament. Steinitz was awarded the brilliancy prize for his win over Augustus Mongredien Augustus Mongredien Augustus Mongredien was a leading English chess master. Political economist and miscellaneous writer; born in London of French parents; gradually withdrew from business and devoted himself to literary pursuits; joined National Political Union, 1831; member of the Cobden Club, 1872; received a... . |
| 1862 | London championship | 1st | 7/7 | |
| 1865 | Dublin | 1st-2nd | 3½/4 | Tied with MacDonnell. |
| 1866 | London handicap tournament | 1st | 8/9 | Steinitz won against Cecil Valentine De Vere Cecil Valentine De Vere Cecil Valentine De Vere was the pseudonym of Cecil Valentine Brown, the winner of the first official British Chess Championship, in 1866.... (2-1), MacDonnell (2-0), Mocatta (2-0) - Steinitz gave odds of pawn and move, and in the final S. Green (2-0) - Steinitz gave odds of pawn and two moves. |
| 1867 | Dundee Dundee Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea... handicap tournament |
1st-2nd | 3/3 | Tied with J.C. Fraser. Steinitz won against MacDonnell (1-0), Keating (1-0) - Steinitz gave odds of a knight, and Scott (1-0) - Steinitz gave odds of a knight. |
| 1867 | Dundee | 2nd | 7/9 | Behind Neumann (7½/9); ahead of MacDonnell, De Vere, Joseph Henry Blackburne Joseph Henry Blackburne Joseph Henry Blackburne , nicknamed "The Black Death", dominated British chess during the latter part of the 19th century. He learned the game at the relatively late age of 18 but quickly became a strong player and went on to develop a professional chess career that spanned over 50 years... , Robertson, J.C. Fraser, G.B. Fraser, Hamel and Spens. |
| 1867 Paris 1867 chess tournament World exhibitions became a new phenomenon in the West in the nineteenth century. Scientific and technical progress were shown. Ten World Fairs were organised during the second half of the nineteenth century. Seven times an international chess tournament was part of the event... |
Paris | 3rd | (+18 −3 =3) | Draws counted as zero; third behind Ignaz von Kolisch Ignác Kolisch Baron Ignatz von Kolisch , also Baron Ignaz von Kolisch or báró Kolisch Ignác , was a merchant, journalist and chess master with Jewish roots.... (+20 −2 =2) and Szymon Winawer Szymon Winawer Szymon Abramowicz Winawer , born in Warsaw, Poland, was a leading chess player who won the German Chess Championship in 1883... (+19 −4 =1); ; ahead of Gustav Neumann Gustav Neumann Gustav Richard Ludwig Neumann was a German chess master.Neumann was born in Gleiwitz in the Prussian Province of Silesia. In matches he lost to Louis Paulsen at Leipzig 1864, and defeated Celso Golmayo Zúpide , and Simon Winawer at Paris 1867... , De Vere, Jules Arnous de Rivière Jules Arnous de Rivière Jules Arnous de Rivière was the strongest French chess player from the late 1850s through the late 1870s. He is best known today for playing many games with Paul Morphy when the American champion visited Paris in 1858 and 1863.Born in Nantes to a French father and an English mother as... , Hieronim Czarnowski Hieronim Czarnowski Hieronim Ignacy Czarnowski was a Polish chess master and activist.He lived in Warsaw where played, among others, with Alexander Petrov and Szymon Winawer. After the failure of the January Uprising , he emigrated to France.In 1867, he took 8th in Paris ,and won at Café de la Régence in Paris... , Celso Golmayo Zúpide Celso Golmayo Zúpide Celso Golmayo y Zúpide was a Spanish–Cuban chess master.He had been generally accepted as Cuban champion since his 1862 match defeat of Félix Sicre... , Samuel Rosenthal Samuel Rosenthal Samuel Rosenthal was a Jewish chess master. Chess historian Edward Winter wrote, "He dedicated his life to chess-playing, touring, writing, teaching and analysing... , Sam Loyd Sam Loyd Samuel Loyd , born in Philadelphia and raised in New York, was an American chess player, chess composer, puzzle author, and recreational mathematician.... , D'Andre, Martin Severin From Martin Severin From Martin Severin Janus From was a Danish chess master.Born in Nakskov, From received his first education at the grammar school of Nykøbing Falster... , and Eugène Rousseau Eugéne Rousseau (chess player) Eugène Rousseau was a French chess master. He was the strongest chess player in New Orleans in the first half of the 1840s. The Rousseau Gambit is named after him.... . |
| 1870 Baden-Baden 1870 chess tournament The 1870 chess tournament in Baden-Baden can be regarded as the first strong tournament. In comparison with London 1851 chess tournament, London 1862 and Paris 1867, three main changes were made: a) first chess clocks used , b) draws counted as half points, c) only top international players were... |
Baden-Baden Baden-Baden Baden-Baden is a spa town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located on the western foothills of the Black Forest, on the banks of the Oos River, in the region of Karlsruhe... |
2nd | 12½/18 | Behind Anderssen (13/18); ahead of Neumann, Blackburne, Louis Paulsen, De Vere, Szymon Winawer Szymon Winawer Szymon Abramowicz Winawer , born in Warsaw, Poland, was a leading chess player who won the German Chess Championship in 1883... , Rosenthal and Johannes von Minckwitz. |
| 1872 | London | 1st | 7½/8 | Ahead of Blackburne (5/8), Johannes Zukertort Johannes Zukertort Johannes Hermann Zukertort was a leading chess master of German-Polish-Jewish origin. He was one of the leading world players for most of the 1870s and 1880s, and lost to Wilhelm Steinitz in the World Chess Championship 1886, which is generally seen as the first World Chess Championship match, he... , MacDonnell and De Vere. |
| 1873 Vienna 1873 chess tournament The Vienna 1873 chess tournament was a side event of the world exhibition of 1873 .-Background:... |
Vienna | 1st-2nd | 10/11: 20½/25 | Tied with Blackburne (10/11: 22½/30) and won the play-off 2-0; ahead of Anderssen (8½/11: 19/30), Rosenthal (7½/11: 17/28), Louis Paulsen, Henry Edward Bird, Heral, Max Fleissig Max Fleissig Miksa Fleissig was a Hungarian-born Austrian chess master.Dr. Maximilian Fleissig tied for 7-8th in the Vienna 1873 chess tournament , played at Vienna 1875 , and tied for 4-7th at Vienna 1882 .His name is attached to the... , Philipp Meitner Philipp Meitner Philipp Meitner was an Austrian lawyer and chess master. His most famous game was the "Immortal Draw" . He won at Vienna 1875, and won a match against Adolf Schwarz at Vienna 1878.Meitner played in two strong international tournaments in the Vienna 1873 and Vienna 1882... , Adolf Schwarz Adolf Schwarz Adolf Schwarz was an Austria-Hungarian chess master.He took 10th in the Vienna 1873 chess tournament . In 1878, he took 2nd, behind Louis Paulsen, in Frankfurt. In 1879, he took 3rd in Leipzig... , Oscar Gelbfuhs Oscar Gelbfuhs Oscar Gelbfuhs was a Moravian-Austrian chess master.He took 11th in the Vienna 1873 chess tournament .... and Karl Pitschel Karl Pitschel Karl Pitschel was an Austrian chess master.He took 4th at Krefeld 1871 , took 4th at Leipzig 1871 , took 5th at Altona 1872 , took 12th in the Vienna 1873 chess tournament Karl (Carl) Pitschel (1829 – 29 January 1883) was an Austrian chess master.He took 4th at Krefeld 1871 (the 9th Western DSB... . This tournament had a very unusual scoring system: each player played a 3-game mini-match with each of the others and scored 1 for a won mini-match and ½ for a drawn mini-match. Steinitz won his last 14 games and therefore completed his mini-matches by playing fewer games than anyone else. The numbers before the colons (:) are the points awarded; the other 2 numbers are the usual "games won / games played" scoring. |
| 1882 Vienna 1882 chess tournament The second international Vienna 1882 chess tournament was one of the longest and strongest chess tournaments ever played. According to the unofficial Chessmetrics ratings, the tournament was the strongest tournament in history, on the basis that nine of the ten top players in the world... |
Vienna | 1st-2nd | 24/34 | Tied with Winawer and drew the play-off; ahead of Mason (23/34), Zukertort (22½/34), Mackenzie, Blackburne, Berthold Englisch Berthold Englisch Berthold Englisch was a leading Austrian chess master.Englisch was born in Czech Silesia into a Jewish family. He earned his living as a stock-market agent.... , Paulsen and others including Mikhail Chigorin Mikhail Chigorin Mikhail Ivanovich Chigorin also was a leading Russian chess player... and Bird. |
| 1883 | London | 2nd | 19/26 | Behind Zukertort (22/26); ahead of Blackburne (16½/24), Chigorin 16/24, Englisch (15½/24), Mackenzie (15½/24), Mason (15½/24), Rosenthal, Winawer, Bird and four others. |
| 1894 | New York New York New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east... championship |
1st | 8½/10 | After losing the world title to Emanuel Lasker. |
| 1895 Hastings 1895 chess tournament The Hastings 1895 chess tournament was a round-robin tournament of chess conducted in Hastings, England from August 5 to September 2, 1895.Hastings 1895 was arguably the strongest tournament in history at the time it occurred. All of the strongest players of the generation competed... |
Hastings Hastings Hastings is a town and borough in the county of East Sussex on the south coast of England. The town is located east of the county town of Lewes and south east of London, and has an estimated population of 86,900.... |
5th | 13/21 | Behind Harry Nelson Pillsbury Harry Nelson Pillsbury Harry Nelson Pillsbury , was a leading chess player. At age 22, he won one of the strongest tournaments of the time , but his illness and early death prevented him from challenging for the World Chess Championship.- Early life :Pillsbury was born in Somerville, Massachusetts, moved to New York City... (16½/24), Chigorin (16/21), Emanuel Lasker Emanuel Lasker Emanuel Lasker was a German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher who was World Chess Champion for 27 years... (15½/21), Siegbert Tarrasch Siegbert Tarrasch Siegbert Tarrasch was one of the strongest chess players and most influential chess teachers of the late 19th century and early 20th century.... (14/21); ahead of Emanuel Schiffers Emanuel Schiffers Emanuel Stepanovich Schiffers was a Russian chess player and chess writer. For many years he was the second leading Russian player after Mikhail Chigorin.Schiffers parents emigrated from Germany... (12/21), Curt von Bardeleben Curt von Bardeleben Curt von Bardeleben was a Count and a German chess master who committed suicide by jumping out of a window in 1924. His life and death were the basis for that of the main character in the novel The Defense by Vladimir Nabokov, which was made into the movie The Luzhin Defence... (11½/21), Richard Teichmann Richard Teichmann Richard Teichmann was a German chess master.He was known as "Richard the Fifth" because he often finished in fifth place in tournaments. But in Karlsbad 1911, he scored a convincing win, crushing Akiba Rubinstein and Carl Schlechter with the same line of the Ruy Lopez... (11½/21), Carl Schlechter Carl Schlechter Carl Schlechter was a leading Austrian chess master and theoretician at the turn of the 20th century. He is best known for drawing a World Chess Championship match with Emanuel Lasker.-Early life:... (11/21), Blackburne (10½/21), Carl August Walbrodt Carl August Walbrodt Carl August Walbrodt was a German chess master.His German parents moved from Wesel, Rhine Province, to Amsterdam, with Walbrodt's older brother, shortly before Carl August was born. They seem to have moved back, to the Berlin area, before he was 10 years old. At that age his father taught him to... , Amos Burn Amos Burn Amos Burn was an English chess player, one of the world's leading players at the end of the 19th century, and a chess writer.... , Dawid Janowski Dawid Janowski Dawid Markelowicz Janowski was a leading Polish chess master and subsequent French citizen.... , Mason, Bird, Isidore Gunsberg, Adolf Albin Adolf Albin right|thumb|Adolf AlbinAdolf Albin was a Romanian chess player, especially known for the countergambit that bears his name, and for the first chess book written in Romanian.- Life :... , Georg Marco Georg Marco Georg Marco was a Romanian chess player.He was born in Chernivtsi , Bukovina... , William Pollock William Pollock (chess player) William Henry Krause Pollock was an English chess master, and a surgeon.Pollock was born in Cheltenham, England, the son of the Rev. William J. Pollock. He was educated at Clifton College. He studied for the medical profession in Dublin, Ireland from 1880–82, at which time he was a member of the... , Jacques Mieses Jacques Mieses ----Jacques Mieses was a German-born Jewish chess Grandmaster and writer. He became a naturalized British citizen after World War II.p258-Chess career:... , Samuel Tinsley Samuel Tinsley Samuel Tinsley was a chess player born in Barnet, Hertfordshire in 1847, where he grew up. Unlike most masters, he did not take up chess until late in life, beginning to play the game seriously well into his forties.... and Beniamino Vergani Beniamino Vergani Beniamino Vergani was an Italian chess master.A businessman who learned the game in 1884, and very soon was distinguished himself in the local tournaments. He took part in the Italian National Tournament at Turin 1892, coming second behind Torre... . |
| 1895-96 | Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea... |
2nd | 9½/18 | Behind Emanuel Lasker (11½/18); ahead of Pillsbury (8/18) and Chigorin (7/18). The world's top 4 players played 6 games against each of the others. |
| 1896 Nuremberg 1896 chess tournament The tournament at Nürnberg 1896 should have become 10. Deutschen Schachbund Kongreß , but the local chess club took over the organisation and included no minor groups... |
Nuremberg Nuremberg Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664... |
6th | 11/18 | Behind Emanuel Lasker 13½/18, Géza Maróczy Géza Maróczy Géza Maróczy was a leading Hungarian chess Grandmaster, one of the best players in the world in his time. He was also a practicing engineer.-Early career:... (12½/18), Pillsbury (12/18), Tarrasch (12/18), Janowski (11½/18); ahead of Walbrodt, Schiffers, Chigorin, Blackburne, Rudolf Charousek, Marco, Albin, Winawer, Jackson Showalter Jackson Showalter Jackson Whipps Showalter was a five-time U.S. Chess Champion: 1890, 1892, 1892–1894, 1895-1896 and 1906–1909.-Chess career:... , Moritz Porges Moritz Porges Moritz Porges was a Jewish Czech chess player.In 1882, he tied for 4-7th in Vienna .In 1892, he shared 2nd with Gyula Makovetz, behind Siegbert Tarrasch, in Dresden .... , Emil Schallopp Emil Schallopp Emil Schallopp was a German chess player and author. He became head of the shorthand department of the Reichstag. He wrote many books, including one on the Steinitz–Zukertort 1886 World Championship match... and Teichmann. |
| 1897 | New York | 1st-2nd | 2½/4 | A triangular "Thousand Islands" tournament; tied with S. Lipschütz and ahead of William Ewart Napier William Ewart Napier William Ewart Napier was an American chess master of English birth.- Life :... . |
| 1898 Vienna 1898 chess tournament The tournament celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria's accession to the throne of Austria-Hungary. Main organiser was Baron Albert Freiherr von Rothschild who also financed the Vienna tournaments of 1873, 1882, 1903, and 1908. The players visited his Heugasse... |
Vienna | 4th | 23½/36 | Behind Tarrasch (27½/36), Pillsbury (27½/36), Janowski (25½/36); ahead of Schlechter, Chigorin, Burn, Paul Lipke Paul Lipke Paul Lipke , was a German chess master.Lipke was born in Erfurt. In 1889, he tied for 5–6th in Breslau , and took 4th in Dessau. In 1892, he won in Dresden , and he took 2nd in Halle... , Maroczy, Simon Alapin, Blackburne, Schiffers, Marco, Showalter, Walbrodt, Alexander Halprin Alexander Halprin Alexander Halprin was a Russian–Austrian chess master.He took 6th at Vienna 1895/96 , lost a match to Kalikst Morawski at Vienna 1896, tied for 3rd-4th at Vienna 1897/98 , took 16th at Vienna 1898 ,Halprin, Marco, and Hugo... , Horatio Caro Horatio Caro Horatio Caro was an English chess master.Caro was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, but spent most of his chess career in Berlin, Germany. He played several matches. In 1892, he drew with Curt von Bardeleben , lost to Szymon Winawer . In 1897, he lost to Jacques Mieses . In 1903, he drew... , David Graham Baird David Graham Baird David Graham Baird was an American chess master. He was the brother of John Washington Baird, who was also an American chess master. A writer in the New York Times, describing the players in the Sixth American Chess Congress , portrayed Baird and his brother as follows:Of the Baird brothers, David G... and Herbert William Trenchard Herbert William Trenchard Herbert William Trenchard was an English chess master.He took 11th and tied for 4-5th in London in 1886, shared twice 3rd at Cambridge 1890 and Oxford 1891, tied for 4-5th at Brighton 1892, took 2nd at London 1992 , tied for 3rd-4th at Woolhall Spa 1893, and took 3rd at London 1896,He also... . |
| 1898 | Cologne Cologne Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the... |
5th | 9½/15 | Behind Burn, Charousek, Chigorin and Wilhelm Cohn Wilhelm Cohn Wilhelm Cohn was a German chess master.He participated in some strong tournaments. In 1897, he tied for 13-14th in Berlin . In 1898, he tied for 2nd-4th in Cologne . In 1899, he tied for 10-11th in London... ; ahead of Schlechter, Showalter, Johann Berger Johann Berger Johann Nepomuk Berger was an Austrian chess master, theorist, endgame study composer, author and editor.In September 1870, he won the first tournament in the Austro-Hungarian Empire at Graz... , Janowski and Schiffers. |
| 1899 | London | 10-11th | 11½/27 | Behind Emanuel Lasker (23½/27), Janowski (19/27), Maróczy (19/27), Pillsbury (19/27), Schlechter (18/27), Blackburne (16½/27), Chigorin (16/27), Showalter (13½/27), Mason (13/27). This was the first time he had not won any prize money since 1859. |
Match results
Sources:| Date | Opponent | Result | | Location | |Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1860 | Eduard Jenay Eduard Jenay Eduard Jenay was an Austrian chess master.Jenay was a Viennese liberal, such as Matschenko, Mayerhofer, Hamppe, Schlemm, Klotz, who played at Café bei Neuner in der Plankengassecafé, while conservatives and military officers would never enter it in the 1840s.He lost matches to Adolf Anderssen at... |
Drew | Vienna Vienna Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre... |
2/4 | 2 : 2 | |
| 1860 | Max Lange Max Lange Max Lange was a German chess player and composer.In 1858–1864, he was an editor of the Deutsche Schachzeitung . He was a founder of Westdeutscher Schachbund , and an organizer of the 9th DSB–Congress at Leipzig 1894... |
Won | Vienna | 3/3 | +3−0=0 | |
| 1862 | Serafino Dubois Serafino Dubois Serafino Dubois was an Italian chess player. He was known for his writings on the game and for his promotion of chess in Italy.-Chess career:Serafino Dubois was born in Rome... |
Won | London London London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its... |
5½/9 | +5−3=1 | |
| 1862 | Adolf Anderssen Adolf Anderssen Karl Ernst Adolf Anderssen was a German chess master. He is considered to have been the world's leading chess player in the 1850s and 1860s... |
Lost | London | 1/3 | +1−2=0 | Offhand games |
| 1862–63 | Joseph Henry Blackburne Joseph Henry Blackburne Joseph Henry Blackburne , nicknamed "The Black Death", dominated British chess during the latter part of the 19th century. He learned the game at the relatively late age of 18 but quickly became a strong player and went on to develop a professional chess career that spanned over 50 years... |
Won | London | 8/10 | +7−1=2 | Only 2 years after Blackburne started playing chess. |
| 1863 | Frederic Deacon Frederic Deacon Frederic Deacon was a Belgian chess master.He won a match against W. Gilby and lost a match to Charles Edward Ranken at London 1851 .... |
Won | London | 5½/7 | +5−1=1 | |
| 1863 | Augustus Mongredien Augustus Mongredien Augustus Mongredien was a leading English chess master. Political economist and miscellaneous writer; born in London of French parents; gradually withdrew from business and devoted himself to literary pursuits; joined National Political Union, 1831; member of the Cobden Club, 1872; received a... |
Won | London | 7/7 | +7−0=0 | |
| 1863–64 | Valentine Green | Won | London | 8/9 | +7−0=2 | |
| 1865 | James Robey | Won | London | 4/5 | 4 : 1 | |
| 1866 | Adolf Anderssen Adolf Anderssen Karl Ernst Adolf Anderssen was a German chess master. He is considered to have been the world's leading chess player in the 1850s and 1860s... |
Won | London | 8/14 | +8−6=0 | As a result of this win Steinitz was generally regarded as the world's best player. |
| 1866 | Henry Edward Bird | Won | London | 9½/17 | +7−5=5 | |
| 1867 | George Brunton Fraser | Won | Dundee Dundee Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea... |
4/6 | +3−1=2 | |
| 1870 | Blackburne | Won | London | 5½/6 | +5−0=1 | |
| 1872 | Johannes Zukertort Johannes Zukertort Johannes Hermann Zukertort was a leading chess master of German-Polish-Jewish origin. He was one of the leading world players for most of the 1870s and 1880s, and lost to Wilhelm Steinitz in the World Chess Championship 1886, which is generally seen as the first World Chess Championship match, he... |
Won | London | 9/12 | +7−1=4 | |
| 1873 | Blackburne | Won | Vienna | 2/2 | +2−0=0 | Play-off match. |
| 1876 | Blackburne | Won | London | 7/7 | +7−0=0 | |
| 1882 | Szymon Winawer Szymon Winawer Szymon Abramowicz Winawer , born in Warsaw, Poland, was a leading chess player who won the German Chess Championship in 1883... |
Drew | Vienna | 1/2 | 1 : 1 | Play-off match. |
| 1882 | Dion Martinez Dion Martinez Dion M. Martinez was a Cuban–American chess master.He was regarded as one of the strongest chess players in Philadelphia... |
Won | Philadelphia | 7/7 | +7−0=0 | |
| 1882 | Alexander Sellman | Won | Baltimore Baltimore Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore... |
3½/5 | +2−0=3 | |
| 1883 | George Henry Mackenzie George Henry Mackenzie George Henry Mackenzie was a Scottish–American chess master.... |
Won | New York New York New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east... |
4/6 | +3−1=2 | |
| 1883 | Martinez | Won | Philadelphia | 4½/7 | +3−1=3 | |
| 1883 | Celso Golmayo Zúpide Celso Golmayo Zúpide Celso Golmayo y Zúpide was a Spanish–Cuban chess master.He had been generally accepted as Cuban champion since his 1862 match defeat of Félix Sicre... |
Won | Havana Havana Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous... |
9/11 | 9 : 2 | |
| 1883 | Martinez | Won | Philadelphia | 10/11 | 10 : 1 | |
| 1885 | Alexander Sellman | Won | Baltimore | 3/3 | +3−0=0 | |
| 1886 | Zukertort | Won | New York, St.Louis and New Orleans | 12½/20 | +10−5=5 | World Chess Championship 1886 World Chess Championship 1886 The World Chess Championship 1886 was the first official World Chess Championship match contested by Wilhelm Steinitz and Johannes Zukertort. The match took place in the USA, the first five games being played in New York, the next four being played in St.Louis and the final eleven in New Orleans.... ; the contract for this match said it was "for the Championship of the World". |
| 1888 | Alberto Ponce | Won | Havana | 4/5 | 4 : 1 | |
| 1888 | Andrés Vásquez | Won | Havana | 5/5 | +5−0=0 | |
| 1888 | Golmayo | Won | Havana | 5/5 | +5−0=0 | |
| 1889 | Vicente Carvajal | Won | Havana | 4/5 | 4 : 1 | |
| 1889 | Mikhail Chigorin Mikhail Chigorin Mikhail Ivanovich Chigorin also was a leading Russian chess player... |
Won | Havana | 10½/17 | +10−6=1 | World Chess Championship 1889 World Chess Championship 1889 The World Chess Championship 1889 was the second official World Chess Championship, and was between Wilhelm Steinitz and Mikhail Chigorin. It took place in Havana, Cuba. Steinitz successfully defended his world title, by being the first of the two players to reach 10½... ; often described as a World Championship match, but may not have been. |
| 1890–91 | Isidor Gunsberg Isidor Gunsberg Isidor Arthur Gunsberg began his career as the player operating the remote-controlled chess automaton Mephisto, but later became a chess professional.... |
Won | New York | 10½/19 | +6−4=9 | World Chess Championship 1891 World Chess Championship 1891 The third World Chess Championship was held in New York in late 1890 and early 1891. Holder William Steinitz narrowly defeated challenger Isidor Gunsberg.-Results:-Games:* Round 01: Steinitz – Gunsberg ... match. |
| 1892 | Chigorin | Won | Havana | 12½/23 | +10−8=5 | World Chess Championship 1892 World Chess Championship 1892 The fourth World Chess Championship was held in Havana between January 1 and February 28, 1892. Holder William Steinitz narrowly defeated challenger Mikhail Chigorin.-Results:... match. |
| 1894 | Emanuel Lasker Emanuel Lasker Emanuel Lasker was a German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher who was World Chess Champion for 27 years... |
Lost | New York, Philadelphia and Montreal Montreal Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America... |
7/19 | +5−10=4 | World Chess Championship 1894 World Chess Championship 1894 The fifth World Chess Championship was held in New York , Philadelphia and Montreal between March 15 and May 26, 1894. Holder William Steinitz lost his title to challenger Emanuel Lasker, who was 32 years his junior.-Results:... match; Steinitz's first recorded defeat in a serious match. |
| 1896 | Emanuel Schiffers Emanuel Schiffers Emanuel Stepanovich Schiffers was a Russian chess player and chess writer. For many years he was the second leading Russian player after Mikhail Chigorin.Schiffers parents emigrated from Germany... |
Won | Rostov-on-Don Rostov-on-Don -History:The mouth of the Don River has been of great commercial and cultural importance since the ancient times. It was the site of the Greek colony Tanais, of the Genoese fort Tana, and of the Turkish fortress Azak... |
6½/11 | +6−4=1 | |
| 1896–97 | Lasker | Lost | Moscow Moscow Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent... |
4½/17 | +2−10=5 | World Chess Championship 1897 World Chess Championship 1897 Emanuel Lasker defended the World Chess Championship for the first time in Moscow between November 6, 1896, and January 14, 1897. He faced William Steinitz, former World Champion whose title Lasker had taken three years prior. Lasker won easily.-Results:... match. |
| 1897 | S. Lipschütz | Drew | New York | 1/2 | 1 : 1 | Play-off match. |
Miscellaneous
- Steinitz expressed the opinion that the reason Jews do so well at chess is because of their patience, pure breeding, and good nature.
- Steinitz is featured on a stamp.
Further reading
- The Games of Wilhelm Steinitz, ed. Pickard & Son 1995. A collection of 1,022 Steinitz's games with annotations.
- Steinitz, primo campione del mondo, Jakov Nejstadt, ed. Prisma 2000.
- From Steinitz to Fischer, ed. Sahovski Informator, Belgrade 1976.
External links
- Steinitz biography
- Chesscorner bio
- Jewish Encyclopedia bio
- World Chess Championship Pre-FIDE Events – details of World Championship matches from Steinitz's era