Wilhelm Steinitz
Full name	Wilhelm Steinitz
Country	Austrian Empire  United States
Born	May 7, 1836(1836-05-07) Prague
Died	August 12, 1900 (aged 64) New York City, United States
World Champion	1886-1894

Wilhelm (later William) Steinitz (May 17, 1836 – August 12, 1900) was an Austrian-American chess player and the first undisputed world chess champion from 1886 to 1894; some contemporaries and later writers described him as world champion since 1866, when he won a match against Adolf Anderssen. For the history of these states before 1804 see Holy Roman Empire, Habsburg Monarchy, and articles on each of the component countries. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Events 558 - In Constantinople, the dome of the Hagia Sophia collapses Year 1836 ( MDCCCXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap Prague (ˈprɑːg Praha (ˈpraɦa see also other names) is the Capital and Largest city of the Czech Republic. Events 1099 - First Crusade: Battle of Ascalon - Crusaders under the command of Godfrey of Bouillon defeat Fatimid Year 1900 ( MCM) was an exceptional Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar The City of New York The United States of America —commonly referred to as the See also Development of the World Chess Championship The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the Board game Chess Year 1886 ( MDCCCLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Year 1894 ( MDCCCXCIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 1521 - Edward Stafford 3rd Duke of Buckingham, is executed for Treason. Year 1836 ( MDCCCXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap Events 1099 - First Crusade: Battle of Ascalon - Crusaders under the command of Godfrey of Bouillon defeat Fatimid Year 1900 ( MCM) was an exceptional Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar An English Noun The English noun people has two distinct fields of application as a countable noun, a group of Humans The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Chess is a recreational and competitive Game played between two players. See also Development of the World Chess Championship The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the Board game Chess Karl Ernst Adolf Anderssen ( July 6, 1818 - March 13, 1879) was a German Chess master. Steinitz lost his title to Emanuel Lasker in 1894 and also lost a re-match in 1897. For other persons named Lasker see Lasker#People with the surname Lasker.

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 three most dominant players in the history of the game.

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 old style. This page explains commonly used terms in Chess in alphabetical order His new style was controversial and some even branded it as "cowardly", but many of Steinitz's games showed that it could also provide a platform for 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". But by the early 1890s Steinitz' 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 as result of his play and writings Steinitz, along with Paul Morphy, is considered by many chess commentators to be the founder of modern chess. Disambiguation Morphy redirects here For the fictional character nicknamed Morphy see King Morpheus. ^[1]

As a result of the "Ink War", traditional accounts of Steinitz' character depict him as ill-tempered and aggressive; but more recent research shows that he had long and friendly relationships with many players and chess organizations. Most notably in 1888 to 1889 he co-operated with the American Chess Congress in a project to define rules for the future conduct of contests for the world championship title that he held.

Steinitz was unskilled at managing money and lived in poverty all his life.

Life and chess career

Steinitz in 1866

Steinitz was born on May 14, 1836 in the Jewish ghetto of Prague (now capital of the Czech Republic; then part of the Austrian Empire), the last of a hardware retailer's thirteen sons. Year 1836 ( MDCCCXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ Prague (ˈprɑːg Praha (ˈpraɦa see also other names) is the Capital and Largest city of the Czech Republic. The Czech Republic ( ˈt͡ʃɛskaː ˈrɛpuˌblɪka short form in Česko ˈt͡ʃɛskɔ also called Czechia, For the history of these states before 1804 see Holy Roman Empire, Habsburg Monarchy, and articles on each of the component countries. He learned to play chess at age 12. ^[2]

He began playing serious chess in his twenties, after leaving Prague to study mathematics in Vienna. Mathematics is the body of Knowledge and Academic discipline that studies such concepts as Quantity, Structure, Space and Vienna ( in Wien; see also other names) is the Capital of Austria, and is also one of the nine States of Austria. ^[2] He improved rapidly in the late 1850s, progressing from 3rd place in the 1859 Vienna championship to 1st in 1861 with a score of 30/31. ^[3] In this period he was nicknamed "the Austrian Morphy". Disambiguation Morphy redirects here For the fictional character nicknamed Morphy see King Morpheus. ^[4]

Steinitz was then sent to represent Austria in the London International Tournament of 1862. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. He placed sixth, but his win over Augustus Mongredien was awarded the tournament's brilliancy prize. Augustus Mongredien (1807-1888 was a leading English Chess master ^[4] He immediately challenged the 5th-placed contestant, the Italian player Serafino Dubois, to a match, which Steinitz won (5 wins, 1 draw, 3 losses). Serafino Dubois ( October 10, 1817 – January 15, 1899) was an Italian Chess player ^[3] 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 2 years earlier. Joseph Henry Blackburne ( December 10, 1841 – September 1, 1924) nicknamed "Black Death" dominated British Chess ^[5] Steinitz then convincingly beat most of the leading UK-resident players in matches: Frederic Deacon, Augustus Mongredien, Green, and Robey. Frederic Deacon (January 1829 - October 1875 was a Belgian chess master Augustus Mongredien (1807-1888 was a leading English Chess master ^[6] This charge up the rankings had a price: in March 1963 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' clients at the London chess club, who had been Steinitz' main source of income. Baron Ignaz von Kolisch, or Kolisch Ignác báró ( April 6, 1837, Bratislava – April 30, 1889, Vienna) was Daniel Harrwitz ( 29 April 1823 – 9 January 1884) was a Jewish German Chess master. ^[7]

Adolf Anderssen was recognized as the world's top player until 1866, when Steinitz won a match against him. Karl Ernst Adolf Anderssen ( July 6, 1818 - March 13, 1879) was a German Chess master.

These successes established Steinitz as one of the world's top players,^[6] 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. Karl Ernst Adolf Anderssen ( July 6, 1818 - March 13, 1879) was a German Chess master. ^[2] Steinitz won with 8 wins and 6 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. ^[4] As a result of this win Steinitz was generally regarded as the world's best player. ^[8] 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 £55,000 in 2006's money. ^[9]

Steinitz had married a lady named Caroline (born 1846) earlier in the 1860s, and their daughter Flora was born in 1867. The couple had no other children. ^[7][10]

Steinitz won every serious match he played from 1862 until 1892 inclusive, sometimes by wide margins. ^[4] In the years following his victory over Anderssen he beat Henry Bird in 1866 (7 wins, 5 losses, 5 draws) and comfortably beat Johannes Zukertort in 1872 (7 wins, 4 draws, 1 loss; Zukertort had proved himself one of the elite by beating Anderssen convincingly in 1871). Henry Edward Bird ( July 14, 1830 – April 11, 1908) was an English Chess player and chess writer Johannes Hermann Zukertort ( 7 September 1842 &ndash 20 June 1888) was a leading Chess master of German - Polish ^[6] But it took longer for him to reach the top in tournament play. In the next few years he took: 3rd place at Paris 1867 behind Ignatz Kolisch and Simon Winawer; and 2nd places at Dundee (1868; won by Gustav Neumann), and Baden-Baden (1870; behind Anderssen but ahead of Blackburne, Louis Paulsen and other strong players). Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city Baron Ignaz von Kolisch, or Kolisch Ignác báró ( April 6, 1837, Bratislava – April 30, 1889, Vienna) was Szymon Abramowicz Winawer ( March 6 1838 – January 12 1920) born in Warsaw, Poland, was a leading Chess player Dundee (Dùn Dèagh is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and fully named as Dundee City, one of Scotland's 32 local government council Gustav Richard Ludwig Neumann ( 15 December 1838 &ndash 16 February 1881) was a German Chess master. Baden-Baden is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located on the western foothills of the Black Forest, on the banks of the Oos River Louis Paulsen (1833–1891 was a German Chess player In 1860s and 1870s he was among the top five players in the world ^[11] His first victory in a strong tournament was London 1872, ahead of Blackburne and Zukertort;^[12] and the first tournament in which Steinitz finished ahead of Anderssen was Vienna 1873,^[4] when Andersen was 55 years old. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom.

All of Steinitz' successes up to 1872 inclusive were achieved in the attack-at-all-costs "Romantic" style exemplified by Anderssen. But in the 1873 Vienna tournament Steinitz unveiled a new "positional" style of play which was to become the basis of modern chess. ^[6] He tied for first place with Blackburne, ahead of Samuel Rosenthal, Paulsen and Henry Bird, and won the play-off against Blackburne. Samuel Rosenthal ( 7 September, 1837, Suwałki, Poland – 12 September, 1902, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France Henry Edward Bird ( July 14, 1830 – April 11, 1908) was an English Chess player and chess writer Steinitz made a shaky start but won his last 14 games in the main tournament (including 2-0 results over Paulsen, Anderssen, and Blackburne^[6]) plus the 2 play-off games - this was the start of a 24-game winning streak in serious competition. ^[13]

Between 1873 and 1882 Steinitz played no tournaments and only 1 match (a 7-0 win against Blackburne in 1876); his other games during this period were in simultaneous and blindfold exhibitions,^[4] 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 2 simultaneous exhibitions and 1 blindfold exhibition hosted by the Teesside Chess Association;^[14] this was equivalent to about £4,600 at 2006 values^[15]). A simultaneous exhibition or simultaneous display (often abbreviated to "simul" is an event where one player (commonly a Chess master or grandmaster Blindfold chess is a way to play Chess, whereby play is conducted without the players having sight of the positions of the pieces or any physical contact with them The guinea coin of 1663 was the first English machine-struck Gold coin.

Instead Steinitz concentrated on his work as a chess journalist, notably for The Field, which was Britain's leading sports magazine. The Field The Field is the world’s oldest country and Fieldsports Magazine, having been published continuously since 1853 ^[16] Some of Steinitz' commentaries aroused heated debates, notably from Zukertort and Leopold Hoffer in The Chess Monthly (which they had founded in 1879). Leopold Hoffer (born 1842 Hungary - died 28 August 1913, England) was an English Chess player and journalist ^[17] 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). Berlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. Steinitz was eager to settle the analytical debates by a second match against Zukertort, whose unwillingness to play provoked scornful coments from Steinitz. In mid-1882 James Mason, a consistently strong player,^[18] 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 2006 money^[19]), but Mason was unwilling to stake more than £100. James Mason ( November 19, 1849 &ndash January 12, 1905) was a famous Chess player and writer 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 . . . "^[7]

Steinitz beat his rival and bitter enemy Johannes Zukertort in matches in 1872 and 1866. Johannes Hermann Zukertort ( 7 September 1842 &ndash 20 June 1888) was a leading Chess master of German - Polish The second match made Steinitz the undisputed world champion. See also Development of the World Chess Championship The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the Board game Chess

Steinitz' 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. ^[8] Steinitz returned to serious competitive chess in the 1882 Vienna tournament, which was the strongest chess tournament of all time at that point. Despite a shaky start he took equal 1st 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. Szymon Abramowicz Winawer ( March 6 1838 – January 12 1920) born in Warsaw, Poland, was a leading Chess player James Mason ( November 19, 1849 &ndash January 12, 1905) was a famous Chess player and writer George Henry Mackenzie ( March 24 1837, Bellefield, Ross-shire Scotland – April 14 1891, New York City) was a Scottish–American Berthold Englisch ( 9 July 1851, Hotzenplotz – 19 October 1897, Vienna) was a leading Austrian Chess Mikhail Ivanovich Chigorin ( 12 November 1850, Gatchina, Russia – 25 January 1908, Lublin, Poland ^[20][21] 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. ^[21][22]

Steinitz visited the USA, mainly the Philadelphia area, from December 1882 to May 1883. Philadelphia (ˌfɪləˈdɛlfiə 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 2 New World professionals, Sellman and the Cuban champion Celso Golmayo Zúpide - the match with Golmayo was abandoned when Steinitz was leading (8 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss). Celso Golmayo y Zúpide ( 24 April 1820, Logroño, Spain – 1 April 1898, Havana) was a Spanish–Cuban His hosts even arranged a visit to New Orleans, where Paul Morphy lived. New Orleans (nʲuːˈɔrliənz nʲuːˈɔrlənz French: La Nouvelle-Orléans) is a major United States port city and the largest city in Louisiana ^[7]

Later in 1883 Steinitz took second place in an extremely strong tournament in London behind Zukertort, who made a brilliant start, faded at the end but finished 3 points ahead. ^[23] Steinitz finished 2½ points ahead of the 3rd-placed competitor, Blackburne. ^[24] 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. ^[8]

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,^[21] This did not end the "Ink War": his enemies persuaded some of the American press to publish anti-Steinitz articles,^[25][7] and in 1885 Steinitz founded the International Chess Magazine, which he edited until 1895. New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous 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' 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". The St Louis Globe-Democrat (casually referred to as The Globe) was a daily newspaper based in St ^[8]

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' insistence the contract said it would be "for the Championship of the World". ^[8][26] After the five games played in New York, Zukertort led by 4-1, but in the end Steinitz won decisively by 12½–7½ (10 wins, 5 draws, 5 losses). Though not yet officially an American citizen, Steinitz wanted the U.S. flag to be placed next to him during the match. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the 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. Events 800 - Charlemagne arrives at Rome to investigate the alleged crimes of Year 1888 ( MDCCCLXXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a ^[4]

In 1887 the American Chess Congress started work on drawing up regulations for the future conduct of world championship contests. Steinitz supported this project, as he thought he was becoming too old to remain world champion (in his own magazine he wrote "I know I am not fit to be the champion, and I am not likely to bear that title for ever"). ^[27]

In 1888 Steinitz' only daughter, Flora, died at the age of 21. ^[28]

In 1888 Havana Chess Club offered to sponsor a match between Steinitz and whomever he would select as a worthy opponent. Havana ( IPA: aˈβana officially Ciudad de La Habana, is the Capital city, major port and leading Steinitz nominated the Russian Mikhail Chigorin,^[4] on the condition that the invitation should not be presented as a challenge from himself. Mikhail Ivanovich Chigorin ( 12 November 1850, Gatchina, Russia – 25 January 1908, Lublin, Poland There is some doubt about whether this was intended to be a match for the world championship: both Steinitz' letters and the publicity material just before the match conspicuously avoided the phrase; the proposed match was to have a maximum of 20 games,^[4] 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; Steinitz was at the same time supporting the American Chess Congress' world championship project. ^[27] Whatever the status of the match, it was played in Havana in January to February 1889 and won by Steinitz (10 wins, 1 draw, 6 losses).

Meanwhile the American Chess Congress' world championship project had evolved into a tournament to select a challenger, rather like the more recent Candidates Tournament. The Candidates Tournament was a triennial Chess tournament organized by the world chess federation FIDE as the final contest to determine the challenger for the The tournament was played in March to May 1889. Chigorin and Max Weiss tied for first place; their play-off resulted in four draws; and neither wanted to play a match against Steinitz - Chigorin had just lost to him and Weiss wanted to get back to his work for the Rothschild Bank. Miksa (Max Weiss ( July 21, 1857 – March 14, 1927) was a Slovak -born Austrian Chess player N M Rothschild & Sons (more commonly known simply as Rothschild) is the Investment bank company of the Rothschild family. The third prize-winner Isidore Gunsberg was prepared to play Steinitz for the title in New York, and Steinitz won their match in 1891 (6 wins, 9 draws, 4 losses). Isidor Arthur Gunsberg ( November 2 1854, in Budapest Hungary – May 2 1930, in London) began his career as the player ^[29][4]

Emanuel Lasker (right) playing Steinitz for the World Chess Championship, New York 1894

In 1891 the Saint Petersburg Chess Society and the Havana Chess Club offered to organize another Steinitz-Chigorin match for the world championship. For other persons named Lasker see Lasker#People with the surname Lasker. See also Development of the World Chess Championship The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the Board game Chess Saint Petersburg ( tr: Sankt-Peterburg,) is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River Steinitz played against Chigorin in Havana in 1892 and won narrowly (10 wins, 5 draws, 8 losses). This was his last successful defense of his title. ^[4]

In 1892 Steinitz' first wife, Caroline, died. ^[7] He married his second wife a few years later and had 2 children by her; his second family were all alive at the time of his death. But in 1897 he dedicated a pamphlet to the memory of his first wife and their daughter. ^[30]

Around this time Steinitz publicly spoke of retiring, but changed his mind when Emanuel Lasker challenged him. For other persons named Lasker see Lasker#People with the surname Lasker. Initially Lasker wanted to play for $5,000 a side and a match was agreed at stakes of $,3000 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, which was less than for some of Steinitz' earlier matches (the final combined stake of $4,000 would be worth over $495,000 at 2006 values^[31]). Although this was publicly praised as an act of sportsmanship on Steinitz' part,^[12] Steinitz may have desperately needed the money. ^[28] The match was played in 1894, at venues in New York, Philadelphia and Montreal. Montreal, or Montréal in French ( pronounced in French, in English) is the largest city in the Canadian province of Quebec Lasker won convincingly (5 wins, 10 losses, 4 draws). The scores were even after 6 games but Steinitz lost the next 5 in a row. ^[32][33] Some commentators thought Steinitz' habit of playing "experimental" moves in serious competition was a major factor in his downfall. ^[30]

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 a very good second place. The City of New York The Hastings 1895 chess tournament was a Round-robin tournament of Chess conducted in Hastings, England from August 5 to September 2 1895 Curt von Bardeleben ( Berlin, March 4 1861 – Berlin, January 31, 1924) was a Count and a German Saint Petersburg ( tr: Sankt-Peterburg,) is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River Harry Nelson Pillsbury (b Massachusetts USA December 5, 1872 - June 17, 1906) was a leading Chess player Later his results began to decline: 6th in Nuremberg 1896, 5th in Cologne 1898, 10th in London 1899. ^[34][4]

In early 1896 Steinitz defeated the Russian Emanuel Schiffers in a match ( winning 6 games, drawing 1, losing 4). Emanuel (Emmanuel Stepanovich Schiffers (Эммануил Степанович Шифферс &mdash) was a Russian Chess player and chess writer In November, 1896 Steinitz played a return match with Lasker in Moscow but won only 2 games, drawing 5, and losing 10. ^[33] This was the last world chess championship match for 11 years. Shortly after the match, Steinitz had a mental breakdown and was confined for 40 days in a Moscow Sanitorium, where he played chess with the inmates. ^[4]

In February 1897 the New York Times prematurely reported his death in a New York mental asylum. ^[35]

Some authors claim that he contracted syphilis,^[36] so that this may have been a cause of the mental breakdowns he suffered in his last years. Syphilis is a Sexually transmitted disease caused by the spirochetal Bacterium Treponema pallidum pallidum. 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. Manhattan State Hospital on Ward's Island in New York City was opened in 1899 when The New York State Department of Mental Hygiene took over Events 1099 - First Crusade: Battle of Ascalon - Crusaders under the command of Godfrey of Bouillon defeat Fatimid Year 1900 ( MCM) was an exceptional Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar Steinitz is buried in the Cemetery of the Evergreens in Brooklyn, New York. The Cemetery of the Evergreens is a non-denominational Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York and partly in Queens colloquially called Evergreen Cemetery Brooklyn (named after the Dutch town Breukelen) is one of the five boroughs of New York City. New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous His second wife and their two young children were still alive at his death. ^[30]

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. "^[36] Steinitz's fate, and Lasker's keenness to avoid a similar situation of financial ruin, have been cited among the reasons Lasker fought so hard to keep the world championship title.

When did Steinitz' reign begin?

A minority of chess writers date Steinitz as becoming World Chess Champion from 1866, when he beat Anderssen. See also Development of the World Chess Championship The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the Board game Chess ^[37] However there is no evidence that he claimed the title for himself at the time, although in the 1880s he claimed to have been the champion since his win over Anderssen. ^[38] It has been suggested that Steinitz could not make such a claim while Paul Morphy was alive. Disambiguation Morphy redirects here For the fictional character nicknamed Morphy see King Morpheus. ^[39] (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,^[40] but Howard Staunton and Paul Morphy had been unofficially described as "World Chess Champion" around the middle of the 19th century. (1 removed from infobox|worldchampion = 1843-1851 (Unofficial (2 Mark Weeks has material and sources at http//mark_weeks 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. 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 Dr Ludwig Erdmann Bledow ( July 27 1795, Berlin – August 6 1846) was a German Chess master and chess organizer Tassilo Baron von Heydebrand und der Lasa (known in English as "Baron von der Lasa" 17 October 1818, Berlin &ndash 27 July ^[41] 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. ^[8]

Writings

Steinitz was a prolific writer:

• He was the main chess correspondent of the The Field (in London) from 1872 to 1882, and used this to present his ideas about chess strategy. The Field is a play written by John B Keane, first performed in 1965 London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. ^[16]
• In 1885 he founded the International Chess Magazine in New York and edited it until 1891. International Chess Magazine ( ICM) was a Chess magazine established in 1885 by World Chess Champion Wilhelm Steinitz until 1891 New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous In addition to game commentaries and blow-by-blow accounts of the negotations 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. Johannes Hermann Zukertort ( 7 September 1842 &ndash 20 June 1888) was a leading Chess master of German - Polish Disambiguation Morphy redirects here For the fictional character nicknamed Morphy see King Morpheus. ^[42][27]
  • Sample article at Steinitz, W. . A Literary Steinitz Gambit, Or A Lecture on the Mental Derangement of So-Called Chess Critics and their Treatment.
• He wrote the book of the 1889 New York tournament. ^[43][44]
• The Modern Chess Instructor (1889)^[43]
  • Extract online at Relative Value of Pieces and Principles of Play.

Assessment

Plaque in honor of Wilhem Steinitz, in in Prague's Josefov district. Prague (ˈprɑːg Praha (ˈpraɦa see also other names) is the Capital and Largest city of the Czech Republic.

The book of the Hastings 1895 chess tournament, written collectively by the players, described Steinitz as follows:^[45]

Mr. The Hastings 1895 chess tournament was a Round-robin tournament of Chess conducted in Hastings, England from August 5 to September 2 1895 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' play up to and including 1872 was similar that of his contemporaries: sharp, aggressive, and full of sacrificial play. In the game of Chess, a sacrifice is a move giving up a piece or pawn in the hopes of gaining tactical or positional compensation in other forms 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 2 by beating Anderssen in 1871). Karl Ernst Adolf Anderssen ( July 6, 1818 - March 13, 1879) was a German Chess master. Johannes Hermann Zukertort ( 7 September 1842 &ndash 20 June 1888) was a leading Chess master of German - Polish

In 1873, however, his play suddenly changed, giving priority to what we now call 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. ^[46][6][47] Steinitz' successor as world champion, Emanuel Lasker, summed up the new style as: "In the beginning of the game ignore the search for combinations, 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. For other persons named Lasker see Lasker#People with the surname Lasker. "^[48]

Although Steinitz' 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. Louis Paulsen (1833–1891 was a German Chess player In 1860s and 1870s he was among the top five players in the world "^[26]

During his 9-year lay-off from tournament play (1873–1882) and later in his career Steinitz used his chess writings to present his theories — while in the UK he wrote for The Field,^[16]; in 1885 he founded in New York the "International Chess Magazine" of which he was the chief editor;^[49] and in 1889 he edited the book of the great New York 1889 tournament (won by Mikhail Chigorin and Max Weiss),^[50] in which he did not compete as the tournament was designed to select a challenger for his title^[29]. The American Chess Congress was a series of Chess tournaments held in the United States, a predecessor to the current U Mikhail Ivanovich Chigorin ( 12 November 1850, Gatchina, Russia – 25 January 1908, Lublin, Poland Miksa (Max Weiss ( July 21, 1857 – March 14, 1927) was a Slovak -born Austrian Chess player 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. Karl Ernst Adolf Anderssen ( July 6, 1818 - March 13, 1879) was a German Chess master. Baron Ignaz von Kolisch, or Kolisch Ignác báró ( April 6, 1837, Bratislava – April 30, 1889, Vienna) was Steinitz is a pick-pocket, he steals a pawn and wins a game with it. "^[25]

But when he fought for the first World Championship in 1886 against Johannes Zukertort, it became evident that Steinitz was playing on another level. Johannes Hermann Zukertort ( 7 September 1842 &ndash 20 June 1888) was a leading Chess master of German - Polish Although Zukertort was at least Steinitz' equal in spectacular attacking play, Steinitz often out-maneuvered him fairly simply by the use of positional principles. ^[46][51]

By the time of his match against Gunsberg (1890-91) some commentators showed some understanding of and appreciation for Steintitz' theories. ^[52] Shortly before the 1894 match with Emanuel Lasker even the New York Times, which had earlier published attacks on his play and character,^[25] 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 of retiring. ^[12]

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,^[45] and Emanuel Lasker was more explicit:

He was a thinker worthy of a seat in the halls of a University. For other persons named Lasker see Lasker#People with the surname Lasker. 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 . . . ^[53]

Vladmir Kramnik emphasizes Steinitz' 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. Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik (Влади́мир Бори́сович Кра́мник (born June 25, 1975) is a Russian Chess grandmaster . . . 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. "^[54]

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;^[55] Chessmetrics places him only 15th on its all-time list. Chessmetrics is a system for rating Chess players devised by Jeff Sonas. ^[56] But Chessmetrics penalizes players who play infrequently;^[57] opportunities for competitive chess were infrequent in Steinitz' best years,^[46] and Steinitz had a few long absences from competitive play (1873-1876, 1876-1882, 1883-1886, 1886-1889). 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 (1970-1972); that Steinitz had the 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 3. Robert James "Bobby" Fischer ( March 9 1943 – January 17 2008) was an American -born Chess Grandmaster For other persons named Lasker see Lasker#People with the surname Lasker. Garry Kasparov (Га́рри Ки́мович Каспа́ров) (born as Garry Kimovich Weinstein on April 13 1963 in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, Soviet ^[58] Sonas' 2005 article is more consistent with Steinitz' record between his victory over Anderssen (1866) and his loss to Emanuel Lasker (1894): he won all his "normal" matches, sometimes by wide margins; and his worst tournament performance in that 28-year period was 3rd place in Paris (1867). ^[4] (He lost 2 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^[59])

Initially Steinitz played in the all-out attacking style of players like Anderssen, and then changed to the positional style with which he dominated competitive chess in the 1870s and 1880s. Mikhail Ivanovich Chigorin ( 12 November 1850, Gatchina, Russia – 25 January 1908, Lublin, Poland ^[6] Max Euwe wrote, "Steinitz aimed at positions with clear-cut features, to which his theory was best applicable. Machgielis (Max Euwe (last name is pronounced /øwə/ ( May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch Chess Grandmaster "^[60] But 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). The Hastings 1895 chess tournament was a Round-robin tournament of Chess conducted in Hastings, England from August 5 to September 2 1895 Curt von Bardeleben ( Berlin, March 4 1861 – Berlin, January 31, 1924) was a Count and a German ^[46] His most significant weaknesses were his habits of playing "experimental" moves and getting into unnecessarily difficult defensive positions in top-class competitive games. ^[30][6]

Personality

"Traditional" accounts of Steinitz describe him as having a sharp tongue and violent temper, perhaps partly because of his short stature (barely 5 feet) and congenital lameness. ^[2][46][25] He admitted that "Like the Duke of Parma, I always hold the sword in one hand and the olive branch in the other",^[61] and under severe provocation he could become abusive in published articles. ^[62] 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. ^[63]

But 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,^[28] Bernhard Horwitz, Amos Burn^[61] and the Cuban and Russian chess communities. Baron Ignaz von Kolisch, or Kolisch Ignác báró ( April 6, 1837, Bratislava – April 30, 1889, Vienna) was Mikhail Ivanovich Chigorin ( 12 November 1850, Gatchina, Russia – 25 January 1908, Lublin, Poland Harry Nelson Pillsbury (b Massachusetts USA December 5, 1872 - June 17, 1906) was a leading Chess player Bernhard Horwitz (1807-1885 was a German English Chess master and chess writer Amos Burn (1848&ndash1925 was an English Chess player one of the world's leading players at the end of the 19th century and a chess writer ^[7][28] He even co-operated with the American Chess Congress in its project to regulate future contests for the world title that he had earned. ^[27]

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,^[61] and was generous in his praise of great play by even his bitter enemies. Henry Edward Bird ( July 14, 1830 – April 11, 1908) was an English Chess player and chess writer ^[64]

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. "^[61] 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. Saint Petersburg ( tr: Sankt-Peterburg,) is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River For other persons named Lasker see Lasker#People with the surname Lasker. ^[65]

Although he had a strong sense of honour about repaying debts,^[28][7], Steinitz was poor at managing his finances: he let a competitor "poach" many of his clients in 1862-1863,^[28], offered to play the 1886 world title match against Johannes Zukertort for free,^[8] and died in poverty in 1900, leaving his widow to survive by running a small shop. Johannes Hermann Zukertort ( 7 September 1842 &ndash 20 June 1888) was a leading Chess master of German - Polish ^[30]

Notable games

Wilhelm Steinitz

• Wilhelm Steinitz vs Augustus Mongredien, London 1862 was awarded the brilliancy prize at the 1862 London International Tournament.
• Wilhelm Steinitz vs Adolf Anderssen; 4th match game, London 1866 An old-style slug-out from the match that raised Steinitz to world number one.
• Johannes Zukertort vs Wilhelm Steinitz, Ch World (9th game of the match) 1886, Queen's Gambit Declined: Vienna. Quiet Variation (D37), 0-1 A good demonstration of Steinitz' positional principles. Black exchanges his powerful centre to create two weak hanging Pawns on White's Queen-side and creates strong pressure against them. In Chess, the pawn structure (sometimes known as the pawn skeleton) is the configuration of pawns on the Chessboard. Zukertort eventually tries to slug his way out of trouble, but Steinitz wins with a sharp counter-attack. ^[46]
• 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. ^[66]
• 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, devastating attack leading to checkmate on the 29th move. ^[46]
• 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. ^[46]

Tournament results

Sources:^{[67][34][13][4][3][68]}

Match results

Sources:^[34][4][3]

Miscellaneous

• Steinitz expressed the opinion that the reason Jews do so well at chess is because of their patience, pure breeding, and good nature. PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ ^[69]
• Steinitz is featured on a stamp. ^[70][71]

Notes

References

• Winter, Edward G. (1981), World chess champions, ISBN 0-08-024094-1 

Further reading

• Kasparov, Garry (2003), My Great Predecessors, part I, Everyman Chess, ISBN 1-85744-330-6 
• The Games of Wilhelm Steinitz, ed. Edward Winter is a British Journalist, Archivist, Historian, Collector and Author about the game of Chess. Garry Kasparov (Га́рри Ки́мович Каспа́ров) (born as Garry Kimovich Weinstein on April 13 1963 in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, Soviet Everyman Chess is a major publisher of books and CDs about Chess. Pickard & Son 1995. A collection of 1,022 Steinitz' games with annotations.
• Steinitz, primo campione del mondo, Jakov Nejstadt, ed. Prisma 2000. (Italian)
• From Steinitz to Fischer, ed. Sahovski Informator, Belgrade 1976.

External links

• Wilhelm Steinitz at ChessGames.com
• Steinitz biography
• Chesscorner bio
• Jewish Encyclopedia bio
• World Chess Championship Pre-FIDE Events – details of World Championship matches from Steinitz's era