Wilhelm Steinitz

Wilhelm (later William) Steinitz (May 14, 1836 –

August 12, 1900) was an Austrian and later American Wilhelm Steinitz
chess master, and the first official World Chess
Champion, from 1886 to 1894. He was also a highly
influential writer and chess theoretician.

When discussing chess history from the 1850s

onwards, commentators have debated whether Steinitz
could be effectively considered the champion from an
earlier time, perhaps as early as 1866. Steinitz lost his
title to Emanuel Lasker in 1894, and lost a rematch in
1896–97.

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
Wilhelm Steinitz
systems shows that he was one of the most dominant
players in the history of the game. Steinitz was Country Kingdom of Bohemia (Austrian Empire)
unbeaten in match play for 32 years, from 1862 to United States
1894. Born May 14, 1836
Prague, Kingdom of Bohemia
Although Steinitz became "world number one" by
winning in the all-out attacking style that was common Died August 12, 1900 (aged 64)
in the 1860s, he unveiled in 1873 a new positional New York City, New York,
style of play, and demonstrated that it was superior to United States
the previous style. His new style was controversial and
World 1886–1894
some even branded it as "cowardly", but many of
Steinitz's games showed that it could also set up Champion
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". Steinitz was the target of anti-Semitic abuse,
and moved to the United States in 1883 to escape this. 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.

Contents
Early life
Chess career (through 1881)
International debut
Match against Anderssen
Continued match play success
Gradually improves tournament results
Changes style, introduces positional school
Hiatus from competitive chess
Chess journalist
Rivalry with Zukertort
Comeback success
Visits US
Return to London
Settles in United States
World Championship match
Defeats Chigorin
New York 1889 tournament
Wins rematch against Chigorin
Loses title to Lasker
Increased tournament activity
Outclassed in rematch with Lasker
Questions: The beginning of Steinitz's reign
Personal life
Assessment
Influence on the game
Writings
Playing strength and style
Personality
Competitive record
Tournament results
Match results
Notable games
See also
References
Further reading
External links

Early life
Steinitz was born on May 17, 1836, in the Jewish ghetto of Prague (now capital of the Czech Republic; then in
Bohemia, a part of the Austrian Empire). The youngest of a tailor's thirteen sons to survive, he learned to play
chess at age 12.[1] He began playing serious chess in his twenties, after leaving Prague in 1857 to study
mathematics in Vienna,[1] at the Vienna Polytechnic.[2] Steinitz spent two years at the university.[3]
Chess career (through 1881)
Steinitz improved rapidly in chess during the late 1850s, progressing from third place in the 1859 Vienna City
championship to first in 1861, with a score of 30/31.[4] During this period he was nicknamed "the Austrian
Morphy".[5] This achievement meant that he had become the strongest player in Austria.[6]

International debut

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.[7] He immediately challenged
the fifth-placed contestant, the strong veteran Italian Master Serafino
Dubois, to a match, which Steinitz won (five wins, one draw, three
losses).[4] This encouraged him to turn professional, and he took up
residence in London.[6] 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 who had only started playing chess two
years earlier.[8] Steinitz then beat some leading UK players in matches:
Frederic Deacon and Augustus Mongredien in 1863, and Valentine
Green in 1864.[9] This charge up the rankings had a price: in March 1863
Steinitz in 1866 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 provided Steinitz's main source of income.[10]

Match against Anderssen

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.[1] 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.[11]

As a result of this match victory, Steinitz was generally regarded as the world's
best player.[12] 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
Adolf Anderssen was
standards of the times, equivalent to about £57,500 in 2007's money.[13]
recognized as the world's
top player until 1866,
Continued match play success when Steinitz won a
match against him.
In the years following his victory over Anderssen, Steinitz beat Henry Bird in
1866 (seven wins, five losses, five draws). He comfortably beat Johannes
Zukertort in 1872 (seven wins, four draws, one loss; Zukertort had proved himself one of the elite by beating
Anderssen by a large margin in 1871).[9]

Gradually improves tournament results

It took longer for Steinitz 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 place at Dundee (1867; Gustav Neumann won),
and Baden-Baden 1870 chess tournament; behind Anderssen but ahead of Blackburne, Louis Paulsen and
other strong players.[14] His first victory in a strong tournament was London 1872, ahead of Blackburne and
Zukertort;[15] and the first tournament in which Steinitz finished ahead of Anderssen was the Vienna 1873
chess tournament, when Anderssen was 55 years old.

Changes style, introduces positional school

All of Steinitz's successes up to 1872 were achieved in the attack-at-all-costs "Romantic" style exemplified by
Anderssen. But in the Vienna 1873 chess tournament, Steinitz unveiled a new "positional" style of play which
was to become the basis of modern chess.[9] 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[9]) plus the two play-off games – this was the start of a 25-game winning streak in serious
competition.[16]

Hiatus from competitive chess

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,[7] 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;[17] this was equivalent to about £4,800 at 2007 values[18]).

Chess journalist

Instead, Steinitz concentrated on his work as a chess journalist, notably for The Field, which was Britain's
leading sports magazine.[19] Some of Steinitz's commentaries aroused heated debates, notably from Zukertort
and Leopold Hoffer in The Chess Monthly (which they founded in 1879).[20] 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,[21] 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[22]), 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 ..."[10]

Rivalry with Zukertort

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.[12]

Comeback success
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.[23][24]

Visits US

Steinitz visited the US, mainly the Philadelphia area, from December 1882
to May 1883. He was given an enthusiastic reception. Steinitz played
several exhibitions, many casual games, and a match for stakes of £50 with
a wealthy amateur. He also won three more serious matches with two New
World professionals, Alexander Sellman (Steinitz won both) and the
Cuban champion Celso Golmayo Zúpide. The match with Golmayo was
abandoned when Steinitz was leading (eight wins, one draw, one loss). His Steinitz's rival and bitter enemy
hosts even arranged a visit to New Orleans, where Paul Morphy lived.[10] Johannes Zukertort lost
matches to him in 1872 and
1886. The second match made
Return to London Steinitz the undisputed world
champion.
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 three points ahead.[25] Steinitz finished 2½ points ahead of the third-placed competitor,
Blackburne.[26] 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.[12]

Settles in United States

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.[24] This did not end the "Ink War": his enemies persuaded some of the
American press to publish anti-Steinitz articles,[10][27] 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".[12]

World Championship match

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".[12][28] 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). The collapse by Zukertort, who won only one of the last 15 games, has been described as "perhaps the
most thoroughgoing reversal of fortune in the history of world championship play."[29]
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 US citizen on November 23, 1888, having resided for five years in New York,
and changed his first name from Wilhelm to William.[7]

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".[30]

Defeats Chigorin

In 1888 the 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,[7] 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,[7] 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's world championship project.[30] 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).

New York 1889 tournament

The American Chess Congress's 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.[30] 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.[31] 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 Weiss then wanted to get back to his work
for the Rothschild Bank, conceding the title to Chigorin.

However, the third prize-winner Isidor Gunsberg was prepared to play for the title. The match was played in
New York in 1890 and ended in a 10½–8½ victory for Steinitz. The American Chess Congress's experiment
was not repeated, and Steinitz's last three matches were private arrangements between the players.[7][15]

Wins rematch against Chigorin

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).

German Dr. Siegbert Tarrasch turned down an opportunity in 1892 to challenge Steinitz in a world
championship match, because of the demands of his medical practice.

Loses title to Lasker

Around this time Steinitz publicly spoke of retiring, but changed his mind when Emanuel Lasker, 32 years
younger and comparatively untested at the top level, challenged him. Lasker had been earlier that year refused
a non-title challenge by fellow German, Dr. Siegbert Tarrasch, who was at the time the world's most dominant
tournament player.[32]
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 $114,000 at 2016 values[33]). Although this was publicly
praised as an act of sportsmanship on Steinitz's part,[15] Steinitz may
have desperately needed the money.[34]

The match was played in 1894, at venues in New York, Philadelphia Emanuel Lasker (right) playing
and Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The 32-year age difference between Steinitz for the World Chess
the combatants was the largest in the history of world championship Championship, New York 1894
play, and remains so today. [35] 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 with ten wins, five losses and four draws.[36][37] Some commentators thought Steinitz's habit of playing
"experimental" moves in serious competition was a major factor in his downfall.[38]

Increased tournament activity

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 super-strong four player, multi-round-robin event, with Lasker,
Chigorin and Pillsbury, he took second place behind Lasker. Later his results began to decline: 6th in
Nuremberg 1896, 5th in Cologne 1898, 10th in London 1899.[7][39]

In early 1896, Steinitz defeated the Russian Emanuel Schiffers in a match (winning 6 games, drawing 1, losing
4).[34]

Outclassed in rematch with Lasker

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.[40] 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.[7]

Questions: 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.[30][41] In April 1894 the British
Chess Magazine described Steinitz as holding "the chess championship of the world for 28 years".[42]
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.[43] It has been suggested that Steinitz could not make
such a claim while Paul Morphy was alive.[44] Morphy had defeated Anderssen by a far wider margin, 8–3, in
1858, but retired from chess competition soon after he returned to the US in 1859, and died in 1884. The 1886
Steinitz vs. Zukertort match was the first that was explicitly described as being for the World
Championship,[45] 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.[46] 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.[12] 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 Joseph Blackburne. Steinitz
win at "Bradford Place" in 1888.[47] However, Steinitz regarded G.A. beat him 7–0 in 1876, but
George Alcock MacDonnell
MacDonnell as "one of my bitterest and most untruthful persecutors".[48]
hailed Blackburne as "World
Champion" for his win in the
Personal life 1881 Berlin Tournament.

Steinitz lived with Caroline Golder (born 1846) in the 1860s, and their only
daughter Flora was born in 1866.[10][49] Flora died in 1888 at the age of 21,[34] and Caroline died in 1892.[10]
He married his second wife a few years later, and had two children by her. In 1897 he dedicated a pamphlet to
the memory of his first wife and their daughter.[38]

In February 1897, the New York Times prematurely reported his death in a New York mental asylum.[50] Some
authors claim that he contracted syphilis,[51] 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.[52] His chess activities had not yielded any great financial rewards, and he died a pauper
in the Manhattan State Hospital (Wards Island) on August 12, 1900, of a heart attack. 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 the time of his death.[38]

Assessment
The book of the Hastings 1895 chess tournament, written collectively
by the players, described Steinitz as follows:[53]

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.
Plaque in honor of Wilhelm Steinitz,
in Prague's Josefov district

Influence on the game

Steinitz's play up to and including 1872 was similar to that of his contemporaries: sharp, aggressive, and full of
sacrificial play. This was the style in which he became "world number one" by beating Adolf Anderssen in
1866 and confirmed his position by beating Zukertort in 1872 and winning the 1872 London International
tournament (Zukertort had claimed the rank of number two by beating Anderssen in 1871).[9]

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.[54][55][56] Steinitz's
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."[57]

Although Steinitz's play changed abruptly, he said he 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.[28]

During his nine-year layoff 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;[19] in 1885 after moving to New
York he founded the "International Chess Magazine", of which he was the chief editor;[58] and in 1889 he
edited the book of the great New York 1889 tournament (won by Mikhail Chigorin and Max Weiss),[59] in
which he did not compete as the tournament was designed to produce his successor as World Champion.[60]
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."[27]

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 outmaneuvered him fairly simply by the use of positional
principles.[55][61]

By the time of his match in 1890–91 against Gunsberg, some commentators showed an understanding of and
appreciation for Steinitz's theories.[62] Shortly before the 1894 match with Emanuel Lasker, even the New York
Times, which had earlier published attacks on his play and character,[27][63] 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.[15]

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,[53] 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 ..."[64]
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.[65] 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."[64] Vladimir 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."[66]

Writings

Steinitz was the main chess correspondent of The Field (in London) from 1873 to 1882, and used this to
present his ideas about chess strategy.[19] 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's world championship
project, he wrote a long series of articles about Paul Morphy, who had died in 1884.[30][67] He wrote the book
of the 1889 New York tournament, in which he annotated all 432 of the games,[60][68] and in 1889 he
published a textbook, The Modern Chess Instructor.[68]

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.[52]

Playing strength and style

Steinitz vs. von Bardeleben,
Statistical rating systems are unkind to Steinitz. "Warriors of the Mind"
gives him a ranking of 47th, below several obscure Soviet 1895
grandmasters;[70] Chessmetrics places him only 15th on its all-time a b c d e f g h
list.[71] Chessmetrics penalizes players who play infrequently;[72] 8 8
opportunities for competitive chess were infrequent in Steinitz's best 7 7
years,[55] and Steinitz had a few long absences from competitive play 6 6
(1873–1876, 1876–1882, 1883–1886, 1886–1889). However, in 2005 5 5
Chessmetrics' author, Jeff Sonas, wrote an article which examined
4 4
various ways of comparing the strength of "world number one" players,
3 3
using data provided by Chessmetrics, and found that: Steinitz was
further ahead of his contemporaries in the 1870s than Bobby Fischer 2 2

was in his peak period (1970–1972); that Steinitz had the third-highest 1 1
total number of years as the world's top player, behind Emanuel Lasker a b c d e f g h
and Garry Kasparov; and that Steinitz placed 7th in a comparison of White to move. Steinitz
how long players were ranked in the world's top three.[73] Between his produced this brilliancy at
victory over Anderssen (1866) and his loss to Emanuel Lasker (1894), age 59.
22.Rxe7+ Kf8 23.Rf7+ Kg8
Steinitz won all his "normal" matches, sometimes by wide margins; and
24.Rg7+ Kh8 25.Rxh7+ and Black
his worst tournament performance in that 28-year period was third place resigned, as White gets a huge
in Paris (1867).[7] (He also lost two handicap matches and a match by advantage or forces mate in 10
telegraph in 1890 against Mikhail Chigorin, where Chigorin was moves. [55][69]
allowed to choose the openings in both games and won both.)[74]

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.[9] Max Euwe wrote, "Steinitz aimed at positions with clear-cut features, to which his theory
was best applicable."[75] 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 (htt
p://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1132699) in which in the closing stages Steinitz deliberately
exposed all his pieces to attack simultaneously (except his king, of course).[55] His most significant weaknesses
were his habits of playing "experimental" moves and getting into unnecessarily difficult defensive positions in
top-class competitive games.[9][38]

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.[1][27][55] He admitted that "Like the Duke of
Parma, I always hold the sword in one hand and the olive branch in the
other",[76] and under severe provocation he could become abusive in
published articles.[77] 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."[78] When he embarked
on chess journalism, his brutally frank review of Wormald's The Chess
Openings in 1875 proved him right on both counts.[79]

His personal correspondence, his own articles and some third-party articles,
however, show that he had long and friendly relationships with many people Steinitz
and groups in the chess world, including Ignác Kolisch (one of his earliest
sponsors), Mikhail Chigorin, Harry Nelson Pillsbury,[34] Bernhard Horwitz,
Amos Burn[76] and the Cuban and Russian chess communities.[10][34] He even co-operated with the American
Chess Congress in its project to regulate future contests for the world title that he had earned.[30]

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,[76] and
was generous in his praise of great play by even his bitter enemies.[80] 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."[76] 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.[81]

Although he had a strong sense of honour about repaying debts,[10][34] Steinitz was poor at managing his
finances: he let a competitor "poach" many of his clients in 1862–63,[34] offered to play the 1886 world title
match against Johannes Zukertort for free,[12] and died in poverty in 1900, leaving his widow to survive by
running a small shop.[38]

Competitive record

Tournament results

Sources:[4][7][16][39][82][83]
Date Location Place Score Notes
Vienna
1859 3rd ? Behind Carl Hamppe and Eduard Jenay.
championship
Vienna
1860 2nd ? Hamppe won.
championship
Vienna
1861 1st 30/31
championship
Behind Adolf Anderssen, Louis Paulsen, John Owen, George Alcock
London
MacDonnell and Serafino Dubois.
1862 International 6th 8/13
Draws were not scored in this tournament. Steinitz was awarded the
Tournament
brilliancy prize for his win over Augustus Mongredien.
London
1862 1st 7/7
championship
1st–
1865 Dublin 3½/4 Won play-off after tie with G. A. MacDonnell.
2nd
London Steinitz won against Cecil Valentine De Vere (2–1), MacDonnell (2–0),
1866 handicap 1st 8/9 Mocatta (2–0) – Steinitz gave odds of pawn and move, and in the final
tournament S. Green (2–0) – Steinitz gave odds of pawn and two moves.
Dundee Tied with J.C. Fraser. Steinitz won against MacDonnell (1–0), Keating
1st–
1867 handicap 3/3 (1–0) – Steinitz gave odds of a knight, and Scott (1–0) – Steinitz gave
2nd
tournament odds of a knight.
Behind Neumann (7½/9); ahead of MacDonnell, De Vere, Joseph Henry
1867 Dundee 2nd 7/9
Blackburne, Robertson, J.C. Fraser, G.B. Fraser, Hamel and Spens.
Draws counted as zero; third behind Ignaz von Kolisch (+20−2=2) and
Szymon Winawer (+19−4=1); ; ahead of Gustav Neumann, De Vere,
1867 Paris 3rd +18−3=3 Jules Arnous de Rivière, Hieronim Czarnowski, Celso Golmayo Zúpide,
Samuel Rosenthal, Sam Loyd, D'Andre, Martin Severin From, and
Eugène Rousseau.
Behind Anderssen (13/18); ahead of Neumann, Blackburne, Louis
1870 Baden-Baden 2nd 12½/18 Paulsen, De Vere, Szymon Winawer, Rosenthal and Johannes von
Minckwitz.
Ahead of Blackburne (5/8), Johannes Zukertort, MacDonnell and De
1872 London 1st 7½/8
Vere.
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, Philipp Meitner,
Adolf Schwarz, Oscar Gelbfuhs and Karl Pitschel.
This tournament had a very unusual scoring system: each player
1st– 10/11:
1873 Vienna played a 3-game mini-match with each of the others and scored 1 for a
2nd 20½/25
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.
Tied with Winawer and drew the play-off; ahead of Mason (23/34),
1st–
1882 Vienna 24/34 Zukertort (22½/34), Mackenzie, Blackburne, Berthold Englisch,
2nd
Paulsen and others including Mikhail Chigorin and Bird.
Behind Zukertort (22/26); ahead of Blackburne (16½/24), Chigorin
1883 London 2nd 19/26 16/24, Englisch (15½/24), Mackenzie (15½/24), Mason (15½/24),
Rosenthal, Winawer, Bird and four others.
New York
1894 1st 8½/10 After losing the world title to Emanuel Lasker.
championship
1895 Hastings 5th 13/21 Behind Harry Nelson Pillsbury (16½/21), Chigorin (16/21), Emanuel
Lasker (15½/21), Siegbert Tarrasch (14/21); ahead of Emanuel
 Schiffers (12/21), Curt von Bardeleben (11½/21), Richard Teichmann
(11½/21), Carl Schlechter (11/21), Blackburne (10½/21), Carl August
Walbrodt, Amos Burn, Dawid Janowski, Mason, Bird, Isidore
Gunsberg, Adolf Albin, Georg Marco, William Pollock, Jacques
Mieses, Samuel Tinsley and Beniamino Vergani.
Behind Emanuel Lasker (11½/18); ahead of Pillsbury (8/18) and
1895– Saint
2nd 9½/18 Chigorin (7/18). The world's top 4 players played 6 games against each
96 Petersburg
of the others.
Behind Emanuel Lasker 13½/18, Géza Maróczy (12½/18), Pillsbury
(12/18), Tarrasch (12/18), Janowski (11½/18); ahead of Walbrodt,
1896 Nuremberg 6th 11/18 Schiffers, Chigorin, Blackburne, Rudolf Charousek, Marco, Albin,
Winawer, Jackson Showalter, Moritz Porges, Emil Schallopp and
Teichmann.
1st– A triangular "Thousand Islands" tournament; tied with S. Lipschütz and
1897 New York 2½/4
2nd ahead of William Ewart Napier.
Behind Tarrasch (27½/36), Pillsbury (27½/36), Janowski (25½/36);
ahead of Schlechter, Chigorin, Burn, Paul Lipke, Maroczy, Simon
1898 Vienna 4th 23½/36 Alapin, Blackburne, Schiffers, Marco, Showalter, Walbrodt, Alexander
Halprin, Horatio Caro, David Graham Baird and Herbert William
Trenchard.
Behind Burn, Charousek, Chigorin and Wilhelm Cohn; ahead of
1898 Cologne 5th 9½/15
Schlechter, Showalter, Johann Berger, Janowski and Schiffers.
Behind Emanuel Lasker (23½/27), Janowski (19/27), Maróczy (19/27),
10– Pillsbury (19/27), Schlechter (18/27), Blackburne (16½/27), Chigorin
1899 London 11½/27
11th (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:[4][7][39][84][85]
Date Opponent Result Location Score Notes
Eduard
1860 Drew Vienna 2/4 2:2
Jenay
1860 Lang Won Vienna 3/3 +3−0=0
Serafino
1862 Won London 5½/9 +5−3=1
Dubois
Adolf
1862 Lost London 1/3 +1−2=0 Offhand games
Anderssen
Joseph
1862– Only 2 years after Blackburne started
Henry Won London 8/10 +7−1=2
63 playing chess.
Blackburne
Frederic
1863 Won London 5½/7 +5−1=1
Deacon
Augustus
1863 Won London 7/7 +7−0=0
Mongredien
1863– Valentine
Won London 8/9 +7−0=2
64 Green
James
1865 Won London 4/5 4:1 Probably not a formal match
Robey
As a result of this win Steinitz was
Adolf
1866 Won London 8/14 +8−6=0 generally regarded as the world's best
Anderssen
player.[12]
Henry
Bird was forced to discontinue match
1866 Edward Won London 9½/17 +7−5=5
when sent on business to America.
Bird
George
1867 Brunton Won Dundee 4/6 +3−1=2
Fraser

1870 Blackburne Won London 1½/2 +1−0=1 [86]

Johannes
1872 Won London 9/12 +7−1=4
Zukertort
1873 Blackburne Won Vienna 2/2 +2−0=0 Play-off match.
1876 Blackburne Won London 7/7 +7−0=0
Szymon
1882 Drew Vienna 1/2 1:1 Play-off match.
Winawer
Dion
1882 Won Philadelphia 7/7 +7−0=0
Martinez
Alexander
1882 Won Baltimore 3½/5 +2−0=3
Sellman
George
1883 Henry Won New York 4/6 +3−1=2
Mackenzie
1883 Martinez Won Philadelphia 4½/7 +3−1=3
Celso
1883 Golmayo Won Havana 9/11 9:2
Zúpide
1883 Martinez Won Philadelphia 10/11 10 : 1
1885 Alexander Won Baltimore 3/3 +3−0=0
 Sellman

New York, World Chess Championship 1886; the

1886 Zukertort Won St.Louis and 12½/20 +10−5=5 contract for this match said it was "for the
New Orleans Championship of the World".[12]
Alberto
1888 Won Havana 4/5 4:1
Ponce
Andrés
1888 Won Havana 5/5 +5−0=0
Vásquez
1888 Golmayo Won Havana 5/5 +5−0=0
Vicente
1889 Won Havana 4/5 4:1
Carvajal
World Chess Championship 1889; often
Mikhail
1889 Won Havana 10½/17 +10−6=1 described as a World Championship
Chigorin
match, but may not have been.[30]
1890– Isidor
Won New York 10½/19 +6−4=9 World Chess Championship 1891 match.
91 Gunsberg
1892 Chigorin Won Havana 12½/23 +10−8=5 World Chess Championship 1892 match.
New York, World Chess Championship 1894 match;
Emanuel
1894 Lost Philadelphia and 7/19 +5−10=4 Steinitz's first recorded defeat in a serious
Lasker
Montreal match.
Emanuel
1896 Won Rostov-on-Don 6½/11 +6−4=1
Schiffers
1896–
Lasker Lost Moscow 4½/17 +2−10=5 World Chess Championship 1897 match.
97
S.
1897 Drew New York 1/2 1:1 Play-off match.
Lipschütz

Notable games
Steinitz vs. Augustus Mongredien, London 1862.[87] Awarded the brilliancy prize at the 1862
London International Tournament.[7]
Adolf Anderssen vs. Steinitz; 13th match game, London 1866.[88] Emanuel Lasker regarded
this well-prepared attack as a precursor of the positional approach that Steinitz later
advocated.[89]
Johannes Zukertort vs. Steinitz, WCH (9th game of the match) 1886, Queen's Gambit Declined:
Vienna. Quiet Variation (D37), 0–1.[90] Steinitz exchanges his powerful centre to create two
weak hanging pawns 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
counterattack.[55]
Steinitz vs. Mikhail Chigorin, Havana WCH 1892 (16th game of the match), Ruy Lopez, 1–0.[91]
Steinitz weakens Chigorin's pawns, gains superior mobility then forces a pawn promotion with
the aid of a little combination.[92]
Steinitz vs. Mikhail Chigorin, Havana WCH 1892 (4th game of the match), Spanish Game:
General (C65), 1–0.[93] Positional preparation creates the opportunity for a swift attack leading
to mate on the 29th move.[55]
Steinitz vs. Curt von Bardeleben, Hastings 1895, Italian Game: Classical Variation. Greco
Gambit Traditional Line (C54), 1–0.[94] 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.[55]
See also
Steinitz Variation
Steinitz Memorial, a blitz chess tournament held from May 15 to May 17, 2020 in honor of
Wilhelm Steinitz.

References
1. Schoenberg, Harold C. (1981). Grandmasters of Chess (Rev. ed.). New York: W.W. Norton &
Co. p. 99.
2. Landsberger, Kurt (2006). William Steinitz, Chess Champion. McFarland & Co. p. 17.
ISBN 978-0-7864-2846-5.
3. The World Chess Championship, by I.A. Horowitz, Macmillan, New York, 1973, p. 19; Library of
Congress Card Catalog Number 72-80175
4. "Scores of various important chess results from the Romantic era" (http://www.vuse.vanderbilt.e
du/~spin/chessmatches.html).
5. Shibut, Macon (May 7, 2014). Paul Morphy and the Evolution of Chess Theory. Mineola, New
York: Dover Publications. p. 82. ISBN 978-0486435749.
6. Horowitz, p. 20
7. "Bill Wall's Chess Master Profiles: Steinitz" (https://web.archive.org/web/20090803195031/htt
p://geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lab/7378/steinitz.htm). Archived from the original (http://www.ge
ocities.com/SiliconValley/Lab/7378/steinitz.htm) on 2009-08-03. Retrieved 2008-11-19.
8. "Chessmetrics Player Profile: Joseph Blackburne" (http://chessmetrics.com/cm/CM2/PlayerProf
ile.asp?Params=199510SSSSS3S012785000000111000000000000010100). Retrieved
2008-11-19.
9. Silman, Jeremy. "Wilhelm Steinitz" (http://www.jeremysilman.com/chess_history/grt_plyr_w_ste
initz.html). Retrieved 2008-11-19.
10. Landsberger, K. (2002). The Steinitz Papers: Letters and Documents of the First World Chess
Champion (https://books.google.com/books?id=NltT4BinugsC&q=steinitz+%22the+field%22+h
offer&pg=PA28). McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-1193-1. Retrieved 2008-11-19.
11. The World Chess Championship, by I.A. Horowitz, 1973, Macmillan, New York, pp. 23–24,
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 72-80175
12. Winter, E. "Early Uses of 'World Chess Champion' " (http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/c
hampion.html).
13. Conversion based on average incomes, which are the most appropriate measure for a few
weeks' hard work. If we use average prices for the conversion, the result is about £6,500. "Five
Ways to Compute the Relative Value of a U.K. Pound Amount, 1830 to Present" (https://web.arc
hive.org/web/20081216145224/http://www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare/result.php?use%5
B%5D=CPI&use%5B%5D=DEFIND&use%5B%5D=WAGE&use%5B%5D=GDPCP&use%5
B%5D=GDPC&year_early=1866&pound71=100&shilling71=0&pence71=0&amount=100&yea
r_source=1866&year_result=2008). Archived from the original (http://www.measuringworth.co
m/ukcompare/result.php?use%5B%5D=CPI&use%5B%5D=DEFIND&use%5B%5D=WAGE&u
se%5B%5D=GDPCP&use%5B%5D=GDPC&year_early=1866&pound71=100&shilling71=0&
pence71=0&amount=100&year_source=1866&year_result=2008) on 2008-12-16. Retrieved
2008-11-19.
14. "Baden-Baden 1870" (https://web.archive.org/web/20081026085730/http://www.endgame.nl/ba
d1870.htm). Archived from the original (http://www.endgame.nl/bad1870.htm) on 2008-10-26.
Retrieved 2008-11-19.
15. "Ready for a big chess match" (https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1894/03/11/10
6900358.pdf) (PDF). New York Times. 11 March 1894. Retrieved 2008-11-19. Note this article
implies that the final combined stake was US $4,500, but Lasker's financial analysis says it was
$4,000: Emanuel Lasker (January 1905). "From the Editorial Chair" (https://en.wikisource.org/wi
ki/Lasker%27s_Chess_Magazine/Volume_1). Lasker's Chess Magazine. 1. Retrieved
2008-05-31.
16. "World Exhibitions" (https://web.archive.org/web/20080619170844/http://www.endgame.nl/wfair
s.htm). Archived from the original (http://www.endgame.nl/wfairs.htm) on 2008-06-19. Retrieved
2008-11-19.
17. "History of the CCA" (https://web.archive.org/web/20081217031526/http://www.clevelandchess
association.org.uk/cca/history/index.htm). Archived from the original (http://www.clevelandchess
association.org.uk/cca/history/index.htm) on 2008-12-17. Retrieved 2008-11-19.
18. Conversion based on average incomes: "Five Ways to Compute the Relative Value of a U.K.
Pound Amount, 1830 to Present" (https://web.archive.org/web/20081216145235/http://www.me
asuringworth.com/ukcompare/result.php?use%5B%5D=CPI&use%5B%5D=DEFIND&use%5
B%5D=WAGE&use%5B%5D=GDPCP&use%5B%5D=GDPC&year_early=1887&pound71=9&
shilling71=9&pence71=0&amount=9.45&year_source=1887&year_result=2008). Archived from
the original (http://www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare/result.php?use%5B%5D=CPI&use%5
B%5D=DEFIND&use%5B%5D=WAGE&use%5B%5D=GDPCP&use%5B%5D=GDPC&year_
early=1887&pound71=9&shilling71=9&pence71=0&amount=9.45&year_source=1887&year_r
esult=2008) on 2008-12-16. Retrieved 2008-11-19.
19. From 1873 to 1882, Steinitz was a regular chess columnist for The Field, see "Bill Wall's Chess
Master Profiles – Steinitz" (https://web.archive.org/web/20090803195031/http://geocities.com/Si
liconValley/Lab/7378/steinitz.htm). Archived from the original (http://www.geocities.com/Silicon
Valley/Lab/7378/steinitz.htm) on 2009-08-03. Retrieved 2008-11-19. For example, he wrote
commentaries on the "Blackburne-Steinitz Match, London 1876" (http://www.chessarch.com/ex
cavations/000B_blac_stei/1876blst.shtml). Retrieved 2008-11-19. in collaboration with his
opponent and on the "Rosenthal–Zukertort Match, London 1880" (http://www.chessarch.com/ex
cavations/000E_rose_zuke/1880rozu.shtml). Retrieved 2008-11-19.
20. Winter, E. "Kasparov, Karpov and the Scotch" (http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/scotch.
html).
21. "Chessmetrics: Career ratings for Mason, James" (http://chessmetrics.com/cm/PL/PL25209.ht
m). Retrieved 2008-11-19.
22. Using average incomes for the conversion: "Five Ways to Compute the Relative Value of a U.K.
Pound Amount, 1830 – 2006: £150 in 1882" (https://web.archive.org/web/20081216145230/htt
p://www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare/result.php?use%5B%5D=CPI&use%5B%5D=DEFIN
D&use%5B%5D=WAGE&use%5B%5D=GDPCP&use%5B%5D=GDPC&year_early=1882&po
und71=150&shilling71=&pence71=&amount=150&year_source=1882&year_result=2008).
Archived from the original (http://www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare/result.php?use%5B%5
D=CPI&use%5B%5D=DEFIND&use%5B%5D=WAGE&use%5B%5D=GDPCP&use%5B%5D
=GDPC&year_early=1882&pound71=150&shilling71=&pence71=&amount=150&year_source
=1882&year_result=2008) on 2008-12-16. Retrieved 2008-11-19.
23. "Vienna 1882 and 1898" (https://web.archive.org/web/20081216145316/http://www.endgame.n
l/wien.htm). Archived from the original (http://www.endgame.nl/wien.htm) on 2008-12-16.
Retrieved 2008-11-19.
24. "International Chess Tournament Vienna 1882" (http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?ne
wsid=2117). 2005-01-03. Retrieved 2008-11-19.
25. "World Chess Champions: Wilhelm Steinitz" (http://www.chesscorner.com/worldchamps/steinit
z/steinitz.htm). Retrieved 2008-11-19.
26. Mark Weeks' Chess Pages: "1883 London Tournament" (http://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/y3l
on-ix.htm). Retrieved 2008-11-19.
27. "Steinitz, the chess champion" (https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1887/01/23/10
4007957.pdf) (PDF). New York Times. January 23, 1887. Retrieved 2008-11-19.
28. Landsberg, K. (1993). William Steinitz: A biography of the Bohemian Caesar. McFarland & Co.
29. Horowitz, p. 30
30. Thulin, A. (August 2007). "Steinitz—Chigorin, Havana 1899 – A World Championship Match or
Not?" (http://www.anders.thulin.name/SUBJECTS/CHESS/SteinitzChigorin1889.pdf) (PDF).
Retrieved 2008-05-30. Based on Landsberger, K. (2002). The Steinitz Papers: Letters and
Documents of the First World Chess Champion (https://books.google.com/books?id=NltT4Binu
gsC&q=steinitz+%22the+field%22+hoffer&pg=PA28). McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-1193-1.
Retrieved 2008-11-19.
31. Wilhelm Steinitz (December 1887). "(title unknown)" (http://www.anders.thulin.name/SUBJECT
S/CHESS/SteinitzChigorin1889.pdf) (PDF). International Chess Magazine. 3: 370–71.
Retrieved 2008-06-15.
32. The World Chess Championship, by I.A. Horowitz, New York, Macmillan, 1973, p. 41
33. Using incomes for the adjustment factor, as the outcome depended on a few months' hard work
by the players; if prices are used for the conversion, the result is about $114,000 – see "Six
Ways to Compute the Relative Value of a U.S. Dollar Amount, 1774 to Present" (http://www.mea
suringworth.com/uscompare/). Retrieved 2017-03-28. However, Lasker later published an
analysis showing that the winning player got $1,600 and the losing player $600 out of the
$4,000, as the backers who had bet on the winner got the rest: Emanuel Lasker (January 1905).
"From the Editorial Chair" (https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Lasker%27s_Chess_Magazine/Volum
e_1). Lasker's Chess Magazine. 1. Retrieved 2008-05-31.
34. "The Steinitz Papers – review" (http://www.chessville.com/reviews/SteinitzPapers.htm).
Retrieved 2008-11-19.
35. The World Chess Championship by I.A. Horowitz, Macmillan, New York, 1973, p. 42
36. Giffard, Nicolas (1993). Le Guide des Échecs (in French). Éditions Robert Laffont. p. 394.
37. "Lasker v. Steinitz – World Championship Match 1894" (http://www.chessville.com/instruction/L
asker_v_Steinitz/instr_annogames_laskervsteinitz1894.htm). Retrieved 2008-05-30.
38. "William Steinitz dead" (https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9E06E4DC1039E733
A25757C1A96E9C946197D6CF). New York Times. August 14, 1900. Retrieved 2008-11-19.
Also available in 2 parts at "Steinitz Obituary (Part 1 of 2)" (https://web.archive.org/web/200812
16145221/http://www.rookhouse.com/blog/?p=177). Archived from the original (http://www.rook
house.com/blog/?p=177) on 2008-12-16. Retrieved 2008-11-19. and "Steinitz Obituary (Part 2
of 2)" (https://web.archive.org/web/20081216145225/http://www.rookhouse.com/blog/?p=182).
Archived from the original (http://www.rookhouse.com/blog/?p=182) on 2008-12-16. Retrieved
2008-11-19.
39. "Major Chess Matches and Tournaments of the 19th century" (https://web.archive.org/web/2007
0926221345/http://www3.sympatico.ca/g.giffen/19thcent.htm). Archived from the original (http://
www3.sympatico.ca/g.giffen/19thcent.htm) on 2007-09-26.
40. Weeks, M. "World Chess Championship: 1896 Lasker – Steinitz Title Match" (http://www.mark-
weeks.com/chess/z6ls$wix.htm). Retrieved 2008-11-19.
41. Dating the start of Steinitz's reign to 1886:
Gligoric, S. & Wade, R.G. (1972). The World Chess Championship. Harper & Row. p. xi.
ISBN 978-0-06-011573-9.
Kazic, B.M. (1974). International Championship Chess: A Complete Record of FIDE Events.
p. 206. ISBN 978-0-273-07078-8.
Hooper, D. & Whyld, K. (1992). The Oxford Companion to Chess (https://archive.org/details/
oxfordcompaniont0000hoop) (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 450 (https://archive.org/d
etails/oxfordcompaniont0000hoop/page/450). ISBN 978-0-19-866164-1.

Supporting 1866:
"Ready for a big chess match" (https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1894/03/1
1/106900358.pdf) (PDF). New York Times. 11 March 1894.
"(unknown)" (http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/champion.html). British Chess
Magazine. April 1894. Retrieved 2008-09-04. Cite uses generic title (help)
Devide, C. (1974) [1901]. William Steinitz: Selected Chess Games. Dover. p. 4. ISBN 978-0-
486-23025-2.
Lasker, Em. (May 1908). "(unknown)" (http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/champion.ht
ml). Lasker's Chess Magazine. Retrieved 2008-09-04. Cite uses generic title (help)
Fine, R. (1952). The World's Great Chess Games. Andre Deutsch. p. 30.
Golombek, H. (1977). Golombek's Encyclopedia of Chess. Crown. p. 309. ISBN 978-0-517-
53146-4.
Byrne, R. (December 17, 1989). "Pastimes; Chess" (https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.h
tml?res=950DE7DB123DF934A25751C1A96F948260). New York Times. Retrieved
2008-09-04.
Divinsky, N. (1990). The Batsford Chess Encyclopedia. Batsford. p. 203. ISBN 978-0-7134-
6214-2.
"Unsound but irresistible fun" (http://www.washtimes.com/news/2003/may/16/20030516-10
2232-1025r/). Washington Times. May 16, 2003. Retrieved 2008-09-04.
"Wilhelm Steinitz". UXL Encyclopedia of World Biography (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/
mi_gx5229/is_2003/ai_n19151966). 2003. Retrieved 2008-09-04.
Keene, R. (September 29, 2007). "The World Chess Champions, by GM Raymond Keene
OBE" (http://www.impalapublications.com/blog/index.php?/archives/2147-THE-WORLD-C
HESS-CHAMPIONS,-by-GM-Raymond-Keene-OBE.html). Retrieved 2008-09-04.

Undecided:
Sunnucks, A. (1970). The Encyclopaedia of Chess. pp. 441–42.
42. Winter, E. (April 1894). "(unknown)" (http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/champion.html).
British Chess Magazine: 163. Cite uses generic title (help) Emanuel Lasker supported this
view: Winter, E. (May 1908). "(article title unknown)" (http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/c
hampion.html). Lasker's Chess Magazine: 1. Likewise Reuben Fine in Fine, R. (1952). The
World's Great Chess Games. Andre Deutsch (now as paperback from Dover)..
43. See the extracts from contemporary documents at Winter, E. "Early Uses of 'World Chess
Champion' " (http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/champion.html). The 1882 quote from
Steinitz, two years before Morphy's death, might be interpreted as claiming that he was
champion from 1866, but the 1888 extract is his first absolutely unambiguous claim to have
been champion since 1866.
44. Keene, Raymond; Goodman, David (1986). The Centenary Match, Kasparov–Karpov III. Collier
Books. pp. 1–2. ISBN 978-0-02-028700-1.
45. Steinitz insisted that the contract should specify this, see the citation of Chess Monthly from
January 1886 at Winter, E. "Early Uses of 'World Chess Champion' " (http://www.chesshistory.c
om/winter/extra/champion.html).
46. Spinrad, J.P. (2006). "Early World Rankings" (http://www.chesscafe.com/text/spinrad06.pdf)
(PDF). chesscafe.com.
47. MacDonnell, G.A. (1894). The Knights and Kings of Chess. London.:
pages 7 and 10–11: Joseph Blackburne "won the championship of the world"
page 31: "... 1887, just after Mackenzie had won the Chess Championship of the World"
page 78: Isidore Gunsberg "... by his victory at Bradford Place [sic] in 1888, ...won a place
among the champions of the world"
Extracts are published at Winter, E. "Chess Note 3968: Nineteenth-century world champions" (h
ttp://www.chesshistory.com/winter/winter15.html#3967._Benko_and_b5_C.N._3957). Retrieved
2008-11-19.
48. Steinitz, W. (May 1891). "(unknown)" (http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/winter15.html#3974._
The_Steinitz-Wormald-MacDonnell_). International Chess Magazine: 146–47. Retrieved
2008-11-19. Cite uses generic title (help)
49. See extracts from UK census records for 1871 and 1881 at Edward Winter. "Chess Note 4756:
Census information" (http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/winter29.html#4754._Chess_and_war
fare_C.N._4745). Retrieved 2008-11-19.
50. "Chess and Brain Disease" (https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1897/02/23/1024
85855.pdf) (PDF). New York Times. February 23, 1897. Retrieved 2008-11-19. The key
passage is also quoted at "Obituaries" (http://www.chesscafe.com/text/spinrad20.pdf) (PDF).
Retrieved 2008-11-19.
51. Hans Kmoch. "Grandmasters I Have Known – Emanuel Lasker" (http://www.chesscafe.com/tex
t/kmoch06.pdf) (PDF). ChessCafe.com. Retrieved 2008-11-19. (see last sentence)
52. "Steinitz free once more" (https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NOlBAAAAIBAJ&dq=steini
tz%20-chess%20-yuval&pg=4450%2C6685109) (PDF). Baltimore American. April 10, 1900.
Retrieved 2011-11-30.
53. Pickard, Sid (ed.) (1995). Hastings 1895: The Centennial Edition. Pickard and Son. ISBN 978-
1-886846-01-2.
54. Silman, J. "Wilhelm Steinitz" (http://www.jeremysilman.com/chess_history/grt_plyr_w_steinitz.ht
ml). Jeremy Silman. Retrieved 2008-11-19. Several examples of Steinitz testing his theories in
top-class play.
55. Fine, R. (1952). "Wilhelm Steinitz". The World's Great Chess Games. Andre Deutsch (now as
paperback from Dover). pp. 30–37.
56. The "Notable games" section contains two examples of positional play leading to powerful
attacks, Johannes Zukertort vs Wilhelm Steinitz, 9th game of their 1886 World Championship
match (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1132645) and 4th game of his 1892
match (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1036342) against Mikhail Chigorin
57. Lasker, Emanuel (1947). "The Evolution of the Theory of Steinitz". Lasker's Manual of Chess.
David McKay. p. 199.
58. Watson, J. (2004). "International Chess Magazine" (http://www.jeremysilman.com/book_reviews
_jw/jw_intl_chess_magazine.html). Retrieved 2008-11-19.
59. Steinitz, W., ed. (1982) [1891]. The book of the Sixth American Chess Congress. Edition Olms.
ISBN 978-3-283-00152-0.
60. "New York 1889 and 1924" (https://web.archive.org/web/20080619023938/http://www.endgam
e.nl/newyork.htm). Archived from the original (http://www.endgame.nl/newyork.htm) on 2008-06-
19. Retrieved 2008-11-19.
61. For example in the 9th game of Steinitz vs Zukertort 1886.
62. See the individual game reports by 3 US journals, linked to in "Gunsberg–Steinitz Match, World
Championship 1890–91" (http://www.chessarch.com/excavations/000C_guns_stei/1890gust.sh
tml). Retrieved 2008-11-19.
63. "A New Chess Book" (https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9F02EEDA173AEF33A
25750C1A9639C94699FD7CF). New York Times. May 13, 1888. p. 13. Retrieved 2008-06-19.
64. Emanuel Lasker (1960) [1925]. Lasker's Manual of Chess (http://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/z
4ls$wix.htm). Dover. ISBN 978-0-486-20640-0. Retrieved 2008-05-31. Also at "WikiQuote: Paul
Morphy" (https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Paul_Morphy). Retrieved 2008-11-19.
65. See, e.g., Lasker, Emanuel (1947). Lasker's Manual of Chess (2d ed.). New York: David McKay
Co. p. 187. Siegbert Tarrasch wrote: "He has learned of the game only as much as a second-
class player – the rest he has done from his own means. The whole of the modern conduct of
the game, or at least by far the greatest part of it, is his work": Edward Winter. "Chess Note
4773: Tarrasch parody of Steinitz" (http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/winter29.html#4772._Ni
mzowitsch_v). Retrieved 2008-11-19.
66. Kramnik, V. "Kramnik Interview: From Steinitz to Kasparov" (https://web.archive.org/web/20080
512052013/http://www.kramnik.com/eng/interviews/getinterview.aspx?id=61). Vladimir
Kramnik. Archived from the original (http://www.kramnik.com/eng/interviews/getinterview.aspx?i
d=61) on 2008-05-12. Retrieved 2008-11-19.
67. Steinitz, W. (1885–1891). Fiala, V. (ed.). InternationalChessMagazine (https://web.archive.org/w
eb/20080520221127/http://moravian-chess.cz/katalog.php?idkat=12). Moravian Chess.
Archived from the original (http://www.moravian-chess.cz/katalog.php?idkat=12) on 2008-05-
20. Reviewed at Watson, J. (2004). "International Chess Magazine" (http://www.jeremysilman.c
om/book_reviews_jw/jw_intl_chess_magazine.html). Retrieved 2008-11-19.
68. Available as part of the CD collection Pickard, S. (ed.). The Collected Works of Wilhelm Steinitz
(https://web.archive.org/web/20081028165018/http://www.chesscentral.com/wilhelm-steinitz/col
lected_works_steinitz.htm). Chess Central. Archived from the original (http://www.chesscentral.
com/wilhelm-steinitz/collected_works_steinitz.htm) on 2008-10-28. Retrieved 2008-11-19.
69. "Steinitz vs. van Bardeleben, Hastings 1895" (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gi
d=1132699). Chessgames.com.
70. Keene, Raymond; Divinsky, Nathan (1989). Warriors of the Mind. Brighton, UK: Hardinge
Simpole. See the summary list at "All Time Rankings" (http://chess.eusa.ed.ac.uk/Chess/Trivia/
AlltimeList.html).
71. "Peak Average Ratings: 3 year peak range" (http://chessmetrics.com/cm/CM2/PeakList.asp).
Retrieved 2008-11-19.
72. Sonas, Jeff. "Chessmetrics: Formulas" (http://chessmetrics.com/cm/CM2/Formulas.asp).
Retrieved 2008-11-19.
73. Sonas, J. (2005). "The Greatest Chess Player of All Time – Part I" (http://www.chessbase.com/n
ewsdetail.asp?newsid=2345). Chessbase. Retrieved 2008-11-19. Part IV gives links to all 3
earlier parts: Sonas, J. (2005). "The Greatest Chess Player of All Time – Part IV" (http://www.ch
essbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=2409). Chessbase. Retrieved 2008-11-19.
74. Watson, J. (2004). "The Collected Works of Wilhelm Steinitz" (http://www.jeremysilman.com/bo
ok_reviews_jw/jw_cllctd_wrks_w_stntz.html). Jeremy Silman. review of a book edited by Sid
Pickard
75. Euwe, Max (1976). From Steinitz to Fischer. Belgrade: Chess Informant.
76. Winter, E. "Steinitz Quotes" (http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/steinitz.html).
77. Winter, E. "Chess with Violence" (http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/violence.html).
78. MacDonnell, G.A. (1894). The Knights and Kings of Chess (http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/
winter15.html#3974._The_Steinitz-Wormald-MacDonnell_). London. pp. 39–40. Retrieved
2008-11-19.
79. Steinitz, W. (November 1875). "(review of Wormald's The Chess Openings)". City of London
Chess Magazine: 297–304. and Steinitz, W. (December 1875). "(review of Wormald's The
Chess Openings)". City of London Chess Magazine: 331–36. Extracts at Winter, E. "Chess
Note 3974: The Steinitz–Wormald–MacDonnell controversy" (http://www.chesshistory.com/wint
er/winter15.html#3974._The_Steinitz-Wormald-MacDonnell_). Retrieved 2008-11-19. Winter
concludes his commentary with, "If instances can be identified of Steinitz being wrong in his
denunciation of Wormald, we should like to be informed."
80. for example he described Zukertort's win over Blackburne in the London 1883 tournament
(where Steinitz finished second behind Zukertort) as "one of the most brilliant games on
record", and Blackburne's win over Schwarz in Berlin, 1881, with the words "White's design,
especially from the 21st move in combination with the brilliant finish, belongs to the finest efforts
of chess genius in modern match play." Fine, R. (1952). The World's Great Chess Games.
Andre Deutsch (now as paperback from Dover). Zukertort's win is at "Zukertort's Immortal:
Johannes Zukertort vs Joseph Henry Blackburne, London, 1883" (http://www.chessgames.com/
perl/chessgame?gid=1001854). Blackburne's win is at "Joseph Henry Blackburne vs Jacques
Schwarz, Berlin, 1881" (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1029022).
81. "Wilhelm Steinitz in Russia 1895–96" (http://www.chessville.com/reviews/QCH19993.htm).
Quarterly for Chess History (3). 1999.
82. "I tornei di scacchi fino al 1879" (http://xoomer.alice.it/cserica/scacchi/storiascacchi/tornei/pagin
e/itorneifino1880.htm). Retrieved 2008-11-19.
83. "I tornei di scacchi dal 1880 al 1899" (http://xoomer.alice.it/cserica/scacchi/storiascacchi/tornei/
pagine/itornei1880-99.htm). Retrieved 2008-11-19.
84. Edo Historical Chess Ratings (http://www.edochess.ca/players/p34.html)
85. I matches dal 1880 al 1899 (http://xoomer.alice.it/cserica/scacchi/storiascacchi/matches/1880-9
9.htm)
86. Tim Harding, Joseph Henry Blackburne: A Chess Biography (McFarland 2015) ISBN 978-0-
7864-7473-8
87. "Wilhelm Steinitz vs. Augustus Mongredien, London 1862" (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/c
hessgame?gid=1001497). Chessgames.com.
88. "Adolf Anderssen vs. Wilhelm Steinitz, London 1866" (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessg
ame?gid=1019315). Chessgames.com.
89. Lasker, Emanuel (1947). "The Evolution of the Theory of Steinitz". Lasker's Manual of Chess.
David McKay. pp. 200–02.
90. "Johannes Zukertort vs. Wilhelm Steinitz, WCH 1886" (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess
game?gid=1132645). Chessgames.com.
91. "Wilhelm Steinitz vs. Mikhail Chigorin, Havana WCH 1892" (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/c
hessgame?gid=1036356). Chessgames.com.
92. Golombek, H. (1954). "The Great Masters: Steinitz". The Game of Chess. Penguin Books.
pp. 209–12.
93. "Wilhelm Steinitz vs. Mikhail Chigorin, Havana WCH 1892" (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/c
hessgame?gid=1036342). Chessgames.com.
94. "Wilhelm Steinitz vs. Curt von Bardeleben, Hastings 1895" (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/c
hessgame?gid=1132699). Chessgames.com.

Further reading
Winter, Edward G. (1981). World chess champions. ISBN 978-0-08-024094-7.
Kasparov, Garry (2003). My Great Predecessors, part I. Everyman Chess. ISBN 978-1-85744-
330-1.
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. (in Italian)
From Steinitz to Fischer, ed. Sahovski Informator, Belgrade 1976.
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.
External links
Wilhelm Steinitz (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessplayer?pid=10421) player profile and
games at Chessgames.com
“Steinitz versus God” by Edward Winter (http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/steinitzgod.ht
ml)
Steinitz biography (https://web.archive.org/web/20060527101733/http://www.souvenirworldja.c
om/chessworld/playbetter/Technical_Articles/worldchamps/steinitz/william_steinitz_1836.htm)
Chesscorner bio (http://www.chesscorner.com/worldchamps/steinitz/steinitz.htm)
Jewish Encyclopedia bio (http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=1070&letter=S&s
earch=william%20steinitz)
World Chess Championship Pre-FIDE Events (http://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/wcc-indz.ht
m) – details of World Championship matches from Steinitz's era

Preceded by World Chess Champion Succeeded by

(unofficial) 1886–1894 Emanuel Lasker

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wilhelm_Steinitz&oldid=991204719"

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