Wilhelm Steinitz

Wilhelm Steinitz (May 14, 1836 – August 12, 1900) was a chess player born in Bohemia (then part of the Austrian Empire) who later became an American citizen. He held the title of the first official World Chess Champion from 1886 until 1894, though some historians argue he could be considered the champion from as early as 1866. Steinitz lost his championship to Emanuel Lasker in 1894 and again in a rematch that ran from 1896 to 1897. While modern statistical ratings place him relatively low among world champions—largely because he took extended breaks from competition—one such system also rates him as one of the most dominant players ever. He went undefeated in match play for 32 years, from 1862 to 1894.

Steinitz began his career playing the aggressive, all-out attacking style typical of the 1860s, which made him the world’s top player. But in 1873 he introduced a new positional style, arguing it was superior. This approach was controversial; some called it cowardly, though Steinitz’s own games showed it could produce attacks as fierce as the old school. He defended his ideas in writing, sparking a bitter, often abusive debate known as the “Ink War.” By the early 1890s, his methods had gained wide acceptance, and the next generation of top players—including his successor Lasker—acknowledged their debt to him.

Traditional accounts paint Steinitz as ill-tempered and aggressive, but newer research reveals he maintained long, friendly relationships with several players and chess organizations. Notably, from 1888 to 1889 he worked with the American Chess Congress to define rules for future world championship matches. He was poor at managing money and lived in poverty his entire life.

**Early life** Steinitz was born on May 14, 1836, in the Jewish ghetto of Prague, then part of the Austrian Empire. He was the youngest of thirteen sons born to tailor Josef-Salomon Steinitz and his first wife. He learned chess at age 12 and studied the Talmud as a youth. At 21, he left Prague to study mathematics at the Vienna Polytechnic, where he spent two years before turning to serious chess.

**Chess career (through 1881)** Steinitz improved quickly in the late 1850s. He placed third in the 1859 Vienna City championship, then won it in 1861 with a score of 30 out of 31, earning the nickname “the Austrian Morphy.” This made him the strongest player in Austria.

**International debut** In 1862, Steinitz represented Austria at the London chess tournament, finishing sixth but winning the brilliancy prize for his game against Augustus Mongredien. He then challenged the fifth-place finisher, Italian master Serafino Dubois, to a match and won (five wins, one draw, three losses). This success led him to turn professional and move to London. In 1862–63, he crushed Joseph Henry Blackburne in a match—Blackburne, who had only started playing two years earlier, would become a top-ten player for two decades. Steinitz then beat other leading UK players: Frederick Deacon and Mongredien in 1863, and Valentine Green in 1864. This rise came at a cost: in March 1863, he wrote to Ignác Kolisch apologizing for not repaying a loan, explaining that Daniel Harrwitz had taken over all of Steinitz’s clients at the London Chess Club, his main source of income.

**Match against Anderssen** These wins made Steinitz one of the world’s best, and in 1866 he arranged a match in London against Adolf Anderssen, considered the world’s strongest active player (Paul Morphy, his only superior, had retired). Steinitz won with eight wins and six losses (no draws), but the fight was close: after 12 games the score was tied 6–6, and Steinitz won the last two. This victory made him generally regarded as the world’s best player. The prize was £100 to the winner (Steinitz) and £20 to the loser (Anderssen)—a large sum, equivalent to about £57,500 in 2007.

**Continued match play success** After beating Anderssen, Steinitz defeated Henry Bird in 1866 (seven wins, five losses, five draws) and comfortably beat Johannes Zukertort in 1872 (seven wins, one loss, four draws). Zukertort had proven his strength by beating Anderssen by a large margin in 1871.

**Gradually improves tournament results** Steinitz took longer to dominate tournaments. He placed third at Paris 1867 (behind Ignatz Kolisch and Simon Winawer), second at Dundee 1867 (Gustav Neumann won), and second at Baden-Baden 1870 (behind Anderssen but ahead of Blackburne, Louis Paulsen, and others). His first strong tournament win was London 1872, ahead of Blackburne and Zukertort. The first tournament where he finished ahead of Anderssen was Vienna 1873, when Anderssen was 55.

**Changes style, introduces positional school** All of Steinitz’s successes up to 1872 came from the attack-at-all-costs “Romantic” style.