Wilhelm Steinitz

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Steinitz was born on May 14, 1836, in the Jewish ghetto of Prague, the youngest of tailor Josef-Salomon Steinitz's thirteen sons by his first wife. He learned to play chess at age 12. After studying Talmud in his youth, he began playing serious chess in his twenties, after leaving Prague in 1857 to study mathematics at the Vienna Polytechnic. Steinitz spent two years at the university. He improved rapidly, progressing from third place in the 1859 Vienna City championship to first in 1861 with a score of 30/31, becoming the strongest player in Austria. Sent to represent Austria in the London 1862 chess tournament, he placed sixth but won the brilliancy prize for his win over Augustus Mongredien. He then challenged fifth-placed Serafino Dubois to a match, winning five wins, one draw, three losses, and turned professional, taking up residence in London. In 1862–63 he scored a crushing win in a match with Joseph Henry Blackburne. In 1866, Steinitz defeated Adolf Anderssen, regarded as the world's strongest active player, with eight wins and six losses (no draws); after 12 games the scores were level at 6–6, then Steinitz won the last two games. As a result, Steinitz was generally regarded as the world's best player. The prize money was £100 to the winner and £20 to the loser. Steinitz beat Henry Bird in 1866 (seven wins, five losses, five draws) and comfortably beat Johannes Zukertort in 1872 (seven wins, four draws, one loss). In the Vienna 1873 chess tournament, Steinitz unveiled a new positional style of play, tying for first place with Blackburne and winning the play-off. He made a shaky start but won his last 14 games in the main tournament plus the two play-off games—the start of a 25-game winning streak in serious competition. Between 1873 and 1882 he played no tournaments and only one match (a 7–0 win against Blackburne in 1876). Instead, he concentrated on his work as a chess journalist for The Field, Britain's leading sports magazine. Some of his commentaries aroused heated debates, notably from Zukertort and Leopold Hoffer in The Chess Monthly, escalating into the 'Ink War' in 1881. Steinitz returned to serious competitive chess in the Vienna 1882 chess tournament, taking equal first place with Szymon Winawer and drawing the play-off match. He visited the United States from December 1882 to May 1883, playing exhibitions and matches, including wins over Alexander Sellman and Celso Golmayo Zúpide (abandoned when Steinitz was leading eight wins, one draw, one loss).

Reader's Guide

Steinitz's significance lies in his transformation of chess from the all-out attacking 'Romantic' style to a modern positional approach. Although he became 'world number one' by winning in the attacking style common in the 1860s, he unveiled in 1873 a new positional style of play and demonstrated it was superior. His new style was controversial and some branded it as 'cowardly', but many of his games showed it could also set up attacks as ferocious as those of the old school. Steinitz was a prolific writer on chess and defended his new ideas vigorously. The debate was so bitter and sometimes abusive that it became known as the 'Ink War'. By the early 1890s, his 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. 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. He lost his world title to Emanuel Lasker in 1894, and lost a rematch in 1896–97.

Did You Know?

• Steinitz was unbeaten in match play for 32 years, from 1862 to 1894.
• He was the youngest of tailor Josef-Salomon Steinitz's thirteen sons by his first wife.
• In the Vienna 1873 chess tournament, Steinitz won his last 14 games in the main tournament plus the two play-off games, starting a 25-game winning streak in serious competition.
• The prize money for his 1866 match against Adolf Anderssen was £100 to the winner (Steinitz) and £20 for the loser (Anderssen), equivalent to about £57,500 in 2007's money.
• 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.