Wilhelm Steinitz - The First World Chess Champion!

Fame I have already. Now I need the money.

- Wilhelm Steinitz 

Chess is a competitive game. We had world champions in the past, the people who are the best at the game, such as Tal, a wizard at tactics or Karpov, who is a calculator in endgames. But in the late 1800's, it is unclear who was the best at chess, until Wilhelm Steniz came to the scene.

Today we will take a look at Wilhelm Steniz, the first world chess champion, who was "brilliant" in chess tournaments, destroyed people in matches, "fought" against writers in the "Ink War", and introduced positional chess that would pave the way to mordent chess. Enjoy!

Chess Career (Pre-World Champion)

Chess is so inspiring that I do not believe a good player can be capable of having an evil thought during the game.

— Wilhelm Steinitz 

In May 14, 1839, Wilhelm Steinitz was born at Prague, Kingdom of Bohemia at the time. At 12 years old, he began to play chess, but never played competitively until his 20s.                         

He moved to study Math at the Vienna Polytechnic, and after two years, he went to London to play a tournament, representing Austria. Even though he only won sixth place, he won the tournament's brilliancy award after his win against Augustus Mengerian. 

Shortly after the tournament, he won a match against Italian Master, Serafino Dubois, which inspired him to play competitive chess. He moved to London, and studied chess while also winning against top players of the UK including Joseph Henry Blackburn.

Steinitz then was considered one of the top chess players in the world, so he challenged Adolf Andersen, the best player of his time. It was a hard match, 6-6 at the 12th game, but Steinitz won 8 - 6, and became the first world champion. 

Chess Career as World Champion

Chess is difficult, it demands work, serious reflection and zealous research.

—Wilhelm Steinitz

After Steinitz became world champion, he took a long break from tournaments, in 1873, and became a journalist. He wrote about chess in different newsletters, with the most famous one being the Field. This job was not peaceful though. He caused a fiery  debate between Johannes Zukertort, a writer of chess monthly, when he criticized Leipold Hoffer's annotating of the 1881 Belin Congress. The rivalry goes on, creating the "Ink War".

Left to Right, The Field, International Chess Magazine, A book about Steinitz's Games

Steinitz ended his break in 1882, when he competed in the Vienna 1882 chess tournament, and the London 1883, both were strong tournaments, and took 1st and 2nd place in the tournaments. He also went to the US to play matches and eventually moved to New York City. The "Ink War" still went on as American writers keep publishing works against Steinitz. This did not stop Steinitz however and founded the International Chess Magazine in 1885. 

Correction, Lasker won 12 - 7, making Steinitz 7 - 12

Many people want to challenge Steinitz's title, as he played a match against his enemy in the "Ink War", Zukertort, which was labeled, "Championship of the World", which Steinitz won, 12 - 7. Steinitz continues to win matches against strong players looking to take his title, such as Mikhail Chigorin and Isidor Gunsberg. But no one can beat Steinitz until 1894, when Emanuel Lasker won 12 - 7, defeating Steinitz and winning the title, of world champion. 

Afterward 

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.

— Players from the Hasting 1895 Tournament 

Steinitz continues to play tournaments, playing at New York City, Hasting England, Saint Petersburg Russia, and Nuremberg Germany, and while he still won at the top ten, his playing level starts to decline. He played against Lasker again on 1896 - 1897, but Steinitz lost 4 - 12. After the match, he went though a Mental Breakdown, and had to spend 40 days in a Moscow sanatorium. 

Slowly, his mental heath declined, and he spent his last months in institutions, as people speculated that he have syphilis. On August 12, 1900, he died of a heart attack (Age 64) and was buried in Brooklyn New York. Aside from chess, he married Caroline Golder at the 1860s, and after she died, Steinitz married again some years later, having two children.

During his life, Steinitz made an impact on chess. He introduced positional chess, write about chess, and always bring exciting games to the world. During this time, chess players usually don't make as close as much money as chess players have today, so his money was based on his writing. Some may say that Paul Morphy was better then Steinitz at chess, but it is clear that Steinitz impact chess, for the better... 

Random Facts

We seen a summary of his life, but there is a few important things about him that were not mentioned, so enjoy this part of Random Facts.

Steinitz plays different openings such as the French Defense, the Vienna Game, the Ruy Lopez, and most exciting of all, the Evan's Gambit. Some variations are named after him, such as the Ruy Lopez Old Steinitz Defense, or the French Defense Steinitz Attack