Wilhelm Steinitz ~ his perception of the royal game.

Wilhelm Steinitz (1836~1900)

The King is a fighting piece ~ use it!

   Wilhelm Steinitz was born in Prague and was the first undisputed world chess champion from 1886 to 1894. He has the unequalled record of being unbeaten in more than 25 years of match play; simplistically, this is his theory and how he perceived the royal game of chess. . .   

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The Theory of Steinitz

1. At the beginning of the game the forces stand in equilibrium.

2. Correct play on both sides maintains this equilibrium and leads to a drawn game.

3. Therefore a player can win only as a consequence of an error made by the opponent. (There is no such thing as a winning move.)

4. As long as the equilibrium is maintained, an attack, however skilful, cannot succeed against correct defence. Such a defence will eventually necessitate the withdrawal and regrouping of the attacking pieces and the attacker will then inevitably suffer disadvantage.

5. Therefore a player should not attack until he already has an advantage, caused by the opponent's error, that justifies the decision to attack.

6. At the beginning of the game a player should not at once seek to attack. Instead, a player should seek to disturb the equilibrium in his favour by inducing the opponent to make an error - a preliminary before attacking.

7. When a sufficient advantage has been obtained, a player must attack or the advantage will be dissipated."

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~m8ed