Americans playing for the title: Wilhelm Steinitz
6/30/2018 – For the less historically enlightened, the first official American to become World Champion was the great Bobby Fischer, but the native New Yorker can only claim to be the second as the title of first goes to the father of modern strategy: Wilhelm Steinitz. Read on to find out more on the great champion with annotations by Garry Kasparov. | Photo: Steinitz vs Lasker, 1894, public domain via Wikimedia Commons
Master Class Vol.5: Emanuel Lasker
The name Emanuel Lasker will always be linked with his incredible 27 years reign on the throne of world chess. In 1894, at the age of 25, he had already won the world title from Wilhelm Steinitz and his record number of years on the throne did not end till 1921 when Lasker had to accept the superiority of Jose Raul Capablanca. But not only had the only German world champion so far seen off all challengers for many years, he had also won the greatest tournaments of his age, sometimes with an enormous lead. The fascinating question is, how did he manage that?
First steps
Steinitz was born on May 17, 1836, in the Jewish ghetto of Prague, the youngest of a tailor's thirteen sons to survive. Though he learned to play chess at age 12, he only began to take it seriously in his twenties, after leaving Prague in 1857 to study mathematics in Vienna, at the Vienna Polytechnic.
There he progressed swiftly, taking third in the 1859 Vienna City Championship, and two years later came in first in the 1961 Vienna City Championship with the spectacular score of 30.0/31. He was now acknowledged as the strongest player in Austra, and was sent as its representative to the 1862 London Chess Tournament. The winner was the number one player at the time, Adolf Anderssen, while he placed sixth, but he did earn the brilliancy prize with his victory over Augustus Mongredien.
Steinitz vs Mongredien (Annotations by Garry Kasparov)
The king of matches
Right after the tournament, he challenged Serafino Dubois, an Italian master who placed fifth, which Steinitz won 5½ : 3½. This started the greatest winning streak of matches in history, as rising star was to win every official match he played for the next 32 years, from 1862 until he relinquished his title in 1894 to Emanuel Lasker.
His claim to being the world’s best player would only come four years later when, in 1866, he played Adolf Anderssen in a match. Anderssen was widely considered the best active player (Morphy had already retired from play), having won both the 1851 and 1862 London International Tournaments. The stakes were enormous, with a prize money of 100 Pounds going to the winner, equivalent to $15 thousand today. It was a hard-fought match and after 12 games, the score was all tied up 6 : 6. Steinitz dug deep and won the last two games to finish with eight wins, six losses and no draws. As a result of this match victory, Steinitz inherited the mantle of world’s best player.
Father of chess strategy
Steinitz’s successes until 1872 had been with the attack-at-all-costs style that ruled the day, exemplified by Anderssen himself. However in 1873, at the Vienna International tournament, Steinitz unveiled his new concept of the “positional” style of play, which was to become the basis for modern chess.
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.
Paulsen vs Steinitz (Annotations by Garry Kasparov)
Steinitz visited the US from December 1882 to May 1883, where was received with enthusiasm, as he played exhibitions, casual games, and won three serious matches, two against Alexander Sellman, and another against the Cuban champion, Celso Golmayo Zupide.
Later that year, after placing second in the 1883 London Chess Tournament, Steinitz left England and moved to New York, where would live for the rest of his life. Steinitz had been trying very hard to organize a match with Johannes Zukertort, the one player of the day who could cast doubt on Steinitz’s supremacy, but with little success.
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". Though not yet officially an American citizen, Steinitz wanted the United States flag to be placed next to him during the match. He would officially become a US citizen on November 23, 1888, having resided for five years in New York.
Johannes Zukertort was a bitter rival of Wilhelm Steinitz in their day, and now faced him for the world title in 1886
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."
Master Class Vol.9: Paul Morphy
Learn about one of the greatest geniuses in the history of chess! Paul Morphy's career (1837-1884) lasted only a few years and yet he managed to defeat the best chess players of his time.
Around 1892, now 56 years old, Steinitz had been publicly speaking of retirement but changed his mind when he received a challenge by a relatively untested Emanuel Lasker, 32 years his junior. Initially, Laser had wanted to play for $5000 per side, but after finding it difficult to raise the sum, Steinitz agreed to play for just $2000 per side. Though widely viewed as a gesture of generosity, Steinitz, who ended his days in poverty due to an inability to manage his finances money, most likely badly needed the money.
The match was played in 1894, at venues in New York, Philadelphia and Montreal, Canada. The 32-year age difference between the combatants was the largest in the history of world championship play, and remains so today. Steinitz succumbed 7 : 12 to the brilliant Lasker. 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."
Indeed, 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. Wilhelm Steinitz passed away of a heart attack on August 12, 1900, in New York. He is buried in the Cemetery of Evergreen in Brooklyn, New York.
What’s in a title?
The topic of the world title is one that is heavily debated to this day. None can disagree that per the contract itself, at Steinitz’s insistence, the 1886 match against Zukertort had been declaredly for the title of World Champion. This was hardly the first time a player had been referred to as the best player, or champion of the world, but one in which the clear best player of his day would defend that status with the victor laying claim to the official title. That said, Steinitz had first become the best player in the world not in 1886, but in 1866, 20 years earlier, when he defeated the incumbent no.1, Adolf Anderssen.
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@eric b - I highly doubt it. A lot of folks looked like that in those days. :)
Hey guys, can someone help me look into something? In the first black and white photograph at the top of the article is that president Teddy Roosevelt in the upper right hand corner? This event took place at a time when Teddy Roosevelt might have looked like that and may have attended such an event. I don't know, any thoughts?
Steinitz was not the first American to become world chess champion. He was, however, the first world chess champion to become American.
@lajosarpad: I can appreciate your criticism of my use, as you see it, of an "argumentum ad hominen". To mitigate my comment I might direct your attention to the fact that Albert Silver began his article by specifically addressing [some] readers as "less historically enlightened". As he later makes clear, Silver either does not know that the first ever match for the World Championship of chess - officially, and designated as such - did not occur until 1886 ( after Morphy died) , not in 1866, or, he chose to override that fact with his very subjective opinion. If it's a case of the former, then he is, therefore, unenlightened. Also, I do not believe I stated that "being the de facto best is not equivalent to being the World Champion." I don't think I even implied it. It may be a reasonable view that Steinitz was the best player in the world between 1866 and 1886 ( i.e. "virtual" world champion), but it should be heavily qualified by recalling, for instance, that Anderssen came in 1st ahead of Steinitz in the Baden-Baden tournament of 1870, and that Zukertort came in ahead of Steinitz by three points at London 1883. Steinitz also played in no tournaments and only one match between 1873 and 1882, a less-than-heroic performance that Lasker later elevated to a fine art. Steinitz should get complimented and praised for the amount of world championships he did agree to play within his actual reign ... of the eight years between 1886 and 1894.
@WillScarlett there is rationale in what you say, but I am not a fan of how you say it. Your arguments can be taken seriously even if you do not use the argumentum ad hominem fallacy, calling Albert Silver less historically enlightened. I am saying this even though I agree with what you actually say, that is, Wilhelm Steinitz became World Champion in 1886, beating Johannes Zuckertort. Prior to that he was arguably the best player. To give a contemporary example, Magnus Carlsen has been number 1, with short breaks since 2010, but he was not World Champion until 2013, when he earned the title by beating the reigning World Champion. You are right in stating that being the de facto best is not equivalent to being the World Champion.
There is a typo in the article. A k is missing from the name of Lasker :)
There is a typo in the article. A k is missing from the name of Lasker :)
How many chess federations exist in 1886 ?
Thank you WillScarlett for your info and nice writing.
For the less historically enlightened, Albert Silver for example, the first OFFICIAL match for the chess World Championship occurred in 1886, and, yes, it was won by William Steinitz. Those who maintain, for reasons of their own, that Steinitz became the first world champion by virtue of beating Adolf Anderssen in a match in 1866 are incorrect. Just why , per their agenda, such people are moved to tack on an additional twenty years to Steinitz's reign is a subject for debate, although some can surmise the motivation. None of these people seem to recognize that their rationale could be applied to deeming Paul Morphy as the first World Champion. After all, Morphy beat Anderssen, "the incumbent no.1" in a December 1858 match. Why this doesn't count, but Steinitz's narrower victory does count seems, indeed is, representative of selective attention.
Hello, I am sorry for being so picky, especially because it is just annoying semantics, but Fischer is the first American to "become" official world champion. Fischer was an American first and then became official world champion, while Steinitz was official world champion first and then became an American. The semantics issue is the word "become". Yes, Steinitz is the first official American world champion, but not the first American to "become" one as he was Austrian at the time of "becoming" official world champion. Perhaps Steinitz had English citizenship as well? You will run into the same semantics issue with Alekhine. Did he become a French citizen before or after he became official world champion?
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