Master Class Band 19: Wilhelm Steinitz

by ChessBase
10/16/2025 – Wilhelm Steinitz, born in Prague in 1836, is regarded as the first official World Chess Champion after winning the historic 1886 match against Johannes Zukertort. He founded modern chess theory by replacing romantic, attacking chess with strategic and positional thinking, formulating numerous principles that still shape the game today. The Master Class, featuring four international experts, presents his most important openings, strategic ideas, endgames, and combinations through engaging video lessons.
In this video course experts examine the games of Steinitz. Let them show you which openings Steinitz chose, where his strength in middlegames were, how he outplayed his opponents in the endgame & you’ll get a glimpse of his tactical abilities!
Williams Steinitz, 1st World Chess Champion (1886-1894) The match between William Steinitz and Johannes Zukertort in 1886 was the first chess match for the ‘World Chess Championship’. Steinitz won, and has since been considered the first official world champion in chess history.
Free video sample: The Steinitzian method of restriction
Free video sample: Strategy Introduction

Master Class Band 19: Wilhelm Steinitz

by Dorian Rogozenco, Dr. Karsten Müller, Mihail Marin, Oliver Reeh

The match between William Steinitz and Johannes Zukertort in 1886 was the first chess match for the ‘World Chess Championship’. Steinitz won, and has since been considered the first official world champion in chess history.

Free video sample: The Steinitzian method of restriction

Free video sample: Strategy Introduction

In 1894, he lost the title in a match against Emanuel Lasker. William Steinitz, born in 1836 in the ghetto of Prague, then Austria, came to Vienna in 1858, and soon became one of the best chess players in the city. In 1862, he moved to the chess stronghold of London and made a name for himself by defeating the other top players of the world in competitions.

Steinitz is considered the founder of modern chess theory. He analysed master games, formulated rules and laid the foundations for the modern strategic-positional school of chess, which replaced the ‘romantic’ style, characterised by stormy attacks on the king. William Steinitz was not only a prolific player, but also a prolific writer.

He wrote a chess column in ‘The Field’ in London. After moving to the USA, he published the chess magazines ‘The International Chess Magazine’ and ‘The Modern Chess Instructor’. In opening theory, variations in the Spanish Game, the Scotch Game and the French Defence are named after Steinitz.

In this video course, experts including Dorian Rogozenco, Mihail Marin, Karsten Müller and Oliver Reeh, examine the games of William Steinitz. Let them show you which openings Steinitz chose to play, where his strength in middlegames were, or how he outplayed his opponents in the endgame. Finally, you’ll get a glimpse of his tactical abilities in the Tactics section.

Run time: 8 hours

In this video course experts examine the games of Steinitz. Let them show you which openings Steinitz chose, where his strength in middlegames were, how he outplayed his opponents in the endgame & you’ll get a glimpse of his tactical abilities!
Williams Steinitz, 1st World Chess Champion (1886-1894) The match between William Steinitz and Johannes Zukertort in 1886 was the first chess match for the ‘World Chess Championship’. Steinitz won, and has since been considered the first official world champion in chess history.
Free video sample: The Steinitzian method of restriction
Free video sample: Strategy Introduction

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Topics: ChessBase Training, Master Class Serie, Wilhelm Steinitz
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