Wilhelm Steinitz is the first world chess champion and the first chess king! Wilhelm Steinitz - the first chess king! Wilhelm Steinitz is the founder of the positional school.

Born in Prague on May 18, 1836 into a poor Jewish family, where he was the thirteenth and last child.

At least from the age of twelve he knew how to play chess. In 1858 he entered the Vienna Polytechnic Institute

in the mathematics department, but soon dropped out and devoted himself to chess. In 1958-1861 he was a regular visitor to the chess room in the Viennese cafe "Partridge", played for money, and took first place in the Viennese chess tournament in 1861.

In 1862 he settled in London, at that time one of the centers of chess creativity, participated in a number of tournaments, and led the life of a professional chess player.

Played with the best chess players of his time - Andersen, Blackburn, Bird, Vinaver, Zukertort and others. Studying the games of P. Morphy, he developed his own concept of chess play, called the positional style (the fastest development of pieces, capturing the center, creating and capturing open lines).

His ideas were presented in a systematic form by E. Lasker only in 1925. In a chess textbook, the great chess player argued that it was Steinitz who created the theory of struggle as such. Having won the Vienna tournament in 1873, and in 1876 beating Blackburn in London, Steinitz was considered the strongest chess player in the world in the late 1870s. In 1982, Steinitz won again at the Vienna tournament, sharing first place with Winaver, and then at the London tournament in 1883.

He worked for the sports newspaper “The Field”, but in 1882 he lost his post as a chess columnist and in 1883 he moved with his family to the USA, where he continued his career as a professional chess player - simultaneous games, blind games, matches with strong opponents in small towns. In 1885 he became editor of the International Chess Magazine, which was published until 1891.

In 1886 he won a match for the title of world champion of 10 games over I.G. Zukertort, in 1889 - over M.I. Chigorin in a match of 20 games, in 1892 - again over Chigorin in a rematch. In 1894, in a match with E. Lasker in the USA, Steinitz was defeated, losing the title of world champion. In 1895, Steinitz was invited to St. Petersburg for a tournament, where he was supposed to meet with Chigorin and Lasker. He took second place in the tournament, which gave him the right to qualify for a match with the world champion. In a match with Lasker in Moscow in 1896-1897, Steinitz lost again.

A few days after the end of the match, Steinitz suffered a nervous attack and was admitted to a psychiatric clinic. The doctors did not believe that he was Steinitz; in addition, the master, exhausted by the game, from time to time fell into a delirious state. After everything became clear, and more than a month had passed, he still managed to leave Russia for Vienna, and then to New York.

The decisive role was played by the chess player’s argument that, as a Jew, he should not violate the law on the Pale of Settlement and should leave Moscow as soon as possible. Despite his illness, Steinitz participated in tournaments in Vienna, Cologne, and London, however, upon returning to New York in 1899, he again fell into an acute nervous disorder - it seemed to him that an electric current was emanating from him, which was moving the pieces on the board. Steinitz died in the asylum for the mentally ill on Wards Island (New York, USA) on August 12, 1900.

Steinitz - author of the unfinished Modern textbook chess game (The modern chess instructor) (only the first volume of the planned multi-volume work saw the light of day). Z. Tarrasch, E. Lasker and many other so-called chess players considered themselves students of Steinitz. "new school"

Quotes from W. Steinitz:

1. I'm not a chess historian, I'm a piece myself chess history, which no one will pass by.

2. My first goal was not to win the game, but to sacrifice a piece.

Wilhelm Steinitz is the first official world chess champion. Unfortunately, not much information has been preserved about this unique person. It is known that V. Steinitz is an Austrian and American chess player. At the turn of the 1860-1870s, having already received recognition as the strongest player of his time after winning a match against Adolf Andersen, he developed the doctrine of positional play, which replaced the dominant “romantic” combination school and significantly enriched chess.

Steinitz was a writer, at the peak of his career he stopped playing tournaments for nine years to concentrate on his work as a journalist, and in 1885 he founded the International Chess Magazine. Steinitz published reviews of games and programmatic theoretical articles; his polemics with other publicists, which he conducted aggressively and peremptorily, themselves became an important event in the chess world.

The tournament and match results of Wilhelm Steinitz, by today's standards, are not very fantastic, but they deserve attention, I will list some of them:

Championship of the Vienna Chess Society (1861, 1st place), International Tournament (1865, 1st place), Handicap Tournament (1871/1872, 1st place), International Tournament (1872, 1st place), City Championship (1894 1st place), World Championship Match with I. Zukertort (1886, 1st place), World Championship Match with M. Chigorin (1889, 1st place), World Championship Match with I. Gunsberg (1890/1891 1st place), World Championship match with M. Chigorin (1892 1st place).

Separately, it is worth noting the game of the first world champion; a subtle positional understanding of the position was intertwined with spectacular combinational play, resulting in the birth of chess masterpieces. Let's look at one of them. Gampe – Steinitz game, Vienna 1859.

1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 2...Nf6 3.f4 d5 4.ed?!(if 4.fe N:e4 then black can fight to equalize the position). 4...K:d5 5.fe N:c3 6.bc Qh4+ 7.Kre2 Bg4+ (White is ready to return the pawn in order to seize the initiative, for example: 7...Qe4+ 8.Kрf2 Q:e5 9.Nf3 Qh5 10.d4) 8.Nf3 Nc6 9.d4 O-O-O 10.Bd2 This position is of historical interest (Diagram 1), as it was studied a century and a half ago.

In addition to the move in the game, White has a maneuver(10.Qe1 now the rook sacrifice suggests itself 10...R:d4 11.cd N:d4+ 12.Kрd3 Bf5+ 13.Kрc4 b5+ 14.Kрc3 Ne2+ 15.Kрb2 Qa4 with a win). 10...B:f3+ (tempting victim 10...K:e5 until it goes away, for example 11.de Bc5 12.Qe1 Bf2 13.Qc1 Rhe8 14.Bf4 Bc5 15.g3 Qh5 16.Bg2 g5 17.h3 B:f3+ 18.B:f3 Qg6)

It is unlikely that Wilhelm Steinitz fully calculated all the options; his intuition simply protected him from the wrong path. But still, Black had a more flexible move 10...f6!

11.gf N:e5 12.de Bc5 13.Qe1 Qc4+ 14.Kрd1 Q:c3 15.Rb1 Q:f3+ 16.Qe2 (White's pawns fall one after another, but their troubles do not end there. Now on 16.Be2 solved 16...R:d2+ 17.Kр:d2 Qe3+ 18.Kрd1 Rd8+ 19.Bd3 R:d3+ 20.cd Q:d3+ 21.Kрc1 Ba3+ 22.Rb2 Qb5 23.Qd2 Qc6+) 16...R:d2+ Of course, you can take the rook in the corner of the board, but Steinitz prefers a spectacular ending (Diagram 2).17.Kр:d2 Rd8+ 18.Kрc1 Ba3+ 19.Rb2 Qc3 20.Bh3+ Kрb8 21.Qb5 Qd2+ 22.Kрb1 Qd1+ 23.R:d1 R:d1x

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Years of life (1836-1900)

Championship years (1886-1894)

Studying the biographies and creative paths of champions, you involuntarily become imbued with respect and admiration for these gifted and strong personalities. But some of them cause a deep resonance in the soul and encourage us to change for the better, to do something very important and global for history... one of these personalities was the first world champion in the history of chess - Wilhelm Steinitz!

Wilhelm Steinitz was something of a revolutionary in the art of chess. It was during the time of his chess dominance that chess acquired scientific status, framing its romantic and combinational portrait within the framework of the strict theory of positional play, the founder of which was the Great Steinitz!

Creative path and achievements

Coming from the family of tailor Joseph-Solomon Steinitz, Wolf (his real name at birth) proved to the world that you don't have to have a genetic predisposition to chess to achieve success in this field.

Wilhelm Steinitz became familiar with the rules of chess at the age of 12. Chess greatly fascinated the talented young man and became his main hobby, but still, he began his professional path as a chess player a little later... after he was expelled from the Vienna Polytechnic Institute!

Like most of his contemporaries, at the beginning of his chess career, Steinitz preferred a combinational style of play, but having an inquisitive mind and living chess, the champion came to the conclusion that there is something more than the romance of combinational intricacies in the chess game. So he began to show interest in the patterns he observed in chess. This direction of his work resulted in a serious work, which is invaluable for world chess history and is the starting point for the status of chess as a science.

If we had to compare Wilhelm Steinitz's discoveries in chess with the discoveries of scientists in science, then he could be compared with Mendeleev, who created a table of elements that is invaluable for modern science!

Thanks to Steinitz, such basic concepts as position assessment and game plan appeared in chess. Special meaning Wilhelm Steinitz, gave the pawn structure and position assessment depending on its features. He studied this topic closely and often published his research in chess literature. Thus, one of the directions of his chess career was journalistic activity. Wilhelm was a passionate chess journalist, discussing in the press with the leading chess players of his time, among whom Jan Tarrasch occupied a special place. Such discussions led to various experiments for chessboard, which sometimes discouraged everyone chess world, but that didn’t stop the genius from remaining among the tournament leaders...

The closest followers of the new school of positional play were Paulsen and Emmanuel Lasker. Being a psychologist and philosopher, the latter saw a bright philosophical beginning in Wilhelm Steinitz!

But still, his main goal was the chess throne! At the age of fifty, Wilhelm Steinitz achieved his goal! Defeating his rival Zukertort (1886).

Steinitz's reaction to proposals for further matches for the championship title is admirable. This is how he rejected opponents who did not show consistent results in international tournaments and, on the contrary, accepted the challenges of those opponents with whom he had a bad record! Thus, Wilhelm Steinitz strived for the absolute championship!

Of course, in this article, you cannot describe all the features of this amazing personality, but I would just like to add that Wilhelm Steinitz, who began as a tactician and subsequently created the theory of positional play, became the owner of a new style and acquired the status of a pioneer, whose experience is highly valued by modern professionals, both for theory and for a basic understanding of chess to this day!

Wilhelm Steinitz (1836-1900) - Austrian and American chess player who became the first world champion. The author of a new doctrine for his time on positional play, which replaced the previously dominant ideas of the “romantic” school.

Wolf Steinitz (the chess player adopted the name Wilhelm later) was born on May 14, 1836 in Prague into a large Jewish family. Future champion was the last, thirteenth child. His father Joseph Solomon made a living by sewing clothes, but there was still absolutely not enough money. With the basics ancient game Wilhelm met at the age of 12 while watching his father play and immediately discovered his remarkable talent. At the same time, school teachers noted that the boy had good mathematical abilities.

One of the turning points in Steinitz's fate was his move to Vienna. In 1858, he came to the Austrian capital to study as a journalist. But instead he began to study mathematics at the Vienna Polytechnic School, studying to become an engineer. Due to a constant lack of funds, the young man began to visit the “Partridge” cafe, where local chess fans traditionally gathered. Bets on games were placed here, so Wilhelm was able to earn some money. At that time, such establishments were similar to modern sports clubs with their own rules and champions. The young 23-year-old Steinitz captivated all the cafe regulars with his ability to play blind. He soon dropped out of school and began working as a reporter.

Start of performances

Around the same time, Steinitz began to compete in competitions held under the auspices of the Vienna Chess Society. His successes were progressive: 1859 - 3rd place, 1860 - 2nd place and 1861 - 1st place. Soon he leaves for London, where he participates in the international London tournament, representing Austria, and takes 6th place there. For this, the chess player receives the title of maestro.

After this, he remains to live in Foggy Albion, where he holds a series of meetings against strong chess players - S. Dubois, D. Backburn, F. Deacon, V. Green and wins in all of them. Then Wilhelm consolidates his success with victories at tournaments in Dublin (1865) and London (1866). Already at this time, against the background of typical combinational play, notes of a strategic approach to the conduct of the game began to appear in Steinitz.

London stage

The first serious successes became the basis for Steinitz’s meeting with, who was recognized, after leaving chess, as the strongest player on the planet. In 1866, a match took place between them, which ended, if not convincingly, but with a victory for the Austrian (+8-6). After this, old acquaintances G. Bird (1866) and D. Blackburn (1870) were defeated. This made it possible to recognize Steinitz as the most powerful chess player in the British Empire.

But he had no luck at tournaments for a long time: Paris (1867) - 3rd place, Dundee (1867) and Baden-Baden (1870) - 2nd place. Only in 1871-1872 did he excel at tournaments in London, and then defeat his future rival in the championship match, I. Zukertort. In 1873, Steinitz shared 1-2 places in the Vienna tournament, after which he won a micro-match against Blackburn.

In the same year, Steinitz became actively involved in journalism and began leading the chess department of the sports publication Field. He saw his mission in promoting his own method of playing the game and searching for fundamental laws in chess. For the next three years, this work would become his main one and he had to forget about participating in competitions for now.

The resumption of his chess career took place in 1876, when a match took place against Blackburn. The London match demonstrated the unprecedented power of Steinitz's play, who forced his, by no means weak, opponent to capitulate 7 times in a row. Any doubts that anyone had about who the No. 1 player in the world was were completely eliminated. Apparently, Steinitz himself adhered to the same opinion, again leaving chess for six long years.

American stage

In 1882, Wilhelm was fired from the editorial office, and this marked the end of the twenty-year London stage of his life. He was left without work and livelihood. At this time, he received an offer from overseas and soon the chess player and his family moved to the USA. Steinitz was 46 years old and his famous beard was already half gray. Wilhelm was overcome by lameness, so he walked with a crutch, but his figure did not lose its decisive posture.

Having settled in New York, Steinitz again withdrew from competitive practice, concentrating on publishing. He published the International Chess Magazine, while simultaneously developing the theory of positional play.

In 1884, a personal meeting between Steinitz and Morphy took place here, under the terms of which they agreed not to communicate on chess topics. True, they were unable to really talk about anything else, and after half an hour spent in painful silence, the chess players parted. A few months later, Morphy passed away.

Championship match

In January 1886, the first chess match in the history of the planet for the title of world champion began on Fifth Avenue in New York. This fight became possible only after the death of Morphy, since Steinitz considered it blasphemous to play for the world crown while the great American was alive. Wilhelm decided to challenge the German Johann Zukertort to a duel, to whom he lost at a tournament in London in 1883. Moreover, it was he who took Steinitz’s place on the editorial board.

The preparatory stage for the match took two years. The negotiations were difficult, since the German believed that he did not need to prove anything to anyone - he was already the strongest. Steinitz, on the contrary, considered it necessary to justify his strength in the game and dreamed of proving to the inveterate tactician Zukertort the correctness of the developed positional method.

According to the rules of the meeting, the match was supposed to start in New York and be played there until 4 victories of one of the players, then according to the same scheme in St. Louis until 3 victories. The confrontation ended in New Orleans, the small homeland of P. Morphy. The games were played with a time control of 120 minutes for 30 moves, and after the break another 60 minutes for 15 moves. The first one to win 10 victories was declared the champion. With a possible outcome of 9:9, the match must be interrupted without identifying a winner. Moreover, each chess player paid a fee of 2 thousand dollars.

In the New York part of the meeting, despite winning the first game, Steinitz lost, forcing his opponent to think about his superiority. However, in St. Louis, Wilhelm transformed and won three victories, evening the score in the duel. In New Orleans, Zukertort finally broke down and managed to get only one victory. As a result, Steinitz won 10 victories and defeated his opponent with a total score of 12.5:7.5.

Subsequently, he would successfully defend his title three times. Wilhelm twice prevented Mikhail Chigorin from taking away the championship title (both fights took place in Havana in 1889 and 1892) and once to I. Gunsberg (New York, 1891). However, in 1894 he lost the championship (+5-10=4).

After the championship

A loss chess crown did not discourage interest in performing and Steinitz continued to take an active part in competitions. His collection includes victory at a tournament in New York (1895), 2nd place in St. Petersburg (1896), as well as more modest results of the fight in Nuremberg (1896) - 6th place, Cologne (1898) - 5th e place, London (1899) - 10/11 places. Between tournaments, he managed to play a rematch against Lasker (Moscow, 1897), in which he was completely defeated (+2-10).

Chess achievements

Wilhelm Steinitz is the first official world champion in history, who laid the foundations of modern chess. The positional theory he created was set out in the author’s works “The Modern School and Its Traditions”, as well as “Morphy and chess game of his time." He carried out an in-depth analysis of many games of his contemporaries and predecessors and came to the conclusion that the success of combination attacks was brought about by imperfect defense. Instead of constantly searching for tactical moves, Steinitz proposed using a position assessment strategy.

The main postulate of his concept was the theory of equilibrium, which stated that with error-free play in a game, one equilibrium follows another. It is violated by the incorrect actions of the player, who through his mistakes gives the initiative to the enemy. He must certainly develop it, otherwise the advantage will go to his opponent. In turn, defense should be based on the principle of economy of force - when performing defensive actions, you need to make only those concessions that are really necessary, while certainly avoiding weakening the pawn position. As a result, the maestro came to the conclusion that the logic of a chess player’s actions is determined by the characteristics of the position.

The name Steinitz is a variant of the defense in Spanish party, French Defense, position in the Vienna game and the Queen's Gambit. Despite the fact that many positions today are evaluated differently than Steinitz did, the key tenets of his theory continue to underlie modern chess strategy.

Difficult person

The first champion was stubborn, very honest and obsessed with the game, like many people of this type of character, very difficult to communicate with. He loved to engage in moralizing and absolutely did not tolerate objections.

The difficult life of a chess professional had a detrimental effect on Steinitz's health. He began to suffer from increased nervous excitability, for which he was treated by taking cold baths. At first it bore fruit, but then the disease began to progress and it became more and more difficult to cope with it. In 1897, after meeting Lasker, he suffered a severe seizure and was taken to one of the Moscow hospitals. This was followed by a short-term improvement, but after returning to New York his condition noticeably worsened and began to be accompanied by delusional ideas. He could wander the streets for hours and, waving his cane, talk to mythical interlocutors. As a result, at the insistence of those around him, Steinitz was placed in mental asylum, where he died from heart attack August 12, 1900.

• On the eve of his death, Wilhelm stated that an electric current passes through him, which controls the chess pieces.
• Having moved to New York, Steinitz specifically chose a walking route past the house where the legendary man lived in order to accidentally see him.
• It was Steinitz who insisted that the winner of his match with Zukertort be officially declared world champion.
• In the course of in-depth analysis, Steinitz developed some postulates of chess that continue to be relevant to this day. For example, a player with an advantage must definitely go on the attack, otherwise he may lose his existing initiative.
• While living in London, lacking money, Steinitz earned money by playing at the Gambit cafe. There he got regular customer, who dreamed of winning at least a game against the maestro. One day Steinitz was advised to give in on purpose so that the fan would not be disappointed in himself, and the great chess player agreed. In one of the games, he deliberately substituted the queen and admitted himself as a loser. The lucky guy, overjoyed and saying, “I defeated the champion,” jumped out of the cafe... and never returned there.

Video

A fragment of the film “Thirteen Champions” (1993), about the first world champion Wilhelm Steinitz.

Best games

The selection includes Steinitz's best games played between 1862 and 1899.

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