Wilhelm (later William) Steinitz (May 17, 1836, Prague–August 12, 1900, New York) was an Austrian-English-American chess player and the first official world chess champion. Known for his original contributions to chess strategy such as his ideas on positional play, Steinitz, along with Paul Morphy, is considered by many chess commentators to be the founder of modern chess.

Steinitz, who was Jewish, was born in Prague (today Czech Republic, then Austrian Empire), and learned to play chess at age 12. Leaving Prague to study mathematics in Vienna, he began playing serious chess in his twenties. Barely five feet in height, and handicapped by lameness (as a precursor to arthritis) and later by arthritis, Steinitz had a sharp tongue and violent temper.

In 1866, Steinitz won a match against Adolf Anderssen (8-6), establishing himself as the best active chess player in the world. A minority of historians date Steinitz as World Chess Champion from that date, but there is no evidence that he claimed the title for himself at the time. It has been suggested that Steinitz could not make such a claim while Paul Morphy was alive. (Morphy had defeated Anderssen by a far wider margin, 8-3, in 1858, but retired from chess soon after. Morphy died in 1884).

In 1886, Steinitz won a match against Johannes Zuckertort, 12.5-7.5. This is generally considered to be the first World Chess Championship.

Steinitz became a U.S. citizen on November 23, 1888, having resided for five years in New York, and changed his first name from Wilhelm to William.

Steinitz defended his title from 1889 to 1894, retaining it in matches against Mikhail Chigorin, Isidor Gunsberg and again against Chigorin. He lost the world title to Emmanuel Lasker in 1894, then also lost a rematch in 1896.

Some claim that he actually died of syphilis, so that may have been a cause of his mental breakdown. His chess activities had not yielded any great financial rewards, and he died a pauper in his adopted home city in 1900. Steinitz is buried in Cemetery of the Evergreens in Brooklyn, New York.

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." Steinitz's fate, and Lasker's keenness to avoid a similar situation of financial ruin, have been cited among the reasons Lasker fought so hard to keep the world championship title. <div style="clear: both"></div>

Steinitz began to play professional chess at the age of 26 in England. His play at this time was no different than that of his contemporaries: sharp, aggressive, and full of sacrificial play. In 1873 however, his play suddenly changed. He gave immense concern to what we now call the positional elements in chess: pawn structure, space, outposts for knights, etc. Slowly he perfected his new method of play that helped form him into the first Chess World Champion.

Steinitz adopted a scientific approach to his study of the game. He would formulate his theories in scientific terms and "laws".

What Steinitz gave to chess could be compared to what Newton gave to Physics: he made it a true science. By isolating a number of positional features on the board, Steinitz came to realize that all brilliant attacks resulted from a weakness in the opponent's defense. By studying and developing the ideas of these positional features, he perfected a new art of defense that sharply elevated the current level of play. Furthermore, he outlined the idea of an attack in chess formed off of what we now know as "Accumulation Theory", the slow addition of many small advantages.

Though it was not immediately evident, Steinitz had just given the chess world its greatest gift. Though tactics were, and still are, the most basic element to strong play, his new theory gave greater opportunity to both defend and use the brilliant combinations the era was renowned for.

When he fought for the first World Championship in 1886 against Johannes Zukertort, it became evident that Steinitz was playing on another level. Though he suffered a series of defeats at the beginning of the match, it becomes evident when watching the games who understood the game better (for example, in the third game he was strategically superior but failed to pull it together at the end). Over time however, Steinitz's level of play continued to improve and finished with a solid victory (+10 -5 =5).

Perhaps the evaluation of Steinitz's impact on chess can best be evaluated by a fellow master of strategy, Tigran Petrosian: "The significance of Steinitz's teaching is that he showed that in principle chess has a strictly defined, logical nature."

*Johannes Zukertort vs Wilhelm Steinitz, Ch World (9th game of the match) 1886, Queen's Gambit Declined: Vienna. Quiet Variation (D37), 0-1 A good demonstration of Steinitz' positional principles. Black exchanges his powerful centre for two weak "hanging Pawns" on White's side and creates a powerful pressure against them. *Wilhelm Steinitz vs Mikhail Chigorin, Havana WCH 1892 (4th game of the match), Spanish Game: General (C65), 1-0 A strategically prepared combinational attack. *Wilhelm Steinitz vs Curt von Bardeleben, Hastings 1895, Italian Game: Classical Variation. Greco Gambit Traditional Line (C54), 1-0 A great attacking combination. After the 22nd move of White, all White pieces hang, but Black is lost anyway.

*Steinitz expressed the opinion that the reason Jews do so well at chess is because of their patience, pure breeding, and good nature. *Steinitz is featured on a stamp.

* International Chess Magazine, 1885-91 ** A Literary Steinitz Gambit * The Modern Chess Instructor, 1889 ** Chapter VII, Relative Value of Pieces and Principles of Play

*World chess champions by Edward G. Winter, editor. 1981 ISBN 0-08-024094-1

* *Steinitz biography *Chesscorner bio *Jewish Encyclopedia bio *World Chess Championship Pre-FIDE Events - details of World Championship matches from Steinitz's era

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