Wilhelm Steinitz


Steinitz, Wilhelm

 

Born May 14, 1836, in Prague; died Aug. 12, 1900, in New York. First world chess champion (1886–94). Chess theorist.

Steinitz studied at the Polytechnic Institute in Vienna. He lived in London from 1862 and 1883, afterward living in the United States. He was officially proclaimed world champion after winning a match with J. Zukertort (1886). In the 1880’s he developed his theory of positional play. His outstanding successes included victories against A. Anderssen (1866), M. I. Chigorin (1889, 1892), I. Gunsberg (1890–91), and E. S. Shiffers (1896) and his victories in the international tournaments at Vienna in 1873 and 1882 (together with S. Winawer) and New York in 1894. In 1894, Steinitz lost a world championship match to E. Lasker.

REFERENCES

Levidov, M. Iu. Steinits, Lasker. Moscow, 1936.
Neishtadt, Ia. I. Pervyi chempion mira. Moscow, 1971.