Wilhelm Steinitz

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The First World Chess Champion
Wilhelm Steinitz was the first official World Champion of chess. He was an Austrian master and the first official world champion. He held the title from 1886 to 1894, after dominating the chess scene for decades before. From 1862 to 1894 he was undefeated in match play. This is quite an amazing record. As a younger man, Steinitz played attacking style chess that was common in the 1860s. Later, he developed a positional style of play and demonstrated that it was superior to the previous style. Not everybody loved his new style. Some even branded it as ‘cowardly’. Jose Raul Capablanca had a different view. This is what he said about Steinitz: Steinitz was the first to establish the basic principles of general chess strategy. He was a pioneer and one of the most profound researchers into the truth of the game, which was hidden from his contemporaries. Garry Kasparov gave him perhaps one of the greatest compliments. This is what Gary said: it was from Steinitz that the era of modern chess began. The contribution of the first world champion to its development is comparable with the great scientific discoveries of the 19th century.

Strangling Like Anaconda | The Art Of Positional Chess | Englisch vs Steinitz: London 1883

A lesson In The Italian Opening | Wilhelm Steinitz vs Bartholomeus J M Markx: Leiden 1896

Learn from the old masters | Steinitz vs Chizh: Moscow 1896

Chigorin played the Chigorin defence | Steinitz - Chigorin World Championship Match 1889, round 10

The greatest blunder of the match | Mikhail Chigorin vs Wilhelm Steinitz: Havana 1889

Epic and historic | Wilhelm Steinitz vs Mikhail Chigorin | Steinitz Chigorin WCCM 1889

Wilhelm Steinitz vs Mikhail Chigorin | Steinitz - Chigorin World Championship Match 1889, round 4

The bishop's gambit thriller | Vicente M de Carvajal vs Wilhelm Steinitz: Havana 1889

A weird killer move | Wilhelm Steinitz vs Celso G Zupide: Havana 1888

Steinitz entertained his fans in Cuba | Wilhelm Steinitz vs Vicente M de Carvajal: Havana 1889

Queen's pawn, Mason variation, Steinitz Countergambit | Epic and historic | Mason vs Steinitz 1883

Amazing chess traps | Wilhelm Steinitz vs Emlen H Miller Philadelphia, USA 1883

Bishops are more powerful than rooks | Steinitz vs Cairns: Dublin Ireland 1880

The dutch defence beauty | Josef Heral vs Wilhelm Steinitz: Vienna 1873

What happened when Steinitz met Fisher | Fisher vs Steinitz GBR 1872

More cunning than Cunningham | James Cunningham Fraser vs Wilhelm Steinitz: Dundee Congress 1867

An epic and historical game | Wilhelm Steinitz vs Simon Winawer Paris 1867

A man ahead of his time | King's Indian Attack | Wilhelm Steinitz vs Joseph Henry Blackburne

The monster knights on board | Wilhelm Steinitz vs John Henry Walsh London 1870

King's gambit reversed strategy | Wilhelm Steinitz vs Sam Loyd: Paris 1867

A clash of styles | Adolf Anderssen vs Wilhelm Steinitz | Anderssen-Steinitz London 1866, Round 3

Wilhelm Steinitz vs Adolf Anderssen | Anderssen vs Steinitz 1866, London ENG, round 2

An Unofficial World Chess Championship Match | Anderssen - Steinitz Match 1866 R1

An epic and historic chess match | Steinitz vs Anderssen: R10 London 1866

The Steinitz magic | Wilhelm Steinitz vs Valentine Green London 1866

The immortal chess variant | The game that impressed Bobby Fischer | Smashing the rock with one hand

Chess entertainment | Steinitz lost his queen to NN | Wilhelm Steinitz vs NN Unknown 1860

Total chaos on the chess board | Wilhelm Steinitz vs William J Wilson London 1862

Learning from the Old Masters | Wilhelm Steinitz vs Reiner Vienna 1860

The King Hunt by Steinitz | Wilhelm Steinitz vs Lang Vienna 1860

A player who ended the romantic era | Wilhelm Steinitz vs Henry Edward Bird London 1866

Chess History: Steinitz - Zukertort, 1886

Steinitz vs Mongredien - London 1863

The King Hunt: Reiner v Steinitz - Vienna1860

French Defence: Valentine Green vs Wilhelm Steinitz

Chess Handicap: Wilhelm Steinitz vs Rock

Evans Gambit: Wilhelm Steinitz vs Ed Pilhal

Vienna Game: Wilhelm Steinitz vs NN

The Battle of Hastings | Wilhelm Steinitz vs Curt von Bardeleben

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Wilhelm Steinitz