1STWorld chess champion

Wilhelm Steinitz

Wilhelm Steinitz was world champion 1886–1894, for 8 years. He won the first official world championship match, in 1886, beating Johannes Zukertort 12½–7½.

Born: 14 May 1836 · Prague, Bohemia, Austrian Empire
Died: 12 August 1900 · Manhattan State Hospital, Ward's Island, New York City
Learned chess: learned in Prague at age 12
Profiles: FIDE World Chess Museum Wikipedia Chessmetrics

8 years
World champion: 4 of 6
Title events won or kept: 2826
Peak (Chessmetrics), Apr 1876: 2981
On today's scale: 1st of 18

Every title event

Year	Opponent	Score	Result	Games	Where
1886	Johannes Zukertort	12½–7½	Won	+10 −5 =5	New York City (1–5), St. Louis (6–9), New Orleans (10–20)
1889	Mikhail Chigorin	10½–6½	Won	+10 −6 =1	Havana
1890–1891	Isidor Gunsberg	10½–8½	Won	+6 −4 =9	New York City
1892	Mikhail Chigorin	10–10 / 2½–½	Won	+10 −8 =5incl. play-off	Havana
1894	Emanuel Lasker	12–7	Lost	+5 −10 =4	New York City (1–8), Philadelphia (9–11), Montréal (12–19)
1896–1897	Emanuel Lasker	12½–4½	Lost	+2 −10 =5	Moscow

Across 6 title matches, Steinitz won 43 games, lost 43 and drew 29: a score of 50% of the points against the best player of his day.

Scores are listed winner first; a dash means the match wasn't played or was a tournament. Games are won, lost and drawn (+ − =) from Steinitz's side, counted from chessgames.com and shown only where they add up to the official score. Source: Wikipedia, List of World Chess Championships.

Impact at home: Austria and United States

HonoursBecame an American citizen in 1888 after residing in New York and legally adopted William as his first name source
PoliticsInsisted on having the American flag displayed beside him during the 1886 World Championship match before his naturalization source
InstitutionsFounded the International Chess Magazine in New York in 1885 and edited it until 1895 source
InstitutionsWorked with the American Chess Congress in 1888–89 on rules for future world championships source
PlayersBecame the strongest player in Austria source

Rivalries

Steinitz v LaskerTitle events 1894, 1896

8 wins12 draws · 46 games26 wins

How strong was Steinitz?

Wilhelm Steinitz's best years came before FIDE's first rating list (July 1971). On Chessmetrics, Jeff Sonas's historical rating system, he peaked at 2826 in Apr 1876.

That month the best other player was Henry Bird, at 2627: Steinitz was 199 points clear. The top 10 averaged 2621; on today's scale (FIDE's Nov 2026 top 10 average 2777) his peak is about 2981, 1st of the 18 champions. Few people played chess professionally then, so the gap to the rest was naturally wider. How this is worked out.

Chessmetrics also ranks him 15th of all time on three-year average (2794, 1884-Jan to 1886-Dec). Source.

The road to the title

1866
Match against Adolf Anderssen^[1]
Won the match
Anderssen had been recognised as the world's top player until then
1872
First Match against Johannes Zukertort^[1]
7 wins, 4 draws, 1 loss
Zukertort had beaten Anderssen heavily in 1871
1873
Vienna 1873 International Tournament^[1]
Finished ahead of Anderssen
The first tournament in which he did
1876
Match against Joseph Henry Blackburne^[1]
Won 7–0
His only match in a period when he played no tournaments
1882
Vienna 1882 International Tournament^[1]
Equal first with Winawer; drew the play-off
Ahead of Mason, Zukertort, Blackburne, Chigorin and others
1886
Contract for the 1886 match^[1]
Called a match "for the championship of the world"
At Steinitz's insistence
1886-03-29
World Chess Championship 1886 vs. Johannes Zukertort^[1]
Won 12½–7½ (10 wins, 5 draws, 5 losses)
The first official world champion

What Steinitz changed about chess

strategyGave priority to what are now called the positional elements: pawn structure, space, outposts for knights, the two bishops.^[1]
otherThe next generation of top players acknowledged their debt to him, most notably Lasker.^[1]
organisationHe insisted that the 1886 match contract call it a match "for the championship of the world".^[1]
strategyIn 1873 he unveiled a new positional style of play that became the basis of modern chess.^[1]

Achievements

1886-03-29First official World Chess Champion (1886–1894)^[1]
1894Unbeaten in match play for 32 years (1862–1894)^[1]
1889The Modern Chess Instructor (1889)^[1]
1895First brilliancy prize at Hastings 1895, for his win over von Bardeleben^[1]
1888–1889Worked with the American Chess Congress (1888–89) on rules for future world championships^[1]

Famous games

Wilhelm Steinitz v Curt von Bardeleben, Hastings 1895 · 1–0^[1]
After White's 22nd move every white piece is en prise, yet Black is lost; it won the tournament's first brilliancy prize.
Curt von Bardeleben
Wilhelm Steinitz
Start position
1. 1.
2. 2.
3. 3.
4. 4.
5. 5.
6. 6.
7. 7.
8. 8.
9. 9.
10. 10.
11. 11.
12. 12.
13. 13.
14. 14.
15. 15.
16. 16.
17. 17.
18. 18.
19. 19.
20. 20.
21. 21.
22. 22.
23. 23.
24. 24.
25. 25.
26. 1–0
Arrow keys step through the moves; click any move to jump to it. Pieces by Colin M. L. Burnett (BSD licence).
Game score: en.wikipedia.org
Johannes Zukertort v Wilhelm Steinitz, World Chess Championship 1886, game 9 1886 · 0–1^[1]
Steinitz gave up his strong centre to leave White with two weak hanging pawns, and pressed them.
Wilhelm Steinitz
Johannes Zukertort
Start position
1. 1.
2. 2.
3. 3.
4. 4.
5. 5.
6. 6.
7. 7.
8. 8.
9. 9.
10. 10.
11. 11.
12. 12.
13. 13.
14. 14.
15. 15.
16. 16.
17. 17.
18. 18.
19. 19.
20. 20.
21. 21.
22. 22.
23. 23.
24. 24.
25. 25.
26. 26.
27. 27.
28. 28.
29. 29.
30. 30.
31. 31.
32. 32.
33. 33.
34. 34.
35. 35.
36. 36.
37. 37.
38. 38.
39. 0–1
Arrow keys step through the moves; click any move to jump to it. Pieces by Colin M. L. Burnett (BSD licence).
Game score: chessgames.com
Wilhelm Steinitz v Mikhail Chigorin, World Chess Championship 1892 1892 · 1–0^[1]
Steinitz weakened Chigorin's pawns, gained mobility, then forced a promotion with a small combination.
Play through the game

In his words

"some of the games which I saw Paulsen play during the London congress of 1862 gave a still stronger start to the modification of my own opinions, which has since developed, and I began to recognize that chess genius is not confined to the more or less deep and brilliant finishing strokes after the original balance of power and position has been overthrown, but that it also requires the exercise of still more extraordinary powers, though perhaps of a different kind to maintain that balance or respectively to disturb it at the proper time in one's own favor."^[1]

"I know I am not fit to be the champion, and I am not likely to bear that title for ever"^[1]

"after having carefully considered the subject in all its bearings, I have come to the conclusion that I neither mean to die yet nor to lose the match."^[1]

Quick answers

When was Wilhelm Steinitz world chess champion?

1886–1894: 8 years. He won the first official world championship match, in 1886, beating Johannes Zukertort 12½–7½.

Sources

[1] en.wikipedia.org: "Adolf Anderssen was recognized as the world's top player until 1866, when Steinitz won a match against him."