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Steinitz 
 
Wilhelm Steinitz
Number of games in database: 746
Years covered: 1859 to 1899
Overall record: +415 -175 =120 (66.9%)*
   * Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games
      Based on games in the database; may be incomplete.
      36 exhibition games, odds games, etc. are excluded from this statistic.

MOST PLAYED OPENINGS
With the White pieces:
 French Defense (67) 
    C00 C11 C01 C13 C10
 Vienna Opening (63) 
    C25 C29 C26
 French (43) 
    C00 C11 C13 C10 C12
 King's Gambit Accepted (41) 
    C39 C37 C38 C33 C34
 King's Gambit Declined (25) 
    C30 C31
 Ruy Lopez (22) 
    C65 C67 C77 C60
With the Black pieces:
 Ruy Lopez (99) 
    C62 C60 C64 C70 C65
 Evans Gambit (60) 
    C52 C51
 Giuoco Piano (31) 
    C50 C53 C54
 King's Gambit Accepted (19) 
    C33 C39 C38 C34
 Scotch Game (16) 
    C45
 Three Knights (14) 
    C46
Repertoire Explorer

NOTABLE GAMES: [what is this?]
   Steinitz vs Von Bardeleben, 1895 1-0
   Steinitz vs Chigorin, 1892 1-0
   Zukertort vs Steinitz, 1886 0-1
   Steinitz vs Paulsen, 1870 1-0
   Dubois vs Steinitz, 1862 0-1
   Steinitz vs Rock, 1863 1-0
   M Hewitt vs Steinitz, 1866 0-1
   Steinitz vs Mongredien, 1862 1-0
   Steinitz vs Mongredien, 1863 1-0
   Steinitz vs Bird, 1866 1-0

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: [what is this?]
   Steinitz-Zukertort World Championship Match (1886)
   Steinitz-Chigorin World Championship Match (1889)
   Steinitz-Gunsberg World Championship Match (1890)
   Steinitz-Chigorin World Championship Rematch (1892)
   Lasker-Steinitz World Championship (1894)
   Lasker-Steinitz World Championship Rematch (1896)

GAME COLLECTIONS: [what is this?]
   Match Steinitz! by amadeus
   The Dark Side by lonchaney
   Best of Steinitz by Olanovich
   World championship games A-Z by kevin86
   WM Highlights by Olanovich
   the rivals 1 by ughaibu
   Vienna 1898 by suenteus po 147
   William Steinitz's Best Games by KingG
   Vienna 1882 by suenteus po 147
   fav Lasker & Steinitz games by guoduke
   London 1883 by suenteus po 147
   Vienna 1873 by suenteus po 147
   Steintz's 25 wins in a row by offramp
   WCC Index [Steinitz-Chigorin 1892] by suenteus po 147

GAMES ANNOTATED BY STEINITZ: [what is this?]
   Showalter vs Gossip, 1889
   J McConnell vs Steinitz, 1886
   Burn vs N MacLeod, 1889
   Blackburne vs Showalter, 1889
   Bird vs Gossip, 1889
   >> 130 GAMES ANNOTATED BY STEINITZ

Search Sacrifice Explorer for Wilhelm Steinitz
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WILHELM STEINITZ
(born May-14-1836, died Aug-12-1900) Austria (citizen of United States of America)

[what is this?]
Wilhelm Steinitz, born in Prague on May 14, 1836, was the first official World Champion of chess. He was recognized as the world's leading player after he defeated Adolf Anderssen in a match in 1866, but it was not until his defeat of Johannes Zukertort twenty years later that he was recognized as the first undisputed world chess champion.

Although Steinitz became world champion by winning in the attacking style championed by Paul Morphy and others, he unveiled in 1873 a new positional style of play. This new style was controversial and some even branded it as "cowardly", but many of Steinitz's games showed that it could also provide a platform for attacks as ferocious as those of the old school. By the early 1890s Steinitz's approach was widely accepted and the next generation of top players acknowledged their debt to him, most notably his successor as world champion, Emanuel Lasker.

As champion, Steinitz contributed a lot to positional theory and other elements of chess strategy. He defended his title twice against Mikhail Chigorin and once against Isidor Gunsberg, but in 1894 he lost it to Emanuel Lasker. He then lost the rematch, and died just a few years later in New York City.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhel...


 page 1 of 30; games 1-25 of 746  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves Year Event/LocaleOpening
1. Hamppe vs Steinitz 0-123 1859 ViennaC29 Vienna Gambit
2. Steinitz vs Lenhof  1-032 1859 Vienna (Austria)C52 Evans Gambit
3. Steinitz vs Meitner 1-034 1859 ViennaC52 Evans Gambit
4. Lenhof vs Steinitz 0-145 1859 ViennaC23 Bishop's Opening
5. E Pilhal vs Steinitz 0-121 1859 ViennaC53 Giuoco Piano
6. Hamppe vs Steinitz 0-128 1859 ViennaC38 King's Gambit Accepted
7. Steinitz vs Lang 1-023 1860 Vienna m2C44 King's Pawn Game
8. Reiner vs Steinitz 0-118 1860 Vienna (Austria)C44 King's Pawn Game
9. Hamppe vs Steinitz 0-131 1860 ViennaC25 Vienna
10. Steinitz vs NN 1-012 1860 UnknownC25 Vienna
11. Steinitz vs E Jeney 0-132 1860 Vienna m1A13 English
12. Steinitz vs Lang 1-019 1860 ViennaC37 King's Gambit Accepted
13. Steinitz vs H Nowotny 1-031 1860 UnknownC55 Two Knights Defense
14. Steinitz vs Reiner 1-032 1860 Vienna m4C51 Evans Gambit
15. Steinitz vs Strauss 1-029 1860 Vienna (Austria)C52 Evans Gambit
16. Steinitz vs E Jeney 1-033 1860 Vienna m1D32 Queen's Gambit Declined, Tarrasch
17. Strauss vs Steinitz 0-131 1860 Vienna m3C51 Evans Gambit
18. Steinitz vs Reiner 1-019 1860 Vienna (Austria)C51 Evans Gambit
19. E Jeney vs Steinitz 0-135 1860 Vienna m1C44 King's Pawn Game
20. Steinitz vs Strauss 1-033 1860 Vienna m3C29 Vienna Gambit
21. Steinitz vs Lang 1-029 1860 ViennaC25 Vienna
22. Steinitz vs Meitner 1-026 1860 Vienna (Austria)C55 Two Knights Defense
23. E Jeney vs Steinitz 1-022 1860 Vienna m1C53 Giuoco Piano
24. Steinitz vs NN 1-031 1861 London 5C30 King's Gambit Declined
25. Steinitz vs NN 1-015 1861 Casual Game000 Chess variants
 page 1 of 30; games 1-25 of 746  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | Steinitz wins | Steinitz loses  
 

Hardinge Simpole Publishing

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 31 OF 31 ·  Later Kibitzing >
Feb-01-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  whiteshark: Quote of the Day

<Chess is a scientific game and its literature ought to be placed on the basis of the strictest truthfulness, which is the foundation of all scientific research.>

-- Steinitz

What is a 'scientific game'?

Mar-04-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  whiteshark: Quote of the Day

"He always sought completely original lines and didn't mind getting into cramped quarters if he thought that his position was essentially sound."

-- Bobby Fischer (<on Steinitz>)

(from Kelly Atkins)
http://www.gmchess.com/

Apr-04-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  jackpawn: I'm going to open a can of worms here, but in my opinion if Morphy didn't retire prematurely Steinitz would be a relatively minor footnote today. Morphy would have been the best player in the world until the arrival of Lasker.
Apr-05-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  Open Defence: I think Steinitz' closed game would have been the perfect foil for Morphy's attacks..it would have been a good contest
Apr-21-09   Fanacas: Steinitz would have never been a minor footnoot maybe morphy whould have beaten him but steintiz is the father of mordern chess unlike morphy he took is idea's of postitinal chess and taught it to the world and showed it was the best way to play.
Apr-21-09   WhiteRook48: Steinitz despised the fianchetto
Apr-22-09   Fanacas: Sorry what i called modern is called clasical now but steinitz himself lasker tarrasch could it modern in his time. (i didnt mean the hypermodern movment or chess.)
May-14-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  talisman: happy birthday william!
what does william steinitz, doestoevsky, and don mossi have in common?
May-21-09   Fanacas: No idea what do they have in common ?
May-29-09   Fanacas: Anyone ever plays his variatoin of the vienn athe steinitz gambit where th eking goes to e2 ?
May-29-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  talisman: <Fanacas> Looks!
May-29-09   Fanacas: Steinitz vs Paulsen, 1870 like here
Jul-30-09   theagenbiteofinwit: <my opinion if Morphy didn't retire prematurely Steinitz would be a relatively minor footnote today.>

Probably not. Nimzowitsch is genrally considered to be under the shadow of not one, but two legends, yet his contributions to the game have hardly made him a footnote.

Serious programmers who work with the goal of solving chess are basically providing proof of Steinitz's theory of chess. (I know programmers who quote Steinitz' theory when discussing tablebases and the distinct possibility that perfectly played chess is in fact 1.5-1.5)

Whether or not Morphy had the chance to stomp him doesn't change the influence he still bears on the game. That influence has increased, interestingly enough, as computer science has come into play.

Aug-04-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  BishopBerkeley: (This is a near-duplicate post to one I made over on the Emanuel Lasker message board. I post it here because Wilhelm Steinitz was, to a significant degree, an inspiration for Dr. Lasker's philosophy of Chess and of life....)

Some of you may know that Dr. Emanuel Lasker wrote a book of philosophy titled "Struggle". This book has been out of print for many years, and getting a copy of it has been difficult (believe me, I have tried!)

Surprisingly, I am delighted to see that very recently the book has become available as a digital download at no cost! (Having been published in 1907, it is in the public domain in nearly all countries.)

Our own User: SBC has written a very good piece about it here:

http://blog.chess.com/view/laskers-...

It is indeed interesting to compare Dr. Lasker's philosophical thought to that of his friend and fellow genius Albert Einstein . (A good summary of Einstein's spiritual philosophy will be found here: http://www.100bestwebsites.org/alt/... )

For those who would like to download a complete copy of Dr. Lasker's philosophical book, you may do so from this link:

http://tinyurl.com/ntbk7n

with the specific download link being

http://dds.crl.edu/loadStream.asp?i...

The book is in PDF format, and the file size is about 1 MB.

I find the section titled "The Problem" (from pages 5-12) to be particularly interesting.

But be forewarned, you will look in vain for any Chess diagrams in it! But you will find much else that is worthwhile.

As I understand it, Dr. Lasker believed his book was a generalization of his Chess philosophy to life in the broadest sense. He attributed the great synthesis of Chess theory to Wilhelm Steinitz , and believe that that great Chess luminary had developed his theory after long study of the Chessgames of Paul Morphy . (See the last long quote on this page for details: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Paul_M... )

If any of you happen to read all or a portion of this intriguing book, I hope you may share your thoughts here.

Hope you are all in good spirits....

(: B Bishop Berkeley B :)

Aug-04-09   sneaky pete: Nihil obstat.
Nov-09-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  vonKrolock: A biography, from 1936, by M. Levidov (1891-1942), author also from a monography on Jonathan Swift that appeared in 1939 - This work, "Wilhelm Steinitz", available online (plain text -and with a link to another virtual library with the same book - bot with the original in Russian) http://az.lib.ru/l/lewidow_m_j/text...
Nov-19-09   theagenbiteofinwit: <BishopBerkeley> I can't thank you enough for providing that link.
Dec-06-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  Bjornemann: Thank you so much for the link to this very interesting book, BishopBerkeley!
Dec-22-09   Maatalkko: I was commenting on an unrelated topic when I realized a particular virtue of Steinitz; he defended his title, voluntarily, far more often than the other pre-WWII World Champions. The only credible challengers he didn't face in his eight year reign were Blackburne (whom I'm sure he would have beaten) and Tarrasch (whom I also think would have lost). Did either of them make a serious effort to arrange a match? Either way, five matches in eight years is unparalleled except for Kasparov and Karpov, and Kasparov was obligated to play each of those matches. So I think Steinitz's sportsmanship is underrated and deserves a shout-out.
Dec-23-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  al wazir: Why are there no games here played by Steinitz after 1899??? He lost the title in 1894 (it says) and presumably played for several years thereafter.
Dec-23-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  jackpawn: Possibly because he died in 1900!
Dec-23-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  al wazir: Duh! No wonder I don't win any Holiday Presents. Thanks.
Jan-03-10   Maatalkko: <al wazir> unfortunately, steinitz went insane after losing the rematch to Lasker in 1896. I believe he died shortly after.
Jan-03-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  HeMateMe: Maybe 'insane' is too strong a word. That word is often given to describe aging chess masters who lose their mental faculties.

But, if the same thing happens to leser knowns, or, people who have no connection to an intellectual activity, they are just said to be 'senile', or maybe there is undianosed Parkinson's or Alzheimers.

Jan-09-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  kingscrusher: I am doing a video series on the evolution of chess style, and the following video relating to Steinitz's theory of chess may be interesting to check out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf5Y...

Along with this example game:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgJ1...

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