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Lasker vs Steinitz 1894
New York / Philadelphia / Montreal

In 1894, defending champion Wilhelm Steinitz was challenged by a fresh 25 year old talent from Prussia by the name of Emanuel Lasker.

 Steinitz and Lasker, 1894
 Lasker and Steinitz in Montreal, 1894
After the necessary negotations, the following conditions were agreed upon: The winner of the match was to be the first to win 10 games, draws not counting. The time control was 15 moves per hour. The stakes were $2,000 per side. The match was to be played in New York, Philadelphia and Montreal, in that order.[1]

The match began in New York on March 15, 1894, and was fairly even with two victories to each player in the first six games. However, Lasker then won five consecutive games in Philadelphia. IM Jack Peters attributed this success to Lasker's ability to convert queenless middlegames into advantageous endings:

Lasker had noticed signs of uncertainty in Steinitz' handling of "simplified" middlegames, without Queens. Recognizing the champion's superiority in managing a full army of pieces, Lasker deliberately sought early Queen exchanges. This strategy certainly worked in Philadelphia.[2]
Steinitz was tenacious and managed to respond with back-to-back victories in the 13th game and the 14th game in Montreal, but the score was still heavily in Lasker's favor, 7 to 4.

On the 19th game, Lasker achieved his 10th win, thereby becoming the 2nd World Chess Champion. It was no great surprise that Steinitz, then 58 years old, was unable to defend against the rising tide of players who had spent years studying his ideas. As Siegbert Tarrasch said,

In my opinion the match with Steinitz does not have the great importance that they themselves attribute to it. For Steinitz has grown old, and the old Steinitz is no longer the Steinitz of old.
Although Lasker was widely respected, few people at the time suspected the impact that he would have on chess during the decades to come, for he was no ordinary challenger--this victory marked the beginning of a reign which was to last 27 years.

click on a game number to replay game 12345678910111213141516171819
Lasker1010½½11111½00110½1
Steinitz0101½½00000½11001½0

FINAL SCORE:  Lasker 10;  Steinitz 5 (4 draws)
Reference: game collection WCC Index [Steinitz-Lasker 1894]

NOTABLE GAMES   [what is this?]
    · Game #7     Lasker vs Steinitz, 1894     1-0
    · Game #13     Lasker vs Steinitz, 1894     0-1
    · Game #2     Steinitz vs Lasker, 1894     1-0

FOOTNOTES

  1. New York Recorder, March 11, 1894
    2 Chess Life, December 1994 (p40)

 page 1 of 1; 19 games  PGN Download 
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
1. Lasker vs Steinitz 1-0601894Steinitz - Lasker World Championship MatchC62 Ruy Lopez, Old Steinitz Defense
2. Steinitz vs Lasker 1-0421894Steinitz - Lasker World Championship MatchC65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense
3. Lasker vs Steinitz 1-0521894Steinitz - Lasker World Championship MatchC62 Ruy Lopez, Old Steinitz Defense
4. Steinitz vs Lasker 1-0601894Steinitz - Lasker World Championship MatchC53 Giuoco Piano
5. Lasker vs Steinitz ½-½501894Steinitz - Lasker World Championship MatchC62 Ruy Lopez, Old Steinitz Defense
6. Steinitz vs Lasker ½-½711894Steinitz - Lasker World Championship MatchC53 Giuoco Piano
7. Lasker vs Steinitz 1-0461894Steinitz - Lasker World Championship MatchC62 Ruy Lopez, Old Steinitz Defense
8. Steinitz vs Lasker 0-1761894Steinitz - Lasker World Championship MatchC10 French
9. Lasker vs Steinitz 1-0491894Steinitz - Lasker World Championship MatchC62 Ruy Lopez, Old Steinitz Defense
10. Steinitz vs Lasker 0-1341894Steinitz - Lasker World Championship MatchD35 Queen's Gambit Declined
11. Lasker vs Steinitz 1-0381894Steinitz - Lasker World Championship MatchD37 Queen's Gambit Declined
12. Steinitz vs Lasker ½-½501894Steinitz - Lasker World Championship MatchD60 Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense
13. Lasker vs Steinitz 0-1551894Steinitz - Lasker World Championship MatchC68 Ruy Lopez, Exchange
14. Steinitz vs Lasker 1-0461894Steinitz - Lasker World Championship MatchD46 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav
15. Lasker vs Steinitz 1-0441894Steinitz - Lasker World Championship MatchD37 Queen's Gambit Declined
16. Steinitz vs Lasker 0-1541894Steinitz - Lasker World Championship MatchD60 Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense
17. Lasker vs Steinitz 0-1511894Steinitz - Lasker World Championship MatchC50 Giuoco Piano
18. Steinitz vs Lasker ½-½611894Steinitz - Lasker World Championship MatchD67 Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense, Bd3 line
19. Lasker vs Steinitz 1-0521894Steinitz - Lasker World Championship MatchD37 Queen's Gambit Declined
 page 1 of 1; 19 games  PGN Download 
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)  

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 3 OF 3 ·  Later Kibitzing>
May-19-15  thomastonk: Thanks, <Chessiacal>! I understood your sentence in such a way that the £200/£100 were the prizes for the match of 1894.

The 100 seem to be indeed a misprint: Landsberger quotes in his Steinitz biography, p 336, from "Shakmatny Zhurnal", and there are 2000 and 1000 rubles, as well as the personal wagers of 500 rubles.

Dec-08-15
Premium Chessgames Member
  keypusher: Huebner wrote a book about the match in 2008:

https://www.newinchess.com/Der_Welt...

The match actually takes up only half the book. There are descriptions and some annotations from Lasker's pre-Steinitz matches (in particular Mieses and Blackburne) and about 50 pages on Schlechter-Lasker, including extensive annotations of the 5th, 7th, and 10th games. The rematch with Steinitz and Lasker's other WC matches are mentioned only in passing.

I love the book, despite my lack of German. Huebner's admiration for Lasker goes down very well for me. He pulls together and engages with contemporary commentary on the match, which I always enjoy.

Like every German book I've ever seen, it looks great. Definitely a bit of an extravagance, but I'm thrilled with it.

Feb-21-17
Premium Chessgames Member
  jnpope: I have just updated the Chess Archaeology match page for this event: http://www.chessarch.com/archive/18...

It now includes the match conditions as printed in the New York Sun, added Pillsbury's annotations where available, and more detailed post-match bickering by Steinitz (who reclaimed the title by forfeit... at least in his own mind).

Feb-21-17
Premium Chessgames Member
  keypusher: <jnpope> -- thanks, there was an very brief reference to the rematch dispute in the Hastings 1895 tournament book, it is nice to know more.
Apr-18-18
Premium Chessgames Member
  mifralu: STEINITZ AND LASKER
How the Chess Giants Look as They Play Together.

Roanoke Times 1 April 1894, page 6

https://virginiachronicle.com/cgi-b...

Jan-13-19
Premium Chessgames Member
  MissScarlett: The Standard, June 11th 1894, p.7:

<With the following three games, the publication of the whole of the nineteen games played in the match Steinitz v. Lasker, is now completed — a relief to the players, to the readers, and to ourselves [Hoffer, apparently]. The games are unsatisfactory in every respect — dreary, monotonous, unenterprising, and full of mistakes on the part of Steinitz. The theory has gained nothing, for that Steinitz's favourite variations were unreliable did not require to be proved by Lasker.>

Chess players, they're never happy!

May-11-20
Premium Chessgames Member
  keypusher: Interesting match getting underway at chessbomb.

https://www.chessbomb.com/arena/189...

Lasker won the first game, but I've got a good feeling about Steinitz in the next one.

Jan-12-21  Wanda Nida: lasker - steinitz I, lasker was doing fine in first 6 games but later lost straight 5 because lasker discovered something about exchanging queens and steinitz was unable to hold it? but exchanging queens isnt that simplifying position? it all depands like:

Enjoy great 0-0-0-0 sample !!!

[Event "WCA-EURO CHAMPIONSHIP RE-MATCH SUPER 0-0-0-0 BONUS ROUNDS"] [Site "ARTISTIC 0-0-0-0 GAME/geocities.ws/cmby2k"] [Date "2001.8.03-2002.7.10"]
[Round "1a-Official-Lubek's 0-0-0-0 Viewer Required!"] [White "GM Jan Lubek"]
[Black "GM Radovan Matic"]
[Result "1-0"]
[FEN "


click for larger view

"]

1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 b6 3.d4 Bb7 4.e4 Bb4 5.e5 Ne7 6.Qg4 Nf5 7.Bg5 h5 8.Qf5 ef5 9.Bd8 Kd8 10.0-0-0-0 Bc3 11.Rc3 Re8 12.Nf3 Be4 13.Kc1 Nc6 14.Be2 g6 15.a3 a5 16.Rd1 Bf3 17.Rf3 Rb8 18.Re3 a4 19.Kc210.0-0-0-0 ♗c3 11.♖c3 ♖e8 12.♘f3 ♗e4 13.♔c1 ♘c6 14.♗e2 g6 15.a3 a5 16.♖d1 ♗f3 17.♖f3 ♖b8 18.♖e3 a4 played before Na5 20.f4 c5 21.d5 Ke7 22.d6+ Kf8 23.Kc3 Nc6 24.Bf3 Nd4 25.Rxd4 cxd4+ 26.Kd4 Rec8 27.b4 ab3 28.Rb3 Kg7 29.h4 Kf8 30.Rb5 f6 31.a4 fe5 32.fe5 Ke8 33.Bd5 Rd8 34.c5 bc5 35.Kc4 White's Excellent Move, if the ♔ing takes the pawn, rook gets into white's territory, picks up pawns and has good winning chances! f4 36.a5 Rxb5 37.Kxb5 ! If... c4 38.♔xc4 ♖c8 39.♔b5!!! 1-0

Jan-12-21  Wanda Nida: LET IT BE KNOWN THAT LASKER RESIGNED HIS CHAMPIONSHIP TO CASABLANCA SO HE DID NOT REIGN 27 YEARS, EVENTUALLY HE AGREED TO PLAY HIM BECAUSE OF DOUGH, DUH: https://www.chesshistory.com/winter...

lasker - steinitz I, lasker was doing fine in first 6 games but later lost straight 5 because lasker discovered something about exchanging queens and steinitz was unable to hold it? but exchanging queens isnt that simplifying position? it all depands like:

Enjoy great 0-0-0-0 sample !!!

[Event "WCA-EURO CHAMPIONSHIP RE-MATCH SUPER 0-0-0-0 BONUS ROUNDS"] [Site "ARTISTIC 0-0-0-0 GAME/geocities.ws/cmby2k"] [Date "2001.8.03-2002.7.10"]
[Round "1a-Official-Lubek's 0-0-0-0 Viewer Required!"] [White "GM Jan Lubek"]
[Black "GM Radovan Matic"]
[Result "1-0"]
[FEN "


click for larger view

"]

1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 b6 3.d4 Bb7 4.e4 Bb4 5.e5 Ne7 6.Qg4 Nf5 7.Bg5 h5 8.Qf5 ef5 9.Bd8 Kd8 10.0-0-0-0 Bc3 11.Rc3 Re8 12.Nf3 Be4 13.Kc1 Nc6 14.Be2 g6 15.a3 a5 16.Rd1 Bf3 17.Rf3 Rb8 18.Re3 a4 19.Kc210.0-0-0-0 ♗c3 11.♖c3 ♖e8 12.♘f3 ♗e4 13.♔c1 ♘c6 14.♗e2 g6 15.a3 a5 16.♖d1 ♗f3 17.♖f3 ♖b8 18.♖e3 a4 played before Na5 20.f4 c5 21.d5 Ke7 22.d6+ Kf8 23.Kc3 Nc6 24.Bf3 Nd4 25.Rxd4 cxd4+ 26.Kd4 Rec8 27.b4 ab3 28.Rb3 Kg7 29.h4 Kf8 30.Rb5 f6 31.a4 fe5 32.fe5 Ke8 33.Bd5 Rd8 34.c5 bc5 35.Kc4 White's Excellent Move, if the ♔ing takes the pawn, rook gets into white's territory, picks up pawns and has good winning chances! f4 36.a5 Rxb5 37.Kxb5 ! If... c4 38.♔xc4 ♖c8 39.♔b5!!! 1-0

Jan-12-21  Wanda Nida: 15 moves per hour should always be the norm in world championship matches for all sexes! we want quality games not crap like carlsen vs caruana, especially last game insanity!

LET IT BE KNOWN THAT LASKER RESIGNED HIS CHAMPIONSHIP TO CASABLANCA SO HE DID NOT REIGN 27 YEARS, EVENTUALLY HE AGREED TO PLAY HIM BECAUSE OF DOUGH, DUH: https://www.chesshistory.com/winter...

lasker - steinitz I, lasker was doing fine in first 6 games but later lost straight 5 because lasker discovered something about exchanging queens and steinitz was unable to hold it? but exchanging queens isnt that simplifying position? it all depands like:

Enjoy great 0-0-0-0 sample !!!

[Event "WCA-EURO CHAMPIONSHIP RE-MATCH SUPER 0-0-0-0 BONUS ROUNDS"] [Site "ARTISTIC 0-0-0-0 GAME/geocities.ws/cmby2k"] [Date "2001.8.03-2002.7.10"]
[Round "1a-Official-Lubek's 0-0-0-0 Viewer Required!"] [White "GM Jan Lubek"]
[Black "GM Radovan Matic"]
[Result "1-0"]
[FEN "


click for larger view

"]

1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 b6 3.d4 Bb7 4.e4 Bb4 5.e5 Ne7 6.Qg4 Nf5 7.Bg5 h5 8.Qf5 ef5 9.Bd8 Kd8 10.0-0-0-0 Bc3 11.Rc3 Re8 12.Nf3 Be4 13.Kc1 Nc6 14.Be2 g6 15.a3 a5 16.Rd1 Bf3 17.Rf3 Rb8 18.Re3 a4 19.Kc210.0-0-0-0 ♗c3 11.♖c3 ♖e8 12.♘f3 ♗e4 13.♔c1 ♘c6 14.♗e2 g6 15.a3 a5 16.♖d1 ♗f3 17.♖f3 ♖b8 18.♖e3 a4 played before Na5 20.f4 c5 21.d5 Ke7 22.d6+ Kf8 23.Kc3 Nc6 24.Bf3 Nd4 25.Rxd4 cxd4+ 26.Kd4 Rec8 27.b4 ab3 28.Rb3 Kg7 29.h4 Kf8 30.Rb5 f6 31.a4 fe5 32.fe5 Ke8 33.Bd5 Rd8 34.c5 bc5 35.Kc4 White's Excellent Move, if the ♔ing takes the pawn, rook gets into white's territory, picks up pawns and has good winning chances! f4 36.a5 Rxb5 37.Kxb5 ! If... c4 38.♔xc4 ♖c8 39.♔b5!!! 1-0

Jan-12-21
Premium Chessgames Member
  keypusher: OK, I now have an ignore list of one.

<Chess players, they're never happy!> Certainly true of Hoffer.

Jan-12-21  Petrosianic: <Wanda Nida: <LET IT BE KNOWN THAT LASKER RESIGNED HIS CHAMPIONSHIP TO CASABLANCA>

Who's Casablanca? Do you mean he resigned it IN Casablanca?

You need to speak up. I could barely hear you there.

Mar-28-21  RookFile: Steinitz always reminds me of a bulldog when you see him in photos. His play certainly had bulldog determination to it.
Aug-24-21  Bartleby: <Rookfile: Steinitz always reminds me of a bulldog when you see him in photos. His play certainly had bulldog determination to it.>

I think it was often reflected in his dogged (pun intended) adherence to certain cramped or old-fashioned defensive opening variations. His love of the Steinitz Defence of the Ruy Lopez, and there were other offbeat ones like 1. e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3. f4 exf4 4. d4!? in the Vienna Gambit ("The King is a strong piece"), and the whole pawn-grabby 4. ...Qh4?! line of the Scotch Game.

I thought his WCC bouts with Chigorin were as much a theoretical and dogma battle over the board as a human, temperamental one.

Aug-24-21
Premium Chessgames Member
  Joshka: A match like this validates my support for draws not counting and playing to a certain number of wins is the best way to go. 10 was the number of wins here, but 6 is probably just as good for this time in history. When draws are counted, whomever is in the lead can just coast his way to victory instead of earning it with wins! These matches that the current World Champ plays are laughable. The lack of world wide interest also supports my opinion. What happened during the last championship match? Not 1 win between the 2 players!!!! Unthinkable for fighting chess!!
Aug-25-21
Premium Chessgames Member
  offramp: <Joshka> while I am here could you validate my parking?
Aug-29-21  Jean Defuse: ...

An outstanding article by 'introuble2':

<Steinitz v Lasker 1894. New Blood>

https://www.chess.com/blog/introubl...

With many contemporary pictures, articles and annotated games!

...

Nov-17-21
Premium Chessgames Member
  MissScarlett: Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic News, June 16th 1894, p.542:

<The match between Lasker and Steinitz, says a morning paper, is now over - "a relief to the players, to the readers, and to ourselves" - and so say all of us. Our students and all game lovers desire in chess columns light, sparkling, amusing games, and not dreary Ruys, French stupid brain-worrying Zukertort and the pleasure-crushing P to Q 4 openings. Chess readers in general want to know the news about chess in the chief parts of the English world where it is cultivated, and are unwilling to give more than five minutes a week to the dull outcome of the tedious sittings of a pair of self-torturers.>

Aug-14-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  offramp:
"I saw something like a massacre."
- Vladimir Kramnik

[Vladimir Kramnik The Inside Story of a Chess Genius, Carsten Hansel, p199]

Aug-14-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  Honza Cervenka: <Joshka> <A match like this validates my support for draws not counting and playing to a certain number of wins is the best way to go. 10 was the number of wins here, but 6 is probably just as good for this time in history.>

Well, and a match like Karpov - Kasparov World Championship Match (1984/85) shows shortcomings (if not sheer madness) of this unlimited format of chess matches. Btw, why nobody ever tried to propose that (Who scores the sixth goal as the first, wins the match) in a game like football?

Aug-14-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  offramp: Tennis has that system.
Aug-14-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  Honza Cervenka: <offramp> <Tennis has that system.>

Yes, but tennis uses also tie-breaks in the end of sets. And still I remember a Davis Cup match with Switzerland, where the last set (with no tie-break) lasted more than three hours with final score 24:22. And of course, there are no draws in tennis.

Aug-14-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  offramp: How about this?

First to 6 wins, no draw offers.

How would Karpov - Kasparov World Championship Match (1984/85) have looked like?

Aug-15-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  Honza Cervenka: <offramp> <How about this? First to 6 wins, no draw offers.>

Of course, that would have eliminated numerous short "GM draws" made in early stage of the game with full board of pieces. But if both players have an interest to get an easy and quick draw, they can surpass this condition by intentional repetition of moves or by choosing a variation, which leads to forced draw or to a dull drawish position. Many decisive games in practice are decided by gross mistakes in equal positions arising from fatigue or from time pressure but in classic chess format of play (with adjournments still in use) at the level of both Ks back in 1984-85 you cannot expect a lot of blunders in dead equal positions. In such a case most of games of the match would have been played in two or three sessions with average lenght 60+ moves but still there would be a lot of draws, and the match would be very long.

Aug-16-24
Premium Chessgames Member
  keypusher: < French stupid brain-worrying Zukertort>

No idea what they’re talking about but I would like to see this adopted as an official name for an opening.

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