|
★★★ INTRO ★★★ The 1886 World Chess Championship was between 49 year old Wilhelm Steinitz of Austria and 46 year old Johannes Zukertort of Poland. ★★★ BACKGROUND ★★★ Previous, there were unofficial world championships (e.g. Anderssen-Steinitz, 1866). However, in 1886, the first official one started. Zuketort likely earned his qualification by winning the London 1883 tournament (see Game Collection: London 1883 for games and more information), which included placing 3 points ahead of second place finisher, Steinitz. ★★★ CONDITIONS ★★★ The time controls were 30 moves in 2 hours, and 15 moves for every hour. The winner would be the first to get 10 wins (draws not counting). Game 1 began on January 11th, 1886. The first 5 rounds took place in New York City, New York. The next five were played in St. Louis, Missouri. The remaining 10 rounds were played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Note: This match is measured in wins. Total points in brackets. ★★★ NOTABLE GAMES ★★★ Game 1: Zukertort vs Steinitz, 1886 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.e3 ♗f5 4.♘c3 e6 5.♘f3 ♘d7 6.a3 ♗d6 7.c5 ♗c7 8.b4 e5 9.♗e2 ♘gf6 10.♗b2 e4 11.♘d2 h5 12.h3 ♘f8 13.a4 ♘g6 14.b5 ♘h4 15.g3 ♘g2+ 16.♔f1 ♘xe3+ 17.fxe3 ♗xg3 18.♔g2 ♗c7 19.♕g1 ♖h6 20.♔f1 ♖g6 21.♕f2 ♕d7 22.bxc6 bxc6 23.♖g1 ♗xh3+ 24.♔e1 ♘g4 25.♗xg4 ♗xg4 26.♘e2 ♕e7 27.♘f4 ♖h6 28.♗c3 g5 29.♘e2 ♖f6 30.♕g2 ♖f3 31.♘f1 ♖b8 32.♔d2 f5 33.a5 f4 34.♖h1 ♕f7 35.♖e1 fxe3+ 36.♘xe3 ♖f2 After 36...♖f2
click for larger view
White is up a piece, but black's attack forces white to be down a piece. 37.♕xf2 ♕xf2 38.♘xg4 ♗f4+ 39.♔c2 hxg4 40.♗d2 e3 41.♗c1 ♕g2 42.♔c3 ♔d7 43.♖h7+ ♔e6 44.♖h6+ ♔f5 45.♗xe3 ♗xe3 46.♖f1+ ♗f4 0–1 46...♗f4 0-1
click for larger view
Zukertort resigns as white is already down a rook for a queen and 2 pawns, and things don't get better from here.
According to Little ChessPartner, black can mate after 47. ♖xf4+ gxf4 48. ♖h5+ ♔f6 (48...♔e6?? 49.♘xf4+, forking the king and queen) 49. ♖h6+ ♔g7 50. ♖e6 ♕f3+ 51. ♔c2 ♕b3+ 52.♔d2 ♕a2+ 53. ♔e1 (53. ♔d1 ♖b1#) ♖b1+ 54. ♔f2 f3 55.a6 ♔f7 56. ♖xc6 ♕xe2+ 57. ♔g3 ♖g1+ 58. ♔f4 (white can delay mate a move longer by playing 58.♔h4 ♖h1+ 59.♔h5 ♕e8 60. ♔g5 ♕xc6 61. ♔f4 f1=♕+ 62.♔g5 ♕c1+ 63.♔h4 ♕1h6# 0-1 or 63...♕6h6# 0-1) 58...f2 59.♖c7+ ♔g6 60.♖c6+ ♔h5 61.♖h6+ ♔xh6 62.c6 f1=♕# 0-1 (or 62...f1=♖# 0-1)
click for larger viewGame 9: Zukertort vs Steinitz, 1886 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.♘c3 ♘f6 4.♘f3 dxc4 5.e3 c5 6.♗xc4 cxd4 7.exd4 ♗e7 8.0–0 0–0 9.♕e2 ♘bd7 10.♗b3 ♘b6 11.♗f4 ♘bd5 12.♗g3 ♕a5 13.♖ac1 ♗d7 14.♘e5 ♖fd8 15.♕f3 ♗e8 16.♖fe1 ♖ac8 17.♗h4 ♘xc3 18.bxc3 ♕c7 19.♕d3 ♘d5 20.♗xe7 ♕xe7 21.♗xd5 ♖xd5 22.c4 ♖dd8 23.♖e3 ♕d6 24.♖d1 f6 25.♖h3 h6 26.♘g4 ♕f4 27.♘e3 ♗a4 28.♖f3 ♕d6 29.♖d2 ♗c6 30.♖g3 f5 31.♖g6 ♗e4 32.♕b3 ♔h7 33.c5 ♖xc5 34.♖xe6 ♖c1+ 35.♘d1 ♕f4 36.♕b2 ♖b1 37.♕c3 ♖c8 After 37...♖c8
click for larger view
An excellent move for black, as it tries to deflect the queen away from the defense of the rook. Once the rook falls, the knight will, and then the king. 38.♖xe4 ♕xe4 0–1
38...♕xe4 0-1
click for larger view
White resigns, and Steinitz ties up the match at 4-4 with the black pieces.
Once again LCP will try to analyze why (in fact, from now on, all analysis will be from LCP unless stated not). So after 38...♕xe4, black can force a win with 39.♕e3 ♖c2 40.♖d3 ♖e2 41.♕xe4 fxe4 42.h4 exd3 0-1 and the win becomes clear. Black is already up 2 rooks to none (the knight will be won), and white has no threats whatsoever.
click for larger viewGame 19: Zukertort vs Steinitz, 1886 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.♘c3 ♘f6 4.♗g5 ♗e7 5.♘f3 0–0 6.c5 b6 7.b4 bxc5 8.dxc5 a5 9.a3 d4 10.♗xf6 gxf6 11.♘a4 e5 12.b5 ♗e6 13.g3 c6 14.bxc6 ♘xc6 15.♗g2 ♖b8 16.♕c1 d3 17.e3 e4 18.♘d2 f5 19.0–0 ♖e8 20.f3 ♘d4 After 20...♘d4
click for larger view
Black sacrifices a knight, but in the end, will get pawn promotions. 21.exd4 ♕xd4+ 22.♔h1 e3 23.♘c3 ♗f6 24.♘db1 d2 25.♕c2 ♗b3 26.♕xf5 d1=♕ 27.♘xd1 ♗xd1 28.♘c3 e2 29.♖axd1 ♕xc3 0–1 29...♕xc3 0-1
click for larger view
Without a machine, I can find white's end: (white will try to delay mate by playing computer like moves) 30.♕xh7+ ♔xh7 31.♖de1 exf1=♕+ 32.♖xf1 ♖e1 33.h4 ♖bb1 (or something along those lines) 0-1.
White will not only forcefully lose their rook, but their last defender for the king: the bishop. 
click for larger view★★★ FINAL ★★★ Steinitz would have the white pieces, and with a lead of 9-5, he needed just 1 more win to secure the match. Game 20: Steinitz vs Zukertort, 1886 1.e4 e5 2.♘c3 ♘c6 3.f4 3...exf4 4.d4 d5? 5.exd5 ♕h4+ 6.♔e2 ♕e7+ 7.♔f2 ♕h4+ 8.g3 fxg3+ 9.♔g2 ♘xd4 10.hxg3 ♕g4 11.♕e1+ ♗e7 12.♗d3 ♘f5 13.♘f3 ♗d7 14.♗f4 f6 15.♘e4 ♘gh6 After 15...♘gh6
click for larger viewBlack tries to get another piece out, but it actually is a blunder. 16.♗xh6 ♘xh6 17.♖xh6 gxh6 18.♘xf6+ ♔f7 19.♘xg4 1–0 19.♘xg4 1-0
click for larger viewBlack, down a rook for queen, in addition to terrible development, has no hope. White can also try to create passed pawns on the queenside starting with 19...♗xg4 20.♕e5 ♗xf3+ 21.♔xf3 ♔f7 22.♕xc7, etc. 
click for larger viewWith the win, Steinitz won the match 10-5 (12 1/2-7 1/2 including draws) on March 29th, 1886 to become the first official world chess champion. ★★★ MINI TABLE ★★★ Steinitz 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 1/2 1 1/2 1 1 0 1/2 1/2 1 1/2 1 1 1 (10 wins, 5 losses, 5 draws) <62.5% score> Zukertort 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 1/2 0 1/2 0 0 1 1/2 1/2 0 1/2 0 0 0 (5 wins, 10 losses, 5 draws) <37.5% score> ★★★ OTHER LINKS ★★★ See also: Steinitz - Zukertort World Championship Match (1886) Head to head match up prior to 1886: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... (9 wins, 4 losses and 7 draws in favour of Steinitz) Next World Championship: Game Collection: 1889 World Chess Championship Table of contents: Game Collection: 0: Table of Contents
| 
Kibitzing
