This match was organised in the wake of the British Chess Association's London congress, which took place in the summer of 1862. Impressed by Blackburne's ten-board blindfold display on July 4th at the congress, James Wilson Rimington-Wilson put up funds for a set match involving Blackburne; other contributors eventually raised the total stake to £15. The contest, the first to seven wins, was eventually staged at the London Chess Club from December 15th 1862 to January 5th 1863. Reportage of events was fragmentary, the main source being Lowenthal's column in <The Era>, and the scores of four games are missing, most likely never published. This reconstruction as to the schedule relies on Harding's research in his biography of Blackburne.

Bachmann's treatment of this match in his collection, <Schachmeister Steinitz> (Brugel & Sohn, 1910, Vol.I), is deficient in three respects. The match is dated to January 1863 in its entirety; two games are incorrectly attributed to it: Blackburne vs Steinitz, 1863 (as game 4); Blackburne vs Steinitz, 1863 (as game 10); other games are wrongly sequenced.

Progress of results:

Steinitz    1 1/2 0 1 1 1/2 1 1 1 1 = 8 (+7 -1 =2)
Blackburne  0 1/2 1 0 0 1/2 0 0 0 0 = 2 (+1 -7 =2)