Wilhelm Steinitz won the title of the first official world chess champion in 1886 on the eve of his 50th birthday.

Wilhelm Steinitz then managed to win a match against the famous German chess player Johann Zukertort with a total score of +10-5=5.

Wilhelm was born in Prague, in the family of a small merchant, where he was already the 13th child.

He devoted his entire life to chess. He left the Polytechnic Institute at a young age in order to completely immerse himself in the elements of this game. This was a serious step, since at that time it was very difficult to make a living from chess.

At that time, chess was still considered an ordinary entertainment. There was little interest in the ancient game. Despite this, Steinitz decided to become the first chess professional.

Steinitz can easily be called the greatest theorist in the field of chess. He was the first to formulate the basic theoretical principles that are still relevant today. According to his teaching, each position has its own characteristics.

And the player must act at the board in accordance with these features.

It would seem that this is an obvious and simple idea. However, at that time a romantic approach to chess still prevailed.

Many chess players then played on the principle of “hit or miss” and went on the attack without looking back.

And the one who was the first to “get” to the opponent’s king won. According to Steinitz, it is unacceptable to play like this... He introduced the concept of “position assessment.” The teachings of the first world champion are based on it.

In order to evaluate a position, it is necessary to identify its component positional elements: the ratio of material, strong and weak fields, open lines and diagonals, superiority in the development of figures, spatial superiority and mastery of central fields.

Steinitz was one of the first to prove that passed pawns and the activity of the king play a big role in the endgame.

In his opinion, a chess player, when assessing a position, must “break it down into elements” and analyze them. And only after this he should draw conclusions in order to determine the general direction of the game.

This is the assessment of the position. If the position is worse, then you need to defend and go on a counterattack at the first opportunity, and if the position is better, then you need to attack.
Steinitz proved that a game is lost not because of the excellent play of the opponent, but because of the mistakes that the chess players themselves make.

After analyzing thousands of games of his predecessors, Steinitz came to the conclusion that every game plan must have its basis. And this basis must be sought not in the plans or personality of the player, but in the existing position on the board. He introduced concepts that we are all accustomed to using today.

For example, he was the first to formulate the concept of equilibrium, which can be disrupted by the mistake of one of the rivals. He developed the basic theory of weak and strong points, pawn chains, and various types of pawn weaknesses (backward, isolated, doubled).

Steinitz's contribution to chess theory is difficult to overestimate. Later, the second world champion Emanuel Lasker said about him: “Steinitz was a thinker worthy of a university chair.”

Based on his progressive teaching, he was able to hold the chess crown for 8 years, despite his advanced age.
In 1890-1891, Steinitz defended his championship title in a match with Isidore Gunsberg, winning with a score of 10.5: 8.5.

The fight for the championship title between Wilhelm Steinitz and the founder of the Russian chess school, Mikhail Chigorin, developed especially persistently and dramatically. Steinitz won the first match in 1889 with a score of 6.5:10.5. In the second match in 1892, the fight between them was equal.

In the 23rd game of the match, Chigorin had every chance to win and then the score would have been equal. But Chigorin, in a won position, made a tragic and absurd mistake, not noticing checkmate in 2 moves.

In this position Chigorin played 32. Bd6-b4?? And after 32…Re2:h2+ he had to resign. The victory in this game allowed Steinitz to score the required number of points and win the match with a total score of 12.5:10.5.

- Pyrrhic victory! - said the first world champion then.

Soon Steinitz's age and failing health played a role. In 1894, 58-year-old Wilhelm lost the championship title to 25-year-old Emanuel Lasker, losing the match with a total score of 7:12. And two years later he lost to Lasker in a match even more devastatingly 4.5:12.5.

Steinitz throughout his life fought for the recognition of chess as a type of activity that deserves worthy encouragement, including financial ones. He had to live in poverty for a long time, but he did not stray from his principles and turned out to be faithful to chess all his life.

By nature, the first world champion was very ambitious and principled. He constantly clashed with the press, which subsequently stopped publishing his games. One of his few friends was the brilliant Samuel Loyd, a compiler of chess problems and puzzles.

In 1885, Loyd and Steinitz argued and made a friendly bet between themselves. Loyd told a friend that it would take him less time to write the problem than it would take Steinitz to solve it. The latter gladly accepted this challenge. Loyd came up with the problem in 10 minutes. (see diagram).

However, Steinitz, to the surprise of his friend, solved it in 5 minutes and won the argument. Would you win this bet?

White's move. Checkmate in 3 moves.

At the end of the article, a video about the champion:

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Years of life (1836-1900)

Championship years (1886-1894)

Studying the biographies and creative paths of champions, you involuntarily become imbued with respect and admiration for these gifted and strong individuals. But some of them cause a deep resonance in the soul and encourage us to change for the better, to do something very important and global for history... one of these personalities was the first world champion in the history of chess - Wilhelm Steinitz!

Wilhelm Steinitz was something of a revolutionary in the art of chess. It was during the time of his chess dominance that chess acquired scientific status, framing its romantic and combinational portrait within the framework of the strict theory of positional play, the founder of which was the Great Steinitz!

Creative path and achievements

Coming from the family of tailor Joseph-Solomon Steinitz, Wolf (his real name at birth) proved to the world that you don't have to have a genetic predisposition to chess to achieve success in this field.

Wilhelm Steinitz became familiar with the rules of chess at the age of 12. Chess greatly fascinated the talented young man and became his main hobby, but still, he began his professional path as a chess player a little later... after he was expelled from the Vienna Polytechnic Institute!

Like most of his contemporaries, at the beginning of his chess career, Steinitz preferred a combinational style of play, but having an inquisitive mind and living chess, the champion came to the conclusion that there is something more than the romance of combinational intricacies in the chess game. So he began to show interest in the patterns he observed in chess. This direction of his work resulted in a serious work, which is invaluable for world chess history and is the starting point for the status of chess as a science.

If we had to compare Wilhelm Steinitz's discoveries in chess with the discoveries of scientists in science, then he could be compared with Mendeleev, who created a table of elements that is invaluable for modern science!

Thanks to Steinitz, such basic concepts as position assessment and game plan appeared in chess. Wilhelm Steinitz attached particular importance to the pawn structure and assessment of the position depending on its features. He studied this topic closely and often published his research in chess literature. Thus, one of the directions of his chess career was journalistic activity. Wilhelm was a passionate chess journalist, discussing in the press with the leading chess players of his time, among whom Jan Tarrasch occupied a special place. Such discussions led to various experiments at the chessboard, which sometimes discouraged the entire chess world, but did not prevent the genius from remaining among the leaders of tournaments...

The closest followers of the new school of positional play were Paulsen and Emmanuel Lasker. Being a psychologist and philosopher, the latter saw a bright philosophical beginning in Wilhelm Steinitz!

But still, his main goal was the chess throne! At the age of fifty, Wilhelm Steinitz achieved his goal! Defeating his rival Zukertort (1886).

Steinitz's reaction to proposals for further matches for the championship title is admirable. This is how he rejected opponents who did not show consistent results in international tournaments and, on the contrary, accepted the challenges of those opponents with whom he had a bad record! Thus, Wilhelm Steinitz strived for the absolute championship!

Of course, in this article, you cannot describe all the features of this amazing personality, but I would just like to add that Wilhelm Steinitz, who began as a tactician and subsequently created the theory of positional play, became the owner of a new style and acquired the status of a pioneer, whose experience is highly valued by modern professionals, both for theory and for a basic understanding of chess to this day!

Wilhelm Steinitz is the first official world chess champion. Unfortunately, not much information has been preserved about this unique person. It is known that V. Steinitz is an Austrian and American chess player. At the turn of the 1860s-1870s, having already received recognition as the strongest player of his time after winning a match against Adolf Andersen, he developed the doctrine of positional play, which replaced the dominant “romantic” combination school and significantly enriched chess.

Steinitz was a writer, at the peak of his career he stopped playing tournaments for nine years to concentrate on his work as a journalist, and in 1885 he founded the International Chess Magazine. Steinitz published reviews of games and programmatic theoretical articles; his polemics with other publicists, which he conducted aggressively and peremptorily, themselves became an important event in the chess world.

The tournament and match results of Wilhelm Steinitz, by today's standards, are not very fantastic, but they deserve attention, I will list some of them:

Championship of the Vienna Chess Society (1861, 1st place), International Tournament (1865, 1st place), Handicap Tournament (1871/1872, 1st place), International Tournament (1872, 1st place), City Championship (1894 1st place), World Championship Match with I. Zukertort (1886, 1st place), World Championship Match with M. Chigorin (1889, 1st place), World Championship Match with I. Gunsberg (1890/1891 1st place), World Championship match with M. Chigorin (1892 1st place).

Separately, it is worth noting the game of the first world champion; a subtle positional understanding of the position was intertwined with spectacular combinational play, resulting in the birth of chess masterpieces. Let's look at one of them. Gampe – Steinitz game, Vienna 1859.

1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 2...Nf6 3.f4 d5 4.ed?!(if 4.fe N:e4 then black can fight to equalize the position). 4...K:d5 5.fe N:c3 6.bc Qh4+ 7.Kre2 Bg4+ (White is ready to return the pawn in order to seize the initiative, for example: 7...Qe4+ 8.Kрf2 Q:e5 9.Nf3 Qh5 10.d4) 8.Nf3 Nc6 9.d4 O-O-O 10.Bd2 This position is of historical interest (Diagram 1), as it was studied a century and a half ago.

In addition to the move in the game, White has a maneuver(10.Qe1 now the rook sacrifice suggests itself 10...R:d4 11.cd N:d4+ 12.Kрd3 Bf5+ 13.Kрc4 b5+ 14.Kрc3 Ne2+ 15.Kрb2 Qa4 with a win). 10...B:f3+ (tempting victim 10...K:e5 until it goes away, for example 11.de Bc5 12.Qe1 Bf2 13.Qc1 Rhe8 14.Bf4 Bc5 15.g3 Qh5 16.Bg2 g5 17.h3 B:f3+ 18.B:f3 Qg6)

It is unlikely that Wilhelm Steinitz fully calculated all the options; his intuition simply protected him from the wrong path. But still, Black had a more flexible move 10...f6!

11.gf N:e5 12.de Bc5 13.Qe1 Qc4+ 14.Kрd1 Q:c3 15.Rb1 Q:f3+ 16.Qe2 (White's pawns fall one after another, but their troubles do not end there. Now on 16.Be2 solved 16...R:d2+ 17.Kр:d2 Qe3+ 18.Kрd1 Rd8+ 19.Bd3 R:d3+ 20.cd Q:d3+ 21.Kрc1 Ba3+ 22.Rb2 Qb5 23.Qd2 Qc6+) 16...L:d2+ Of course, you can take the rook in the corner of the board, but Steinitz prefers a spectacular ending (Diagram 2).17.Kр:d2 Rd8+ 18.Kрc1 Ba3+ 19.Rb2 Qc3 20.Bh3+ Kрb8 21.Qb5 Qd2+ 22.Kрb1 Qd1+ 23.R:d1 R:d1x

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Wilhelm Steinitz

Chess is not for the faint of heart. Chess requires the whole person, completely, and one who knows how not to slavishly hold on to what has been passed, but independently tries to explore its depths. It is true that I am a difficult, critical person, but how can one not be critical when one so often hears superficial judgments about positions, the full depth and meaning of which you see only after careful analysis. How can you not be angry when you see that they slavishly cling to outdated methods only in order not to leave their peaceful calm. Yes, chess is difficult, it requires work, and only serious thought and earnest study can satisfy me. Only ruthless criticism leads to the goal. But a critical thinker is considered by many to be the enemy, and not the one who paves the way to the truth. But no one will turn me away from this path.”

This is what sixty-year-old Steinitz said in a conversation with Bachmann. And there is no doubt that the neat Bachman wrote down exactly these words with particular accuracy. They perfectly characterize Steinitz, but is it only Steinitz? Are they not akin to the great man in any branch of the art of thinking? But the fact that these are Steinitz’s words, the fact that they are the life slogan of a professional chess player, is the best proof that in chess, this seemingly “entertaining” game, which differs from other games only in its complexity, one can also put unbending will, and noble emotion, and honesty of thinking, and hatred of opportunism, unprincipledness, cowardice, mental and volitional lethargy - in a word, the struggle for the elements of a new human culture. And in this sense, chess stands on a par with any other branch of science and art. With his attitude towards chess, Steinitz raised it to unprecedented heights. This is what Steinitz did for chess.

But Steinitz did no less in chess. This has already been mentioned in the story about his life - how could it be otherwise if his life is inseparable from the life of chess? And to sum up, we can say that, having deepened the element of art in chess, he at the same time gave it a scientific basis. The so-called opening theory is the “first book to read” of every qualified chess player, and on every page of this book we come across the same name Steinitz more than once or twice. And that's not all. After all, the theory of openings was, from Steinitz’s point of view, only an integral part of the general concept of the chess game, which, as we have seen, he gave a philosophical sound. Let the entire Steinitz theory be created in the process of practical play, that is, not in the same way as “scientific theories” are created from the point of view of stagnant bourgeois thought. If we draw an analogy here between the struggle of chess pieces and the struggle of social forces, then the most brilliant theory of revolutionary socialism was created in integral interaction with life practice, due to which the priests of bourgeois science declared it “unscientific” at one time.

Wilhelm Steinitz

The specifics of chess required daily and hourly practical testing of Steinitz's theory and, being a “man of action” in the chess sense of the word, he bravely and passionately threw himself into this testing. And in this test, as the outstanding chess theorist Richard Reti says, “he was looking not for quick success, but for stable, lasting values.” I just forgot in this search that chess is not only an art on a scientific basis, but also a sport. And this forgetfulness fatally affected his personal successes, the number of units in his tournament and match tables. The venerable Encyclopædia Britannica says in an article on chess: “Steinitz felt that his combinational power was weakening, and therefore invented a new theory, wanting to retain the title of champion.” What truly venerable vulgarity! Back in 1895, in Hastings, the already sixty-year-old Steinitz showed what enormous combining power he possessed; in the game with Bardeleben, on the 21st move he carried out a forced 14-move combination, mating his opponent. And this gift of combination, which promised him quick, but, from his point of view, cheap success, he sacrificed to the search for permanent and lasting chess values.

Steinitz's appearance, however, cannot be called complete. He was completely a man of his era and his environment, and his fate was determined by the entire character of bourgeois culture, and this was his misfortune.

Chess is the “game of kings”; This definition dates back to the Middle Ages, when a chessboard and pieces were an indispensable part of a knight’s castle. In the 19th century, the game of chess was somewhat democratized, but it could not become a truly popular game. Who formed the “chess cadres” of bourgeois Europe and America! A small handful of professionals - participants in tournaments and matches, and a relatively narrow circle of amateurs, chess patrons, representatives of the aristocracy and bourgeoisie, on whose voluntary donations the professionals existed in the end. Steinitz was well aware of this, and all his life he hated patrons of the arts. Wherever he ran from the Viennese banker Epstein, he did not have to run away from him. After all, at the beginning of his journey he had to hear Staunton’s arrogant words that it was “indecent” to play chess for money, that it “degrades the noble game.” And at the very end of the journey, shortly before his death, he had to hear the protest of one member of the Manhattan Chess Club about the fact that a member of the club was a professional who played chess for money.

Steinitz was a proud and proud man. And this attitude left a disfiguring imprint on his personality.

Steinitz's contemporaries were constantly surprised by his painful stubbornness, his persistent desire to carry out in practical games some opening variations that he created but turned out to be unsuitable, and his persistent war against obviousness. This character trait influenced the strength of his playing, especially in recent years; it prevented him from fully mastering the “Steinitz style.” Of course, Steinitz always had the beginnings of this trait, but it became aggravated because his psyche was wounded by the cruel struggle for his human dignity that he had to endure and simply had to wage a struggle for existence.

The basic law of bourgeois culture - the law of competition - made itself felt quite cruelly in the field of chess. And here the slogan prevailed: push the falling one! And here - in the field of chess - it would be in vain for someone falling down to seek the help of a friendly team.

And if Steinitz had been a member of the creative team, if he had felt around him an atmosphere of community, co-creation, respect for man, how much richer and more joyful his life would have been. In such social conditions, there would have been no need for him to rush around the world in the last five years of his life in order to win back his lost title, and there would have been no need for this shameful but real need to seek at the same time to earn a piece of bread. How much new and valuable could he have created in these five years, moving away from the practical game and watching how his teaching was implemented in life. But he had no one to rely on, both morally and in purely everyday terms, and he was under unbearable pressure from bourgeois sports morality and the wolfish laws of the struggle for existence. Is it surprising that in the end he broke, just as Chigorin broke!

This chess player, thinker and fighter - Wilhelm Steinitz - was made of magnificent human material. And it will not be pointless to think what a huge value would arise from this wonderful material in our conditions of socialist culture, new social morality, freedom and joy of creativity, respect for man.