Wilhelm Steinitz Party. Chess player Wilhelm Steinitz - biography, career, achievements

Born in Prague on May 18, 1836 into a poor Jewish family, where he was the thirteenth and last child.

At least from the age of twelve he knew how to play chess. In 1858 he entered the Vienna Polytechnic Institute

to the mathematical department, but soon dropped out and devoted himself to chess. In 1958-1861 he was a regular visitor to the chess room in the Viennese cafe \ "Partridge \", played for money, won first place in the Vienna chess tournament in 1861.

In 1862 he settled in London, at that time one of the centers of chess creativity, participated in a number of tournaments, led the life of a professional chess player.

He played with the best chess players of his time - Andersen, Blackburn, Byrd, Vinaver, Zukertort, etc. Studying P. Morphy's games, he developed his own concept of a chess game, called the positional style (the fastest development of pieces, the capture of the center, the creation and capture of open lines).

In a systematic form, his ideas were presented by E. Lasker only in 1925. In the textbook of the chess game, the great chess player argued that it was Steinitz who created the theory of wrestling as such. Having won the Vienna tournament in 1873, and in 1876 having beaten Blackburn in London, Steinitz was considered the strongest chess player in the world in the late 1870s. In 1982, Steinitz won the Vienna tournament again, sharing first place with Vinaver, and then in the 1883 London tournament.

He worked in the sports newspaper "The Field", but in 1882 he lost his post as a chess columnist and in 1883 moved with his family to the United States, where he continued his career as a professional chess player - simultaneous games, blindfold games, matches with strong opponents in small towns. In 1885 he became editor of the International chess magazine, which was published until 1891.

In 1886 he won a 10-game world champion title over I.G. Tsukertort, in 1889 - over M.I.Chigorin in a 20-game match, in 1892 - again over Chigorin in a rematch. In 1894, in a match with E. Lasker in the USA, Steinitz was defeated, losing the title of world champion. In 1895 Steinitz was invited to St. Petersburg for a tournament, where he was supposed to meet with Chigorin and Lasker. At the tournament he took second place, which gave him the right to qualify for the match with the world champion. Steinitz lost again at the match with Lasker in Moscow in 1896-1897.

A few days after the end of the match with Steinitz, he suffered a nervous seizure and was admitted to a psychiatric hospital. Doctors did not believe that he was Steinitz, in addition, the master, exhausted by the game, from time to time fell into a delusional state. After everything was clarified, and more than a month had passed, he still managed to leave Russia for Vienna, and then for New York.

The decisive role was played by the chess player's argument that he, as a Jew, should not violate the law on the Pale of Settlement and should leave Moscow as soon as possible. Despite his illness, Steinitz participated in tournaments in Vienna, Cologne, London, however, returning to New York in 1899, he again fell into an acute nervous breakdown - it seemed to him that an electric current emanated from him, which moves the pieces on the board. Steinitz died in an asylum for the mentally ill on Wards Island (New York, USA) on August 12, 1900.

Steinitz is the author of the incomplete The modern chess instructor (only the first volume of the planned multivolume work saw the light). Steinitz's students considered themselves Z. Tarrasch, E. Lasker and many other chess players of the so-called. "new school".

Quotes by V. Steinitz:

1. I am not a chess historian, I myself am a piece of chess history that no one will pass by.

2. My first goal was not to win the game, but to sacrifice a piece.

Wilhelm Steinitz (1836-1900) is a renowned American and Australian chess player who has managed to prove himself in quality. It was he who first created the doctrine of positional play.

Childhood and youth

The future chess player, who was given the name Wolf at birth, was born on May 14, 1836 in the city of Prague. He was the youngest, thirteenth child of a large Jewish family. Unfortunately, there was a lack of money in the family. However, the parents tried to ensure that their son had the opportunity to graduate well from school and go to higher education, especially since the young Wolf had a mathematical ability.

Steinitz met chess at the age of 12, watching his father play.

At 22, the future chess player moved to Vienna to start studying to be a journalist. But everything turned out differently - Steinitz was studying mathematics at the Vienna Polytechnic School.

At this time he lived with a poor tailor's family. There was no financial opportunity to buy chess, so Wolf made them himself, by cutting out figures from cardboard and signing their names.

Career and success

To earn his living, he began attending the Partridge chess club, where Steinitz played for bets. Wolf, 23, could beat any club member almost blindly. Later, the young man leaves school and starts working as a reporter.

During the same time period, Steinitz took part in chess tournaments held by the Vienna Chess Society. The chess player went to success consistently: in 1859 he managed to take the 3rd place, in 1860 - the 2nd, and in 1961 - already the first.

Subsequently, Steinitz moved to London, where he took part on behalf of Austria in such a competition as the International Chess Tournament, in which he took 6th place. He receives the title of maestro.

Remaining to live in Great Britain, Steinitz gets the opportunity to hold a series of meetings with such chess players as S. Dubois, D. Blackburn, F. Deacon, W. Green. As a result of these fights, the chess player gains his victories.

After that, Steinitz wins in tournaments held in cities such as Dublin (1865) and London (1866).
In 1866, the chess player played with the strongest player at that time, Adolf Andersen. As a result, Steinitz managed to win with a score (+ 8-6). After that, the talented chess player beat G. Byrd (1866) and D. Blackburn (1870). And Steinitz began to be considered the strongest chess player in Great Britain at that time.

However, in tournaments he had setbacks - in 1867 in Paris the chess player took 3rd place, and in Baden-Baden - 2nd. Only in 1871-1872 he managed to win the championship in London tournaments. In 1872, Steinitz took 1-2 place in the Vienna tournament, after which he won a micromatch with Blackburn.

Other rules

In the same year he began to actively manage the chess department of the sports magazine "Field". There Steinitz promoted his own method of playing and was looking for fundamental chess laws. The chess player devoted about 3 years to this activity, while he did not take part in tournaments at that time, but came to them as a correspondent. He observed the course of games in tournaments in 1878 in Prague, in 1880 in Wiesbaden and in 1881 at the congress of the German Chess Union in Berlin. The games of greatest interest were published in Field, but Steinitz criticized them because the winners were based on the rules of the combinational school. Mostly, the performance of Zukertort and Blackburn was criticized.

Steinitz resumed his chess career in 1876 against Blackburn. He managed to beat the opponent 7 times. Now no one at that time had any doubts that it was Steinitz who was the strongest chess player in the world.

In 1882, the renowned chess player was fired from the publication. In this regard, Steinitz decides to leave for New York with his family. It was there that he started publishing his own magazine called "International Chess Magazine", while he worked on the creation of the theory of positional play. However, this magazine was destined to close in 1892 due to lack of funds.

In 1886, the first match took place, which would determine who is the world champion. Steinitz considered it sacrilegious to play a match while a genius was alive. In addition, his desire was to have a duel with Johann Zukertort - it was he who beat him in the London tournament in 1883 and was able to take his place on the editorial board of "Field".

The preparatory stage lasted 2 years, the negotiations were not easy, since Zukertort did not think that it was necessary to prove once again that he was the strongest. And Steinz set out to show the advantage of the positional method that he developed.

According to the rules of the meeting, the start of the match should be in London, where the competition is held up to 4 victories, and later - in St. Louis up to 3. The end of the match took place in New Orleans, the birthplace of Paul Murphy. It was planned to recognize the champion who can win 10 victories. If the score was 9: 9, then the identification of the winner would not have taken place. But as a result, Steinitz was still able to win 10 victories, and the score of the match was 12.5: 7.5.

Subsequently, Steinitz managed to defend the champion title in 2 matches with Mikhail Chigorin, which took place in Havana in 1889 and 1892, and in a meeting with I. Gunsberg in 1891 in New York.

It should be said about Wilhelm Steinitz that he was the person who laid the foundations and postulates of the chess game that we see now. He became the first ever world chess champion.

After analyzing the games that belonged to his contemporaries and predecessors, Steinitz came to the conclusion that combinational attacks succeeded with an imperfect defense. Instead of looking for tactical moves, the renowned chess player recommended using a strategy related to position assessment.

Career decline

In 1894 he had to give up his title to E. Lasker, as Steinitz lost with a score (+ 5-10 = 4). However, even after this failure, the renowned chess player will continue to take part in tournaments. He managed to win the New York competition in 1895, to take 2nd place in the tournament in St. Petersburg in 1896.

Later, Steinitz had more modest results - in Nuremberg in the same year he took 6th place, in 1898 in Cologne - 5th, and in London in 1899 - generally 10-11th. And he was completely defeated in the match with Lasker in Moscow in 1897 with a score (+ 2-10).

Life is like a struggle

Steinitz, as a person, was quite complex - he was distinguished by honesty, stubbornness and love of moralizing. In the future, he was tormented by increased nervous excitability.

After the match with Lasker in 1897, Steinitz had a severe seizure, after which he was sent to a psychiatric hospital in Moscow. He felt a little better, but after Steinitz returned to New York, the disease began to progress, and the chess player began to suffer from delusional ideas, so he again ended up in a psychiatric hospital.

In addition, Steinitz felt the influence of anti-Semitism, as he was of Jewish origin. For example, in 1891 Jewish chess players were expelled from the chess collection of St. Petersburg.

Shortly before his own death, the chess player wrote a pamphlet, subsequently published, which was directed against anti-Semitism.

Chess Quotes

“I am not a chess historian, I myself am a piece of chess history that no one will pass by.”

“Victory in a disproportionate combination, however effective, fills me with artistic horror.”

"Chess is intellectual gymnastics."

“Criticism is viewed by many as the enemy, not the vehicle of truth.”

Video about the life of a chess player

Wilhelm Steinitz (1836-1900) - Austrian and American chess player who became the first world champion. He is the author of a doctrine of positional play, new for his time, which replaced the previously dominant ideas of the "romantic" school.

Wolf Steinitz (the chess player took the name Wilhelm later) was born on May 14, 1836 in Prague into a large Jewish family. The future champion was the last, thirteenth child. His father Joseph-Solomon made a living by sewing clothes, but still there was absolutely not enough money. Wilhelm got acquainted with the basics of the ancient game at the age of 12, looking at how his father played and immediately discovered his remarkable talent. At the same time, the school teachers noted in the boy good mathematical abilities.

One of the turning points in Steinitz's life was his move to Vienna. In 1858 he came to the Austrian capital to study journalism. But instead he began to study mathematics at the Vienna Polytechnic School, studying to be an engineer. Due to the constant lack of funds, the young man began to visit the cafe "Partridge", where local chess fans traditionally gathered. Here bets were placed on the games, so Wilhelm managed to earn some money. At that time, such establishments were similar to modern sports clubs with their own rules and champions. Young 23-year-old Steinitz won over all the café patrons with his blindfold skills. He soon dropped out of school and started working as a reporter.

Beginning of performances

At about the same time, Steinitz began performing in competitions held under the auspices of the Vienna Chess Society. His successes were progressive: 1859-3rd place, 1860-2nd place and 1861-1st place. Soon he leaves for London, where he participates in the international London tournament, representing Austria, and takes 6th place there. For this, the chess player receives the title of maestro.

After that, he stays to live in Foggy Albion, where he holds a series of meetings against strong chess players - S. Dubois, D. Backburn, F. Deacon, V. Green, and in all of them he won victories. Then Wilhelm consolidates his success with victories at tournaments in Dublin (1865) and London (1866). Already at this time, against the background of a typical combinational game, Steinitz began to discern notes of a strategic approach to the game.

London stage

The first serious successes became the basis for Steinitz's meeting with, who, after leaving chess, was recognized as the strongest player on the planet. In 1866, a match took place between them, which ended with a victory, albeit not convincing, for the Austrian (+ 8-6). After that, old acquaintances G. Bird (1866) and D. Blackburn (1870) were defeated. This allowed Steinitz to be recognized as the most powerful chess player in the British Empire.

But at tournaments he had no luck for a long time: Paris (1867) - 3rd place, Dundee (1867) and Baden-Baden (1870) - 2nd place. Only in 1871-1872 he excelled at tournaments in London, and then defeated the future rival in the championship match I. Zukertort. In 1873, Steinitz tied for 1-2 places in the Vienna tournament, after which he won a micromatch against Blackburn.

In the same year, Steinitz was actively involved in journalism and began to run the chess department of the sports publication "Field". He saw his mission in promoting his own method of playing the game and searching for fundamental laws in chess. For the next three years, this work will become the main one for him and he had to forget about participation in competitions for the time being.

The resumption of his chess career occurred in 1876, when a match took place against Blackburn. The London duel demonstrated the unprecedented power of Steinitz's play, forcing his not weak opponent to surrender 7 times in a row. Anyone who had doubts about who the number 1 player in the world was completely disappeared. Apparently, Steinitz himself adhered to the same opinion, again leaving chess for six long years.

American stage

In 1882, Wilhelm was fired from the editorial office, and this was the end of the twenty-year London stage of his life. He was left without a job and a livelihood. At this time, he received an offer from overseas and soon the chess player and his family moved to the United States. Steinitz was 46 years old and his famous beard was already half gray. Wilhelm was lame, so he walked with a crutch, but his figure did not lose its decisive posture.

After settling in New York, Steinitz once again moved away from competitive practice, focusing on publishing. He published the magazine "International Chess Magazine", while working on the creation of the theory of positional play.

In 1884 Steinitz and Morphy met personally here, under the terms of which they agreed not to communicate on chess topics. True, they could not really talk about anything else, and after half an hour, spent in painful silence, the chess players parted. A few months later, Morphy was gone.

Championship match

In January 1886, the world's first chess match for the title of world champion began on Fifth Avenue in New York. This duel became possible only after the death of Morphy, since Steinitz considered it blasphemous to play the world crown while the great American was alive. Wilhelm decided to challenge the German Johann Zukertort to a duel, to whom he lost at a tournament in London in 1883. Moreover, it was he who took Steinitz's place in the editorial office.

The preparatory stage for the match took two years. The negotiations were difficult, since the German believed that he did not need to prove anything to anyone - he was already the strongest. Steinitz, on the contrary, considered it necessary to justify his strength in the game and dreamed of proving to the inveterate tactician Zukertort the correctness of the developed positional method.

According to the rules of the meeting, the match was to start in New York and play there until 4 wins of one of the players, then according to the same scheme in St. Louis until 3 wins. The confrontation ended in New Orleans, the small homeland of P. Morphy. The games were played with a time control of 120 minutes for 30 moves, and after a break for another 60 minutes for 15 moves. The champion was declared the one who won 10 victories first. With a possible outcome 9: 9, the match should be interrupted without a winner being identified. Moreover, each chess player paid a fee of 2 thousand dollars.

In the New York part of the meeting, despite the victory in the first game, Steinitz lost, forcing his opponent to think about his superiority. However, in St. Louis, William transformed himself and won three victories, equalizing the score in the match. In New Orleans, Zukertort finally broke down and managed to get only one Victoria. As a result, Steinitz won 10 victories and defeated the opponent with a total score of 12.5: 7.5.

Subsequently, he will successfully defend his title three times. Wilhelm twice prevented Mikhail Chigorin from taking the champion title (both fights took place in Havana in 1889 and 1892) and once to I. Gunsberg (New York, 1891). However, in 1894 he lost the championship (+ 5-10 = 4).

After the championship

The loss of the chess crown did not discourage interest in performances, and Steinitz continued to take an active part in competitions. His collection includes a victory at a tournament in New York (1895), 2nd place in St. Petersburg (1896), as well as more modest results of the struggle in Nuremberg (1896) - 6th place, Cologne (1898) - 5th e place, London (1899) -10/11 places. Between tournaments, he managed to play a rematch against Lasker (Moscow, 1897), in which he was completely defeated (+ 2-10).

Chess achievements

Wilhelm Steinitz is the first ever official world champion who laid the foundations of modern chess. The positional theory created by him was presented in the author's works "The Modern School and Its Traditions", as well as "Morphy and the Chess Game of His Time". He carried out a deep analysis of many games of his contemporaries and predecessors and came to the conviction that the success of combination attacks brought imperfect defense. Instead of constantly looking for tactical moves, Steinitz suggested using a position assessment strategy.

The main postulate of his concept was the theory of equilibrium, in which it was asserted that with an error-free game in the game, one equilibrium follows another. It is violated by the wrong actions of the player who, by his mistakes, gives the initiative to the enemy. He must certainly develop it, otherwise the advantage will go to the opponent. In turn, the defense should be based on the principle of economy of strength - when making defensive actions, you need to make only those concessions that are really necessary, while certainly avoiding the weakening of the pawn position. As a result, the maestro came to the conclusion that the logic of a chess player's actions is determined by the peculiarities of the position.

The Steinitz name is borne by the variants of the defense in the Spanish game, the French defense, the position in the Vienna game and the Queen's Gambit. Despite the fact that many positions are evaluated differently today than Steinitz did, the key provisions of his theory continue to underlie modern chess strategy.

Difficult person

The first champion was a stubborn, very honest and obsessed person, like many people of this nature, very difficult to communicate. He loved to engage in moralizing and absolutely did not tolerate objections.

The hard life of a chess professional had a detrimental effect on Steinitz's health. He began to suffer from increased nervous excitability, for which he was treated by taking cold baths. At first it bore fruit, but then the disease began to progress and it was more and more difficult to cope with it. In 1897, after meeting with Lasker, he had a severe seizure and was taken to a Moscow hospital. This was followed by a short-term improvement, but after returning to New York, his condition deteriorated markedly and began to be accompanied by delusional ideas. He could wander the streets for hours and talk with mythical interlocutors waving a cane. As a result, at the insistence of those around him, Steinitz was admitted to a psychiatric hospital, where he died of a heart attack on August 12, 1900.

• On the eve of his death, Wilhelm announced that an electric current passed through him, which controls the chess pieces.
• Having moved to New York, Steinitz deliberately chose the route of walking past the house where the legendary lived, in order to inadvertently see him.
• It was Steinitz who insisted that the winner of his match with Zukertort be officially declared world champion.
• In the course of in-depth analysis, Steinitz developed some of the postulates of chess, which are still relevant to this day. For example, a player with an advantage must certainly go on the attack, otherwise he may lose the existing initiative.
• During his life in London, experiencing a lack of money, Steinitz earned money by playing in the cafe "Gambit". There he got a regular client who dreamed of winning at least a game against the maestro. Once Steinitz was advised to give in on purpose so that the admirer would not be disappointed in himself, and the great chess player agreed. In one of the games, he deliberately framed the queen and admitted himself to be a loser. Being overjoyed, the lucky one with the words "I won the champion" jumped out of the cafe ... and never returned there.

Video

A fragment of the film "Thirteen Champions" (1993), about the first world champion Wilhelm Steinitz.

Best games

The selection includes the best games of Steinitz played in the period from 1862 to 1899.

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Wilhelm Steinitz is a chess fanatic, a true professional, a giant of chess thought, the father of the orthodox positional school and the first official world champion.
There were recognized kings of chess even before Steinitz. I think Philidore, Labourdonnais, Morphy and Andersen were quite worthy of the high title of "world champion". It just never occurred to anyone to formalize this concept, fix it on paper, or give it an official status. This bright thought matured gradually. As in Russia, where there were many princes, the most powerful of whom became the leaders of the state, and it took more than one century for the supreme prince - the tsar - to appear. This is how Wilhelm (nee Wolf) Steinitz became the first king of chess.
What is needed to become the first in the chess world?
Fortunately, unlike the struggle for the royal throne, chess inheritance does not matter here. Almost all outstanding players grew up in “non-chess” families! And their children have never achieved success commensurate with the success of their parents (an interesting phenomenon worthy of a separate study). To rise to the top requires exceptional chess talent and strong character. All world champions had a strong will and great ambition. They were driven by an indomitable desire to rise up - in spite of all the difficulties and opposition of competitors. How many times has history provided examples of how potentially very strong chess players are sometimes stronger than champions! - it was not possible to rise to the highest level, because they could not force themselves to fight to the limit, to show everything they were capable of. They did not have an all-consuming thirst for victory ...
Wilhelm Steinitz was extremely ambitious! He devoted his whole life to chess, set himself only the highest goals and achieved success. He began as a practitioner and bright tactician, absorbing all the best qualities of Andersen and Morphy. For example, he beat the German attack magician in the match of 1886 in a highly combinational style. But in the second half of his career, Steinitz has established himself as an outstanding defender, analyst and master of positional play, reaching unprecedented heights in it. How did it come about?
Steinitz looked at chess from a different angle, seeing it as more than a game! While still a very young man, he decided to UNDERSTAND chess, to understand the laws that operate on the board. The approach of the scientist - theorist and experimenter - allowed him to make a number of discoveries and raise the understanding of chess to a new level. It looked impressive. He left, thought, came back and won! Gone again ... The pace of life in the 19th century was low, events developed very slowly and calmly. Just think: the world's strongest player in his prime leaves tournaments for 10 years (1873-1882), after which he comes back and beats everyone again, playing in a completely different style than before!
It was during these years that Steinitz worked a lot on chess, wrote, commented and analyzed. And then, at the age of "under 50", he demonstrated his best game. By the way, many have called Wilhelm the world champion since 1866, after defeating his “predecessor” - Andersen. And in the final, well-established history, the key date was 1886, when - twenty years later - Steinitz defeated another "challenger" Zukertort.
I will not describe in detail what the first champion's discoveries were. In fact, this is the entire layer of positional chess! That much before him was understood only intuitively, he was able to clearly formulate. Such obvious nowadays concepts as assessment of a position, prerequisites for an attack, balance, were truly understood precisely in the time of Steinitz and through the efforts of Steinitz. After him, it became possible to study and develop chess, for it became a science with its own laws. Axiomatics, theorems and corollaries - everything is as it should be. (This is similar to the situation in number theory: today any schoolchild knows what zero is, and for mathematicians of antiquity, its introduction was a real revolution, which made it possible to build a harmonious building of theory.)
Of course, the first world champion was not alone, he was helped, mainly through discussions in the press, and other prominent masters of that time, among whom Tarrasch occupies a special place. They argued desperately! Ambition and passion led to the fact that sometimes it was necessary to defend knowingly losing positions. Steinitz's stubbornness and even stubbornness in some of the opening constructions, the desire to defend his theses at all costs, cost him many lost games. But this is exactly how - in the struggle - and the truth was learned.
As a rule, champions rate themselves even higher than the world admiring their game. When Steinitz was asked to name the favorite of the upcoming tournament (Vienna 1882), he named himself and argued this: “I have the best chances, because the opponents are weaker. I don't need to play a match with Steinitz, and the rest of the players will have to! " This was an immortal phrase, it is applicable everywhere and everywhere, in any competition in any sport ...
But at the same time, the first champion highly appreciated others. He was generous in praising Mikhail Chigorin, Emanuel Lasker and his other historical rivals.
For me personally, the most delightful thing about Steinitz is his adherence to principles. He never avoided strong opponents, considered it a duty of honor to defend his titles and his theories at the board. When Steinitz was asked with whom he would like to play the world championship match, he named Chigorin precisely because he had a good score with the champion! And in two difficult fights, risking the title, Steinitz managed to change the score in his favor. Oh, if only all chess players treated their profession and their opponents like Wilhelm Steinitz!
Until the end, until his death, which he met in a hospital for the mentally ill, he did not part with chess and lived by it. Despite the sad end, Steinitz nevertheless won the game of life, leaving perhaps the largest mark of all chess players living on Earth.
In opening theory, the first world champion also did a lot, although I would not call him an expert on opening. Almost all of his innovations arose as illustrations of the next positional discoveries. If, for example, he argued that the pawns are best located on the original squares, then in the opening he often played in a pretentious style, maintaining an ideal structure, without development, with pieces in the eighth row. That was successfully used by Chigorin. Nowadays, any competent player knows that the laws of positional play that work in the middlegame are often not valid in the opening. Steinitz underestimated this circumstance and constantly put "scientific experiments" on the brink of a foul! Suffice it to recall the variation 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Qh4, Steinitz's gambit with the white king in the thick of the battle: 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 exf4 4.d4 Qh4 + 5.Ke2 and others questionable options ...
However, there are also long-lived works. For example, the Steinitz Defense in the Spaniard: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 d6, variation 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4! in the French defense. Of course, the champion in the king's gambit, Evans's gambit and other openings worked hard. In general, a large amount of theory turns out, hardly anyone in the 19th century did more.
Yet Steinitz's main achievement was something else. He made chess a science!