As a result of winning this tournament Anderssen was popularly recognised as Europe's best player, although as far as is known he was never described as "world champion". The "idea" of a world chess champion had been current at least since 1840, and the earliest known use of the term "world champion" is in 1845, referring to Staunton and published in Staunton's "Chess Players' Chronicle". Wilhelm Steinitz was widely recognized as "world champion" in the 1870s, but the first formal contest for the world title was the 1886 match between Steinitz and Johannes Zukertort.