Wilhelm Steinitz

**Wilhelm** (later *William*) **Steinitz** (Prague, 17 May 1836 – New York, 12 August 1900) was an Austrian chess grandmaster who emigrated first to London, then to the USA.

He was the first undisputed World Chess Champion and held it from 1886 to 1894, unofficially from 1872.

Steinitz won the title by beating Johannes Zukertort in a match in 1886. He lost it to Emanuel Lasker in 1894. He also lost a rematch with Lasker in 1897.

## Life & career 
Born a Jew in Bohemia, Steinitz studied mathematics at the Vienna Polytecnic, and won the Vienna chess championship in 1861 with a score of 31/32. After playing in the London 1862 tournament, he stayed in London as a professional player in clubs and coffee houses. He won a series of matches against all the best English and other players living in London. This established him as one of the best player in the world.

Steinitz beat Adolf Anderssen in 1866 and some think he should be regarded as world champion from this date however at the time Zukertort was the stronger player.

Apart from the chess, this match was a landmark in chess organisation. It was the first event to be timed by clocks.

## United States 
 lost matches to him in 1872 and 1886. The second match made Steinitz the undisputed world champion.]]
Steinitz left England for the United States in 1886, and became an American citizen in 1888.

He was given an enthusiastic reception, played several exhibitions, many casual games, a match for stakes of £50 with a wealthy amateur, and slightly more serious matches with New World professionals. The match with the Cuban champion Celso Golmayo Zúpide was abandoned when Steinitz was leading (eight wins, one draw, one loss). His hosts even arranged a visit to New Orleans, where Paul Morphy lived.

While based in New York he played matches against Zukertort (St Louis 1883), twice against Russia's Mikhail Chigorin (Havana 1889 & 1892), Isidor Gunsberg (New York 1890/91). Finally, there were the two losing matches against Emanuel Lasker, (Philadelphia/New York/Montreal 1894 and Moscow 1896/97). These were all for the world championship. There were also a dozen matches against lesser masters, including four against J.H. Blackburne, the leading English professional.

## Assessment 
's Josefov district.]]
The book of the Hastings 1895 chess tournament, written collectively by the players, described Steinitz as follows:
:"Mr. Steinitz stands high as a theoretician and as a writer; he has a powerful pen, and when he chooses can use expressive English. He evidently strives to be fair to friends and foes alike, but appears sometimes to fail to see that after all he is much like many others in this respect. Possessed of a fine intellect, and extremely fond of the game, he is apt to lose sight of all other considerations, people and business alike. Chess is his very life and soul, the one thing for which he lives".

Steinitz died in poverty, having spent some of his last years in a New York mental institution. His second wife and their two young children survived him, and a fund of $1050 was raised to help them.

## References 
* Bachmann L. 1910–1921. *Schachmeister Steinitz*. 4 vols, reprint Olms 1990.
* *The games of Wilhelm Steinitz*. ed Pickard & Son 1995. A collection of 1,022 Steinitz' games with annotations.
* Kasparov, Garry 2003. *My great predecessors*, part I. Everyman Chess. .