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'''Bruce Ornstein''' is an [[United States|American]] actor. He appeared in 8 films or TV-episodes between [[1977 in film|1977]] and [[2000 in film|2000]].
{{Infobox chess player
|playername = Wilhelm Steinitz
|image = [[Image:Wilhelm Steinitz2.jpg|220px]]
|caption=
|birthname = Wilhelm Steinitz
|country = {{flag|Austrian Empire}}<br />{{USA}}
|datebirth = {{birth date|1836|5|17}}
|placebirth = [[Prague]], [[Bohemia]]
|datedeath = {{death date and age|1900|8|12|1836|5|7}}
|placedeath = [[New York City]], [[United States]]
|title =
|worldchampion = 1886-1894
|womensworldchampion =
|rating =
|peakrating =
}}
'''Wilhelm''' (later '''William''') '''Steinitz''' ([[May 17]], [[1836]] – [[August 12]], [[1900]]) was an [[people|Austrian]]-[[USA|American]] [[chess]] player and the first undisputed [[World Chess Championship|world chess champion]] from 1886 to 1894; some contemporaries and later writers described him as world champion since 1866, when he won a match against [[Adolf Anderssen]]. Steinitz lost his title to [[Emanuel Lasker]] in 1894 and also lost a re-match in 1897.

Statistical rating systems give Steinitz a rather low ranking among world champions, mainly because he took several long breaks from competitive play. However, an analysis based on one of these rating systems shows that he was one of the three most dominant players in the history of the game.

Although Steinitz became "world number one" by winning in the all-out attacking style that was common in the 1860s, he unveiled in 1873 a new [[List of chess terms#P | positional]] style of play and demonstrated that it was superior to the old style. His new style was controversial and some even branded it as "cowardly", but many of Steinitz's games showed that it could also provide a platform for attacks as ferocious as those of the old school. Steinitz was also a prolific writer on chess, and defended his new ideas vigorously. The debate was so bitter and sometimes abusive that it became known as the "Ink War". But by the early 1890s Steinitz' approach was widely accepted and the next generation of top players acknowledged their debt to him, most notably his successor as world champion, Emanuel Lasker. As a result of his play and writings Steinitz, along with [[Paul Morphy]], is considered by many chess commentators to be the founder of modern chess.<ref>See, e.g., {{citation | last=Lasker | first=Emanuel | author-link=Emanuel Lasker | title=Lasker's Manual of Chess | edition=2d ed. | publisher=David McKay Co. | location=New York | year=1947 | page=187}}</ref>

As a result of the "Ink War", traditional accounts of Steinitz' character depict him as ill-tempered and aggressive; but more recent research shows that he had long and friendly relationships with many players and chess organizations. Most notably in 1888 to 1889 he co-operated with the American Chess Congress in a project to define rules for the future conduct of contests for the world championship title that he held.

Steinitz was unskilled at managing money and lived in poverty all his life.

==Life and chess career==
<!--[[Image:WSteinitz.jpg|thumb|right|Wilhelm Steinitz]]-->
[[Image:Steinitz1866.jpg|thumb|right|Steinitz in 1866]]
Steinitz was born on [[May 17]], [[1836]] in the [[Jew]]ish ghetto of [[Prague]] (now capital of the [[Czech Republic]]; then part of the [[Austrian Empire]]), the last of a hardware retailer's thirteen sons. He learned to play chess at age 12.<ref name="SchoenbergGrandmasters">{{citation | last=Schoenberg | first=Harold C. | title=Grandmasters of Chess | publisher=W.W. Norton & Co. | location=New York | edition=Rev. Ed. | year=1981 | page=99}}</ref>

He began playing serious chess in his twenties, after leaving Prague to study [[mathematics]] in [[Vienna]].<ref name="SchoenbergGrandmasters" /> He improved rapidly in the late 1850s, progressing from 3rd place in the 1859 Vienna championship to 1st in 1861 with a score of 30/31.<ref name="ScoresRomanticEra" /> In this period he was nicknamed "the Austrian [[Paul Morphy| Morphy]]".<ref name="WallProfileSteinitz" />

Steinitz was then sent to represent Austria in the [[London]] International Tournament of 1862. He placed sixth, but his win over [[Augustus Mongredien]] was awarded the tournament's brilliancy prize.<ref name="WallProfileSteinitz" /> He immediately challenged the 5th-placed contestant, the Italian player [[Serafino Dubois]], to a match, which Steinitz won (5 wins, 1 draw, 3 losses).<ref name="ScoresRomanticEra" /> This encouraged him to turn professional and he took residence in London. In 1862-63 Steinitz scored a crushing win in a match with [[Joseph Henry Blackburne]], who went on to be one of the world's top ten for 20 years but had only started playing chess 2 years earlier.<ref name="ChessmetricsPlayerProfileBlackburne">{{ cite web | url=http://db.chessmetrics.com/CM2/PlayerProfile.asp?Params=199510SSSSS3S012785000000111000000000000010100 | title=Chessmetrics Player Profile: Joseph Blackburne }}</ref> Steinitz then convincingly beat most of the leading UK-resident players in matches: [[Frederic Deacon]], [[Augustus Mongredien]], Green, and Robey.<ref name="SilmanSteinitz">{{ cite web | url=http://www.jeremysilman.com/chess_history/grt_plyr_w_steinitz.html | title=Wilhelm Steinitz | author=[[Jeremy Silman|Silman, J.]] }}</ref> This charge up the rankings had a price: in March 1863 Steinitz apologized in a letter to [[Ignác Kolisch]] for not repaying a loan, because while Steinitz had been beating Blackburne, [[Daniel Harrwitz]] had "taken over" all of Steinitz' clients at the London chess club, who had been Steinitz' main source of income.<ref name="LandsbergerSteinitzPapers" />

[[Image:AdolphAnderssen.jpg| thumb | right | 250px | [[Adolf Anderssen]] was recognized as the world's top player until 1866, when Steinitz won a match against him.]]
These successes established Steinitz as one of the world's top players, and he was able to arrange a match in 1866 in London against [[Adolf Anderssen]], who was regarded as the world's strongest active player because he had won the 1851 and 1862 London International Tournaments and his one superior, Paul Morphy, had retired from competitive chess.<ref name="SchoenbergGrandmasters" /> Steinitz won with 8 wins and 6 losses (there were no draws), but it was a hard fight; after 12 games the scores were level at 6-6, then Steinitz won the last two games.<ref name="WallProfileSteinitz" /> As a result of this win Steinitz was generally regarded as the world's best player.<ref name="WinterWorldChessChampion" /> The prize money for this match was £100 to the winner (Steinitz) and £20 for the loser (Anderssen). The winner's prize was a large sum by the standards of the times, equivalent to about £55,000 in 2006's money.<ref>Conversion based on average incomes, which are the most appropriate measure for a few weeks' hard work. If we use average prices for the conversion, the result is about £6,300. {{ cite web | url=http://www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare/result.php?use%5B%5D=CPI&use%5B%5D=DEFIND&use%5B%5D=WAGE&use%5B%5D=GDPCP&use%5B%5D=GDPC&year_early=1866&pound71=100&shilling71=0&pence71=0&amount=100&year_source=1866&year_result=2008 | title=Five Ways to Compute the Relative Value of a U.K. Pound Amount, 1830 - 2006: 2006 equivalent of £100 in 1866 }}</ref>

Steinitz had married a lady named Caroline (born 1846) earlier in the 1860s, and their daughter Flora was born in 1867. The couple had no other children.<ref name="LandsbergerSteinitzPapers" /><ref name="WinterChessNotes29">See extracts from UK census records for 1871 and 1881 at {{ cite web | url=http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/winter29.html | title=Chess Notes by Edward Winter: 29 }}</ref>

Steinitz won every serious match he played from 1862 until 1892 inclusive, sometimes by wide margins.<ref name="WallProfileSteinitz">{{ cite web | url=http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lab/7378/steinitz.htm | title=Bill Wall's Chess Master Profiles: Steinitz }}</ref> In the years following his victory over Anderssen he beat [[Henry Bird]] in 1866 (7 wins, 5 losses, 5 draws) and comfortably beat [[Johannes Zukertort]] in 1872 (7 wins, 4 draws, 1 loss; Zukertort had proved himself one of the elite by beating Anderssen convincingly in 1871).<ref name="SilmanSteinitz" /> But it took longer for him to reach the top in tournament play. In the next few years he took: 3rd place at [[Paris]] 1867 behind [[Ignatz Kolisch]] and [[Simon Winawer]]; and 2nd places at [[Dundee]] (1868; [[Gustav Neumann]] won), <!--- *************

Bill Wall is the only source who says Steinitz played in a German Chess Championship and came 2nd to Anderssen - but Wall dates it to 1868! Also there were separate West, North and Central Championship tournaments. All other sources says Lange won the West and North tournaments in 1868, no mention of a Central tournament in 1868. Looks like Wall's wrong.

the 1869 [[German Chess Championship]] (won by Anderssen),<ref name="WallProfileSteinitz" />

************ --> and [[Baden-Baden 1870 chess tournament]]; behind Anderssen but ahead of Blackburne, [[Louis Paulsen]] and other strong players).<ref>{{ cite web | url=http://www.endgame.nl/bad1870.htm | title=Baden-Baden 1870}}</ref> His first victory in a strong tournament was [[London]] 1872, ahead of Blackburne and Zukertort;<ref name="NYTimes1894PreSteinitzLasker" /> and the first tournament in which Steinitz finished ahead of Anderssen was Vienna 1873,<ref name="WallProfileSteinitz" /> when Andersen was 55 years old.

All of Steinitz' successes up to 1872 inclusive were achieved in the attack-at-all-costs "Romantic" style exemplified by Anderssen. But in the 1873 Vienna tournament Steinitz unveiled a new "positional" style of play which was to become the basis of modern chess.<ref name="SilmanSteinitz" /> He tied for first place with Blackburne, ahead of [[Samuel Rosenthal]], Paulsen and [[Henry Bird]], and won the play-off against Blackburne. Steinitz made a shaky start but won his last 14 games in the main tournament (including 2-0 results over Paulsen, Anderssen, and Blackburne<ref name="SilmanSteinitz" />) plus the 2 play-off games - this was the start of a 24-game winning streak in serious competition.<ref name="endgameNLWorldExhibitions" />

Between 1873 and 1882 Steinitz played no tournaments and only 1 match (a 7-0 win against Blackburne in 1876); his other games during this period were in [[Simultaneous exhibition| simultaneous]] and [[Blindfold chess| blindfold]] exhibitions,<ref name="WallProfileSteinitz" /> which contributed an important part of a professional chess-player's income in those days (for example in 1887 Blackburne was paid 9 [[Guinea (British coin)| guineas]] for 2 simultaneous exhibitions and 1 blindfold exhibition hosted by the Teesside Chess Association;<ref name="ClevelandChessAssocHist">{{ cite web | url=http://www.clevelandchessassociation.org.uk/cca/history/index.htm | title=History of the CCA }}</ref> this was equivalent to about £4,600 at 2006 values<ref>Conversion based on average incomes: {{ cite web | url=http://www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare/result.php?use%5B%5D=CPI&use%5B%5D=DEFIND&use%5B%5D=WAGE&use%5B%5D=GDPCP&use%5B%5D=GDPC&year_early=1887&pound71=9&shilling71=9&pence71=0&amount=9.45&year_source=1887&year_result=2008 | title=Five Ways to Compute the Relative Value of a U.K. Pound Amount, 1830 - 2006: 2006 equivalent of 9 guineas in 1889 }}</ref>).

Instead Steinitz concentrated on his work as a chess journalist, notably for ''[[The Field (magazine)| The Field]]'', which was Britain's leading sports magazine.<ref name="chessarchSteinitzWroteForTheField">From 1873 to 1882, Steinitz was a regular chess columnist for ''The Field'', see {{cite web | url=http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lab/7378/steinitz.htm | title=Bill Wall's Chess Master Profiles - Steinitz }} For example he wrote commentaries on the {{ cite web | url=http://www.chessarch.com/excavations/000B_blac_stei/1876blst.shtml | title=Blackburne-Steinitz Match,
London 1876 }} in collaboration with his opponent and on the {{ cite web | url=http://www.chessarch.com/excavations/000E_rose_zuke/1880rozu.shtml | title=Rosenthal-Zukertort Match,
London 1880}}</ref> Some of Steinitz' commentaries aroused heated debates, notably from Zukertort and [[Leopold Hoffer]] in ''The Chess Monthly'' (which they had founded in 1879).<ref name="WinterKKSCotch">{{ cite web | url=http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/scotch.html | title=Kasparov, Karpov and the Scotch | author=Winter, E. }}</ref> This "Ink War" escalated sharply in 1881, when Steinitz mercilessly criticized Hoffer's annotations of games in the 1881 [[Berlin]] Congress (won by Blackburne ahead of Zukertort). Steinitz was eager to settle the analytical debates by a second match against Zukertort, whose unwillingness to play provoked scornful coments from Steinitz. In mid-1882 [[James Mason (chess player)| James Mason]], a consistently strong player,<ref>{{ cite web | url=http://db.chessmetrics.com/PL/PL25209.htm | title= Chessmetrics: Career ratings for Mason, James }}</ref> challenged Steinitz to a match, and accused Steinitz of cowardice when Steinitz insisted the issue with Zukertort should be settled first; Steinitz responded by inviting Mason to name a sufficiently high stake for a match (at least £150 per player; equivalent to about £73,000 in 2006 money<ref>Using average incomes for the conversion: {{ cite web | url=http://www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare/result.php?use%5B%5D=CPI&use%5B%5D=DEFIND&use%5B%5D=WAGE&use%5B%5D=GDPCP&use%5B%5D=GDPC&year_early=1882&pound71=150&shilling71=&pence71=&amount=150&year_source=1882&year_result=2008 | title=Five Ways to Compute the Relative Value of a U.K. Pound Amount, 1830 - 2006: £150 in 1882 }}</ref>), but Mason was unwilling to stake more than £100. Mason later agreed to play a match with Zukertort for a stake of £100 per player, but soon "postponed" that match, "circumstances having arisen that make it highly inconvenient for me to proceed ..."<ref name="LandsbergerSteinitzPapers">{{ cite book | title=The Steinitz Papers: Letters and Documents of the First World Chess Champion | author=Landsberger, K. | publisher=McFarland | date=2002 | isbn=0786411937 | url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=NltT4BinugsC&pg=PA28&lpg=PA28&dq=steinitz+%22the+field%22+hoffer&source=web&ots=AohJTAFoXc&sig=Gh922D23WtRuNZoa1F1Q27ykxKQ&hl=en#PPA37,M1 }}</ref>

[[Image:Johannes Zukertort.jpg| thumb | right | 200px | Steinitz' rival and bitter enemy [[Johannes Zukertort]] lost matches to him in 1872 and 1886. The second match made Steinitz the undisputed [[World Chess Championship| world champion]]. ]]
Steinitz' long lay-off caused some commentators to suggest that Zukertort, who had scored some notable tournament victories, should be regarded as the world chess champion.<ref name="WinterWorldChessChampion" /> Steinitz returned to serious competitive chess in the 1882 Vienna tournament, which was the strongest chess tournament of all time at that point. Despite a shaky start he took equal 1st place with [[Szymon Winawer]], ahead of [[James Mason (chess player)| James Mason]], Zukertort, [[George Henry Mackenzie]], Blackburne, [[Berthold Englisch]], Paulsen and [[Mikhail Chigorin]]; and drew the play-off match.<ref>{{ cite web | url=http://www.endgame.nl/wien.htm | title=Vienna 1882 and 1898}}</ref><ref name="chessbaseVienna1882">{{ cite web | url=http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=2117 | title=International Chess Tournament Vienna 1882}}</ref> While Steinitz was playing in Vienna and sending weekly reports on the tournament to ''The Field'', there was a plot against him back in England. Just after the end of the tournament ''The Field'' published a xenophobic article that praised the efforts of the English players and those of English origin in Vienna but disparaged the victory of Steinitz and Winawer. Steinitz stopped working for ''The Field'' and was replaced by Hoffer, a close friend of Zukertort and a bitter enemy of Steinitz.<ref name="chessbaseVienna1882">A vivid account of the players, the tournament's nail-biting finish and the back-stabbing that ended Steinitz' position as principal chess correspondent for ''The Field'': {{ cite web | url=http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=2117 | title=International Chess Tournament Vienna 1882 | author=Fischer, J. }}</ref><ref>Sources differ about exactly when the Hoffer-Zukertort faction took over the chess columns at ''The Field''; some say it was after the 1883 London tournament, so there was a gap between Steinitz' tenure and Hoffer's: {{ cite web | url=http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lab/7378/steinitz.htm | title=Bill Wall's Chess Master Profiles: Steinitz }}</ref>

Steinitz visited the USA, mainly the [[Philadelphia]] area, from December 1882 to May 1883. 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 2 New World professionals, Sellman and the Cuban champion [[Celso Golmayo Zúpide]] - the match with Golmayo was abandoned when Steinitz was leading (8 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss). His hosts even arranged a visit to [[New Orleans]], where Paul Morphy lived.<ref name="LandsbergerSteinitzPapers" />

Later in 1883 Steinitz took second place in an extremely strong tournament in London behind Zukertort, who made a brilliant start, faded at the end but finished 3 points ahead.<ref name="chesscornerWorldchampsSteinitz">{{ cite web | url=http://www.chesscorner.com/worldchamps/steinitz/steinitz.htm | title=World Chess Champions: Wilhelm Steinitz }}</ref> Steinitz finished 2½ points ahead of the 3rd-placed competitor, Blackburne.<ref name="WeeksLondon1883">Mark Weeks' Chess Pages: {{ cite web | url=http://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/y3lon-ix.htm 1883 | title=1883 London Tournament}}</ref> Zukertort's victory again led some commentators to suggest that Zukertort should be regarded as the world chess champion, while others said the issue could only be resolved by a match between Steinitz and Zukertort.<ref name="WinterWorldChessChampion" />

In 1883, shortly after the London tournament, Steinitz decided to leave England and moved to [[New York]], where he lived for the rest of his life.<ref name="chessbaseVienna1882" /> This did not end the "Ink War": his enemies persuaded some of the American press to publish anti-Steinitz articles,<ref name="NYTimes1887OnSteinitz" /><ref name="LandsbergerSteinitzPapers" /> and in 1885 Steinitz founded the ''International Chess Magazine'', which he edited until 1895. In his magazine he chronicled the lengthy negotiations for a match with Zukertort. He also managed to find supporters in other sections of the American press including ''Turf, Field and Farm'' and the [[St. Louis Globe-Democrat| St. Louis ''Globe-Democrat'']], both of which reported Steinitz' offer to forgo all fees, expenses or share in the stake and make the match "a benefit performance, solely for Mr Zukertort’s pecuniary profit".<ref name="WinterWorldChessChampion" />

Eventually it was agreed that in 1886 Steinitz and Zukertort would play a match in New York, [[St. Louis]] and New Orleans, and that the victor would be the player who first won 10 games. At Steinitz' insistence the contract said it would be "for the Championship of the World".<ref name="WinterWorldChessChampion" /><ref name="LandsbergBiographySteinitz">{{ citation | last=Landsberg | first=K. | title=William Steinitz: A biography of the Bohemian Caesar | publisher=McFarland & Co. | date=1993 }}</ref> After the five games played in New York, Zukertort led by 4-1, but in the end Steinitz won decisively by 12½–7½ (10 wins, 5 draws, 5 losses). Though not yet officially an American citizen, Steinitz wanted the [[United States|U.S.]] flag to be placed next to him during the match. He became a U.S. citizen on [[November 23]], [[1888]], having resided for five years in New York, and changed his first name from Wilhelm to William.<ref name="WallProfileSteinitz" />

In 1887 the [[American Chess Congress]] started work on drawing up regulations for the future conduct of world championship contests. Steinitz actively supported this endeavor, as he thought he was becoming too old to remain world champion - he wrote in his own magazine "I know I am not fit to be the champion, and I am not likely to bear that title for ever").<ref name="Thulin1899WorldChampionshipMatchOrNot" />

Steinitz' only daughter, Flora, died in 1888 at the age of 21.<ref name="chessvilleSteinitzPapers">{{ cite web | url=http://www.chessville.com/reviews/SteinitzPapers.htm | title=The Steinitz Papers - review }}</ref>

In 1888 [[Havana]] Chess Club offered to sponsor a match between Steinitz and whomever he would select as a worthy opponent. Steinitz nominated the Russian [[Mikhail Chigorin]],<ref name="WallProfileSteinitz" /> on the condition that the invitation should not be presented as a challenge from himself. There is some doubt about whether this was intended to be a match for the world championship: both Steinitz' letters and the publicity material just before the match conspicuously avoided the phrase; the proposed match was to have a maximum of 20 games,<ref name="WallProfileSteinitz" /> and Steinitz had said that fixed-length matches were unsuitable for world championship contests because the first player to take the lead could then play for draws; Steinitz was at the same time supporting the American Chess Congress' world championship project.<ref name="Thulin1899WorldChampionshipMatchOrNot">{{ cite web | url=http://www.anders.thulin.name/SUBJECTS/CHESS/SteinitzChigorin1889.pdf | title=Steinitz—Chigorin, Havana 1899 - A World Championship Match or Not? | author=Thulin, A. | date=August 2007 | accessdate=2008-05-30}} Based on {{ cite book | title=The Steinitz Papers: Letters and Documents of the First World Chess Champion | author=Landsberger, K. | publisher=McFarland | date=2002 | isbn=0786411937 | url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=NltT4BinugsC&pg=PA28&lpg=PA28&dq=steinitz+%22the+field%22+hoffer&source=web&ots=AohJTAFoXc&sig=Gh922D23WtRuNZoa1F1Q27ykxKQ&hl=en#PPA37,M1 }}</ref> Whatever the status of the match, it was played in Havana in January to February 1889 and won by Steinitz (10 wins, 1 draw, 6 losses).

The American Chess Congress' final proposal was that: the winner of a tournament to be held in New York in 1889 should be regarded as world champion for the time being, but must be prepared to face a challenge from the 2nd or 3rd placed competitor within a month.<ref name="Thulin1899WorldChampionshipMatchOrNot" /> Steinitz wrote that he would not play in the tournament and would not challenge the winner unless the 2nd and 3rd placed competitors failed to do so.<ref>{{ cite journal | journal=International Chess Magazine | author=Wilhelm Steinitz | volume=3 | pages=370–371 | date=December 1887 | title=(title unknown) | url=http://www.anders.thulin.name/SUBJECTS/CHESS/SteinitzChigorin1889.pdf | accessdate=2008-06-15 }}</ref> The tournament was duly played, but the outcome was not quite as planned: [[Mikhail Chigorin]] and [[Max Weiss]] tied for first place; their play-off resulted in four draws; and neither wanted to play a championship match - Chigorin had just lost a match against Steinitz and Weiss wanted to get back to his work for the [[Rothschild Bank]]. The third prize-winner [[Isidore Gunsberg]] was prepared to play Steinitz for the title in New York, and Steinitz won their match in 1890-1891.<ref name="endgameNLNewYork1889And1924">{{ cite web | url=http://www.endgame.nl/newyork.htm | title=New York 1889 and 1924 }}</ref><ref name="storiascacchiMatches1880Al1999">{{ cite web | url=http://xoomer.alice.it/cserica/scacchi/storiascacchi/matches/1880-99.htm | title=I matches 1880/99 | accessdate=2008-05-29 }}</ref> The American Chess Congress' experiment was not repeated and Steinitz' last 3 world championship matches were private arrangements between the players.<ref name="NYTimes1894PreSteinitzLasker" /><ref name="WallProfileSteinitz" />

[[Image:Lasker-Steinitz.jpg|thumb|right|[[Emanuel Lasker]] (right) playing Steinitz for the [[World Chess Championship]], New York 1894]]
In 1891 the [[Saint Petersburg| Saint Petersburg]] Chess Society and the Havana Chess Club offered to organize another Steinitz-Chigorin match for the world championship. Steinitz played against Chigorin in Havana in 1892 and won narrowly (10 wins, 5 draws, 8 losses). This was his last successful defense of his title.<ref name="WallProfileSteinitz" />

In 1892 Steinitz' first wife, Caroline, died.<ref name="LandsbergerSteinitzPapers" /> He married his second wife a few years later and had 2 children by her; his second family were all alive at the time of his death. But in 1897 he dedicated a pamphlet to the memory of his first wife and their daughter.<ref name="NYTimesSteinitzObit1900">{{ cite journal | journal=New York Times | date=August 14, 1900 | title=William Steinitz dead | url=http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9E06E4DC1039E733A25757C1A96E9C946197D6CF}} Also available in 2 parts at {{ cite web | url=http://www.rookhouse.com/blog/?p=177 | title= Steinitz Obituary (Part 1 of 2) }} and {{ cite web | url=http://www.rookhouse.com/blog/?p=182 | title= Steinitz Obituary (Part 2 of 2) }}</ref>

Around this time Steinitz publicly spoke of retiring, but changed his mind when [[Emanuel Lasker]] challenged him. Initially Lasker wanted to play for $5,000 a side and a match was agreed at stakes of $3,000 a side, but Steinitz agreed to a series of reductions when Lasker found it difficult to raise the money, and the final figure was $2,000 each, which was less than for some of Steinitz' earlier matches (the final combined stake of $4,000 would be worth over $495,000 at 2006 values<ref>Using incomes for the adjustment factor, as the outcome depended on a few months' hard work by the players; if prices are used for the conversion, the result is over $99,000 - see {{ cite web | url=http://www.measuringworth.com/uscompare/ | title=Six Ways to Compute the Relative Value of a U.S. Dollar Amount, 1774 to Present | accessdate=2008-05-30 }} However Lasker later published an analysis showing that the winning player got $1,600 and the losing player $600 out of the $4,000, as the backers who had bet on the winner got the rest: {{ cite journal | journal=[[Lasker's Chess Magazine]] | volume=1 | date=January 1905 | title=From the Editorial Chair | author=[[Emanuel Lasker]] | url=http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Lasker's_Chess_Magazine/Volume_1 | accessdate=2008-05-31 }}</ref>). Although this was publicly praised as an act of sportsmanship on Steinitz' part,<ref name="NYTimes1894PreSteinitzLasker" /> Steinitz may have desperately needed the money.<ref name="chessvilleSteinitzPapers" /> The match was played in 1894, at venues in New York, Philadelphia and [[Montreal]]. Lasker won convincingly (5 wins, 10 losses, 4 draws). The scores were even after 6 games but Steinitz lost the next 5 in a row.<ref name="chessvilleSteinitzLasker1894">{{ cite web | url=http://www.chessville.com/instruction/Lasker_v_Steinitz/instr_annogames_laskervsteinitz1894.htm | title= Lasker v. Steinitz - World Championship Match 1894 }}</ref><ref name="chessaboutSteinitz">{{ cite web | url=http://chess.about.com/library/persons/blp-stei.htm | title=Wilhelm Steinitz | author=Weeks, M. }}</ref> Some commentators thought Steinitz' habit of playing "experimental" moves in serious competition was a major factor in his downfall.<ref name="NYTimesSteinitzObit1900" />

After losing the title, Steinitz played in tournaments more frequently than he had previously: he won at [[New York City|New York]] 1894 and was fifth at [[Hastings 1895 chess tournament|Hastings 1895]] (winning the first brilliancy prize for his game with [[Curt von Bardeleben]]); at [[Saint Petersburg]] 1895, a four-players round-robin event with Lasker, Chigorin and [[Harry Pillsbury|Pillsbury]], he took a very good second place. Later his results began to decline: 6th in [[Nuremberg]] 1896, 5th in Cologne 1898, 10th in London 1899.<ref name="sympatico19thCentMatchesTournaments" /><ref name="WallProfileSteinitz" />

In early 1896 Steinitz defeated the Russian [[Emanuel Schiffers]] in a match (winning 6 games, drawing 1, losing 4). In November, 1896 Steinitz played a return match with Lasker in Moscow but won only 2 games, drawing 5, and losing 10.<ref name="chessaboutSteinitz" /> This was the last world chess championship match for 11 years. Shortly after the match, Steinitz had a mental breakdown and was confined for 40 days in a Moscow Sanitorium, where he played chess with the inmates.<ref name="WallProfileSteinitz" />

In February 1897 the [[New York Times]] prematurely reported his death in a New York mental asylum.<ref name="NYTimes1897ChessAndBrainDisease">{{ cite journal | journal=New York Times | date=February 23, 1897 | title=Chess and Brain Disease | url=http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9900EFDA1E3DE433A25750C2A9649C94669ED7CF }} The key passage is also quoted at {{cite web | url=http://www.chesscafe.com/text/spinrad20.pdf | title=Obituaries }}</ref>

Some authors claim that he contracted [[syphilis]],<ref name="Kmoch">[http://www.chesscafe.com/text/kmoch06.txt Grandmasters I Have Known - Emanuel Lasker], by [[Hans Kmoch]], [[ChessCafe.com]] (see last sentence)</ref> so that this may have been a cause of the mental breakdowns he suffered in his last years. His chess activities had not yielded any great financial rewards, and he died a pauper in the [[Manhattan State Hospital]] (Ward island) of a heart attack on [[August 12]], [[1900]]. Steinitz is buried in the [[Cemetery of the Evergreens]] in [[Brooklyn]], [[New York]]. His second wife and their two young children were still alive at his death.<ref name="NYTimesSteinitzObit1900" />

Lasker, who took the championship from Steinitz, wrote, "I who vanquished him must see to it that his great achievement, his theories should find justice, and I must avenge the wrongs he suffered."<ref name="Kmoch"/> Steinitz's fate, and Lasker's keenness to avoid a similar situation of financial ruin, have been cited among the reasons Lasker fought so hard to keep the world championship title.
<div style="clear: both"></div>

===When did Steinitz' reign begin?===
{{main|Development of the World Chess Championship}}
There is a long-running debate among chess writers about whether Steinitz' reign as [[World Chess Champion]] began in 1866, when he beat Anderssen, or in 1886, when he beat Zukertort.<ref name="Thulin1899WorldChampionshipMatchOrNot">{{ cite web | url=http://www.anders.thulin.name/SUBJECTS/CHESS/SteinitzChigorin1889.pdf | title=Steinitz—Chigorin, Havana 1899 - A World Championship Match or Not? | author=Thulin, A. | date=August 2007 | accessdate=2008-06-06 }} Based on {{ cite book | title=The Steinitz Papers: Letters and Documents of the First World Chess Champion | author=Landsberger, K. | publisher=McFarland | date=2002 | isbn=0786411937 | url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=NltT4BinugsC&pg=PA28&lpg=PA28&dq=steinitz+%22the+field%22+hoffer&source=web&ots=AohJTAFoXc&sig=Gh922D23WtRuNZoa1F1Q27ykxKQ&hl=en#PPA37,M1 }}</ref><ref name="DateStartSteinitzReign">Dating the start of Steinitz' reign to 1886:
*{{cite book | title=The World Chess Championship | author=Gligoric, S., and Wade, R.G. | date=1972 | page=P. xi | publisher=Harper & Row | isbn=0060115734 }}
*{{citation | title=International Championship Chess: A Complete Record of FIDE Events | author=Kazic, B.M. | date=1974 | isbn=0-273-07078-9 | page=p.206 }}
*{{cite book | title=The Oxford Companion to Chess'' | edition=2nd | date=1992 | author=Hooper, D., and Whyld, K. | page=p. 450 | publisher=Oxford University Press | isbn=0-19-866164-9 }}
<br/>Supporting 1866:
*{{ cite journal | journal=New York times | date=11 Mar 1894 | title="Ready for a big chess match" | url=http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=2&res=9400E4DF1630E033A25752C1A9659C94659ED7CF&oref=slogin&oref=slogin }}
*{{cite journal | journal=British Chess Magazine | date=April 1894 | title=(unknown) | url=http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/champion.html | accessdate=2008-09-04 }}
*{{ cite book | title=William Steinitz' Selected Chess Games | author=Devide, C. | publisher=Dover | date=1974; originally 1901 | page=p. 4. | isbn=0486230252 }}
*{{cite journal | journal=Lasker's Chess Magazine | date=May 1908 | title=(unknown) | author=Lasker, Em. | url=http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/champion.html | accessdate=2008-09-04 }}
*{{ cite book | author=Fine, R. | title=The World's Great Chess Games | publisher=Andre Deutsch | date=1952 | page=30 }}
*{{cite book | title=Golombek's Encyclopedia of Chess | author=Golombek, H. | date=1977 | page=p. 309 | publisher=Crown | isbn=0517531461 }}
*{{cite newspaper | newspaper= New York Times | author=Byrne, R. | title= Pastimes; Chess | date=December 17, 1989 | url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE7DB123DF934A25751C1A96F948260 | accessdate=2008-09-04 }}
*{{ cite book | title=The Batsford Chess Encyclopedia | author=Divinsky, N. | date=1990 | page=p. 203 | publisher=Batsford | isbn=0713462140 }}
*{{cite newspaper | newspaper=Washing Times | date=May 16, 2003 | title=Unsound but irresistible fun | url=http://www.washtimes.com/news/2003/may/16/20030516-102232-1025r/ | accessdate=2008-09-04 }}
*{{cite book | title=UXL Encyclopedia of World Biography | date=2003 | entry=Wilhelm Steinitz | url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_gx5229/is_2003/ai_n19151966 | accessdate=2008-09-04 }}
*{{cite web | title=The World Chess Champions, by GM Raymond Keene OBE | author=Keene, R. | date=September 29, 2007 | url=http://www.impalapublications.com/blog/index.php?/archives/2147-THE-WORLD-CHESS-CHAMPIONS,-by-GM-Raymond-Keene-OBE.html | accessdate=2008-09-04 }}
<br />Undecided:
*{{cite book | author=Sunnucks, A. | title=The Encyclopaedia of Chess | date=1970 | pages=441-42 }}
</ref> In April 1894 the ''[[British Chess Magazine]]'' described Steinitz as holding "the chess championship of the world for 28 years".<ref>{{ cite journal | journal=British Chess Magazine | title=(unknown) | pages=163 | url=http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/champion.html | author=Winter, E. | unused_data=|April 1894 }} [[Emanuel Lasker]] supported this view: {{cite journal | journal=Lasker’s Chess Magazine | date= May 1908 | title=(article title unknown) | pages=1 | url=http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/champion.html | author=Winter, E. }} Likewise [[Reuben Fine]] in {{ cite book | author=Fine, R. | title=The World's Great Chess Games | date=1952
| publisher=Andre Deutsch (now as paperback from Dover) }}.</ref> However there is no evidence that he claimed the title for himself in 1866, although in the 1880s he claimed to have been the champion since his win over Anderssen.<ref>See the extracts from contemporary documents at {{ cite web | title=Early Uses of ‘World Chess Champion’ | url=http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/champion.html | author=Winter, E. }} The 1882 quote from Steinitz, 2 years before Morphy's death, might be interpreted as claiming that he was champion from 1866; but the 1888 extract is his first absolutely unambiguous claim to have been champion since 1866.</ref> It has been suggested that Steinitz could not make such a claim while [[Paul Morphy]] was alive.<ref>{{ citation | title=The Centenary Match, Kasparov-Karpov III | last1=Keene | first1=Raymond | author1-link=Raymond Keene | last2=Goodman | first2=David | date=1986 | pages=1–2 | publisher=Collier Books | isbn=0020287003 }}</ref> – Morphy had defeated Anderssen by a far wider margin, 8–3, in 1858, but retired from chess competition soon after he returned to the USA in 1859, and died in 1884. The 1886 Steinitz-Zukertort match was the first that was explicitly described as being for the World Championship,<ref>Steinitz insisted that the contract should specify this, see the citation of ''Chess Monthly'' from January 1886 at {{ cite web | title=Early Uses of ‘World Chess Champion’ | url=http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/champion.html | author=Winter, E. }}</ref> but [[Howard Staunton]] and Paul Morphy had been unofficially described as "World Chess Champion" around the middle of the 19th century. In fact one of the organizers of the [[London 1851 chess tournament| 1851 London International tournament]] had said the contest was for "the baton of the World’s Chess Champion", and in mid-1840s [[Ludwig Bledow]] wrote a letter to [[Tassilo von Heydebrand und der Lasa]] suggesting they should organize a world championship tournament in Germany.<ref name="Spinrad2006EarlyWorldRankings">{{ cite web | url=http://www.chesscafe.com/text/spinrad06.pdf | title=Early World Rankings | date=2006 | author=Spinrad, J.P. | publisher=chesscafe.com }}</ref> Some commentators described Steinitz as "the champion" in the years following his 1872 match victory against Zukertort. In the late 1870s and early 1880s some regarded Steinitz as the champion and others supported Johannes Zukertort; and the 1886 match was not regarded as creating the title of World Champion but as resolving conflicting claims to the title.<ref name="WinterWorldChessChampion">{{ cite web | title=Early Uses of ‘World Chess Champion’ | url=http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/champion.html | author=Winter, E. }}</ref>

==Writings==
{{wikisource|A Literary Steinitz Gambit}}
Steinitz was a prolific writer:
*He was the main chess correspondent of the ''[[The Field]]'' (in [[London]]) from 1872 to 1882, and used this to present his ideas about chess strategy.<ref name="chessarchSteinitzWroteForTheField"/>
*In 1885 he founded the ''[[International Chess Magazine]]'' in [[New York]] and edited it until 1891. In addition to game commentaries and blow-by-blow accounts of the negotiations leading to his 1886 match with [[Johann Zukertort]] and of the American Chess Congress' world championship project, he wrote a long series of articles about [[Paul Morphy]], who had died in 1884.<ref name=InternationalChessMagazine>{{ cite book | author=Steinitz, W. | title=InternationalChessMagazine | editor=Fiala, V. | publisher=Moravian Chess | date= 1885-1891 | url=http://www.moravian-chess.cz/katalog.php?idkat=12 }} Reviewed at {{ cite web | url=http://www.jeremysilman.com/book_reviews_jw/jw_intl_chess_magazine.html | title=International Chess Magazine | date=2004 | author=Watson, J.}}</ref><ref name="Thulin1899WorldChampionshipMatchOrNot" />
*He wrote the book of the 1889 New York tournament.<ref name="CollectedWorksOfSteinitz" /><ref name="endgameNLNewYork">{{ cite web
| url=http://www.endgame.nl/newyork.htm | title=New York 1889 and 1924 | accessdate=2008-08-06
}}</ref>
*A textbook ''The Modern Chess Instructor'' (1889)<ref name="CollectedWorksOfSteinitz">Available as part of the CD collection {{Citation
| editor=Pickard, S.
| title =The Collected Works of Wilhelm Steinitz
| publisher =Chess Central
| url =http://www.chesscentral.com/wilhelm-steinitz/collected_works_steinitz.htm
}} Review at {{ cite web | url=http://chess.about.com/cs/productpublishers/fr/pckcwws.htm | title=The Collected Works of Wilhelm Steinitz }}</ref> An extract is available online at {{ cite web
| url=http://chess.about.com/od/improveyourgame/a/ble23zws.htm
| title=Relative Value of Pieces and Principles of Play | accessdate=2008-08-06
}}

==Assessment==
[[Image:Wilhelm Steinitz plaque.JPG| thumb | right | 250px | Plaque in honor of Wilhem Steinitz, in [[Prague]]'s Josefov district.]]
The book of the [[Hastings 1895 chess tournament]], written collectively by the players, described Steinitz as follows:<ref name="Hastings1895TournamentBook">{{cite book | author=Pickard, Sid (ed.) | title=Hastings 1895: The Centennial Edition | publisher=Pickard and Son | year=1995 | id=ISBN 1-886846-01-4}} The excerpt is also available at {{ cite web | url=http://chess.about.com/cs/productpublishers/fr/pckcwws.htm | title=The Collected Works of Wilhelm Steinitz | author=Weeks, M. }}</ref>
::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.

===Influence on the game===
Steinitz' play up to and including 1872 was similar that of his contemporaries: sharp, aggressive, and full of [[Sacrifice (chess)| sacrificial]] play. This was the style in which he became "world number one" by beating [[Adolf Anderssen]] in 1866 and confirmed his position by convincingly beating [[Johannes Zukertort| Zukertort]] in 1872 and winning the 1872 London International tournament (Zukertort had claimed the rank of number 2 by beating Anderssen in 1871).

In 1873, however, his play suddenly changed, giving priority to what we now call the positional elements in chess: pawn structure, space, outposts for knights, the advantage of the two bishops, etc. Although Steinitz often accepted unnecessarily difficult defensive positions in order to demonstrate the superiority of his theories, he also showed that his methods could provide a platform for crushing attacks.<ref name="Fine1952WorldsGreatChessGames">{{ cite book | author=Fine, R. | title=The World's Great Chess Games | date=1952
| publisher=Andre Deutsch (now as paperback from Dover) }}</ref><ref name="SilmanSteinitz">{{ cite web | title=Wilhelm Steinitz
| url=http://www.jeremysilman.com/chess_history/grt_plyr_w_steinitz.html
| author=Silman, J. | publisher=Jeremy Silman }} Several examples of Steinitz testing his theories in top-class play.</ref><ref>The "Notable games" section contains 2 examples of positional play leading to powerful attacks, [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1132645 Johannes Zukertort vs Wilhelm Steinitz, 9th game of their 1886 World Championship match] and [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1036342 4th game of his 1892 match] against [[Mikhail Chigorin]]</ref> Steinitz' successor as world champion, [[Emanuel Lasker]], summed up the new style as: "In the beginning of the game ignore the search for combinations, abstain from violent moves, aim for small advantages, accumulate them, and only after having attained these ends search for the combination – and then with all the power of will and intellect, because then the combination must exist, however deeply hidden."<ref name="LaskerManualOfChess">{{ cite book | title=Manual of Chess | author=Lasker, Emanuel | Dover Publications | date=1960 | isbn=0486206408 }}</ref>

Although Steinitz' play changed abruptly, he said had been thinking along such lines for some years: "Some of the games which I saw [[Louis Paulsen|Paulsen]] play during the London Congress of 1862 gave a still stronger start to the modification of my own opinions, which has since developed, and I began to recognize that Chess genius is not confined to the more or less deep and brilliant finishing strokes after the original balance of power and position has been overthrown, but that it also requires the exercise of still more extraordinary powers, though perhaps of a different kind to maintain that balance or respectively to disturb it at the proper time in one’s own favor."<ref name="LandsbergBiographySteinitz" />

During his 9-year lay-off from tournament play (1873–1882) and later in his career Steinitz used his chess writings to present his theories — while in the UK he wrote for ''The Field'';<ref name="chessarchSteinitzWroteForTheField" /> in 1885 he founded in New York the "International Chess Magazine" of which he was the chief editor;<ref>{{ cite web | url=http://www.jeremysilman.com/book_reviews_jw/jw_intl_chess_magazine.html | title=International Chess Magazine | author=Watson, J. | date=2004 }}</ref> and in 1889 he edited the book of the great [[American Chess Congress#Sixth_American_Chess_Congress | New York 1889 tournament]] (won by [[Mikhail Chigorin]] and [[Max Weiss]]),<ref>{{citation|year=1982|title=The book of the Sixth American Chess Congress|publisher=Edition Olms| date=1891, reprinted 1982 | editor=Steinitz, W. | isbn=3-283-00152-9}}</ref> in which he did not compete as the tournament was designed to select a challenger for his title.<ref name="endgameNLNewYork1889And1924">{{ cite web | url=http://www.endgame.nl/newyork.htm | title=New York 1889 and 1924 }}</ref> Many other writers found his new approach incomprehensible, boring or even cowardly; for example [[Adolf Anderssen]] said, "[[Ignatz Kolisch|Kolisch]] is a highwayman and points the pistol at your breast. Steinitz is a pick-pocket, he steals a pawn and wins a game with it."<ref name="NYTimes1887OnSteinitz">{{ citation | title=Steinitz, the chess champion | newspaper=[[New York Times]] | date=January 23, 1887 | url=http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9B00EED81639E233A25750C2A9679C94669FD7CF&oref=slogin}}</ref>

But when he fought for the first World Championship in 1886 against [[Johannes Zukertort]], it became evident that Steinitz was playing on another level. Although Zukertort was at least Steinitz' equal in spectacular attacking play, Steinitz often out-maneuvered him fairly simply by the use of positional principles.<ref name="Fine1952WorldsGreatChessGames" /><ref>For example in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Steinitz#Notable_games the 9th game].</ref>

By the time of his match against Gunsberg (1890-91) some commentators showed some understanding of and appreciation for Steinitz' theories.<ref name="chessarchGunsbergSteinitzMatch1890To91">See the individual game reports by 3 USA journals, linked to in {{ cite web | url=http://www.chessarch.com/excavations/000C_guns_stei/1890gust.shtml | title=Gunsberg-Steinitz Match, World Championship 1890-91 }}</ref> Shortly before the 1894 match with Emanuel Lasker even the ''New York Times'', which had earlier published attacks on his play and character,<ref name="NYTimes1887OnSteinitz" /> paid tribute to his playing record, the importance of his theories, and his sportsmanship in agreeing to the most difficult match of his career despite his previous intention of retiring.<ref name="NYTimes1894PreSteinitzLasker">{{ cite journal | journal=New York times | date=11 March 1894 | title="Ready for a big chess match" | url=http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=2&res=9400E4DF1630E033A25752C1A9659C94659ED7CF&oref=slogin&oref=slogin }} Note this article implies that the final combined stake was US $4,500, but Lasker's financial analysis says it was $4,000: {{ cite journal | journal=[[Lasker's Chess Magazine]] | volume=1 | date=January 1905 | title=From the Editorial Chair | author=[[Emanuel Lasker]] | url=http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Lasker's_Chess_Magazine/Volume_1 | accessdate=2008-05-31 }}</ref>

By the end of his career Steinitz was more highly esteemed as a theoretician than as a player. The comments about him in the book of the Hastings 1895 chess tournament focus on his theories and writings,<ref name="Hastings1895TournamentBook" /> and [[Emanuel Lasker]] was more explicit:
:He was a thinker worthy of a seat in the halls of a University. A player, as the world believed he was, he was not; his studious temperament made that impossible; and thus he was conquered by a player ...<ref>{{ cite book | title=Lasker's Manual of Chess | author=[[Emanuel Lasker]] | publisher=Dover | date=1925, reprinted 1960 | isbn=486-20640-8 | url=http://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/z4ls$wix.htm | accessdate=2008-05-31 }}</ref>

[[Vladmir Kramnik]] emphasizes Steinitz' importance as a pioneer in the field of chess theory: "Steinitz was the first to realise that chess, despite being a complicated game, obeys some common principles. ... But as often happens the first time is just a try. ... I can't say he was the founder of a chess theory. He was an experimenter and pointed out that chess obeys laws that should be considered."<ref name="KramnikSteinitzToKasparov">{{ cite web | url=http://www.kramnik.com/eng/interviews/getinterview.aspx?id=61
| title=Kramnik Interview: From Steinitz to Kasparov | author=Kramnik, V.
| publisher=[[Vladmir Kramnik]]
}}</ref><!--Perhaps Steinitz's impact on chess can best be evaluated by a fellow World Champion and master of strategy, [[Tigran Petrosian]]: "The significance of Steinitz's teaching is that he showed that in principle chess has a strictly defined, logical nature." Can we find a good ref for this? 3 of the 4 on Google are Wikipedia clones.-->

===Playing strength and style===
<!-- [[Image:SteinitzAlternate.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Steinitz]] -->
{{Chess diagram small|=
| tright
|
|=
|rd| |rd| |kd| | | |=
|pd|pd| |qd|nd| | |pd|=
| | | |__| |pd|pd| |=
| | | |pd| | |nl| |=
| |__|__| | | |ql|__|=
| | |__|__| | | | |=
|pl|pl| | | |pl|pl|pl|=
| | |rl| |rl| |kl| |=
| {{HiddenMultiLine | At age 59 Steinitz (White) produced a brilliancy against [[Curt von Bardeleben| von Bardeleben]] at [[Hastings 1895 chess tournament| Hastings 1895]] | 22. Rxe7+ Kf8; 23. Rf7+ Kg8; 24. Rg7+ Kh8; 25. Rxh7+ and Black resigned as White gets a huge advantage or forces [[checkmate]] in 10 moves.<ref name="Fine1952WorldsGreatChessGames" /> }} }}
Statistical rating systems are unkind to Steinitz. "Warriors of the Mind" gives him a surprisingly low ranking of 47th, below several obscure Soviet grandmasters;<ref name="WarriorsOfTheMind">{{ citation | title=Warriors of the Mind | last1=Keene | first1=Raymond | author1-link=Raymond Keene | last2=Divinsky | first2=Nathan | author2-link=Nathan Divinsky | date=1989 | publisher=Hardinge Simpole | location=Brighton, UK }} See the summary list at {{ cite web | url=http://chess.eusa.ed.ac.uk/Chess/Trivia/AlltimeList.html | title=All Time Rankings}}</ref> [[Chessmetrics]] places him only 15th on its all-time list.<ref>{{ cite web | url=http://db.chessmetrics.com/CM2/PeakList.asp | title=Peak Average Ratings: 3 year peak range }}</ref> But Chessmetrics penalizes players who play infrequently;<ref>{{ cite web | url=http://db.chessmetrics.com/CM2/Formulas.asp | title=Chessmetrics: Formulas | author=Sonas, J. }}</ref> opportunities for competitive chess were infrequent in Steinitz' best years,<ref name="Fine1952WorldsGreatChessGames" /> and Steinitz had a few long absences from competitive play (1873-1876, 1876-1882, 1883-1886, 1886-1889). In 2005 Chessmetrics' author, Jeff Sonas, wrote an article which examined various ways of comparing the strength of "world number one" players, using data provided by Chessmetrics, and found that: Steinitz was further ahead of his contemporaries in the 1870s than [[Bobby Fischer]] was in his peak period (1970-1972); that Steinitz had the third-highest total number of years as the world's top player, behind [[Emanuel Lasker]] and [[Garry Kasparov]]; and that Steinitz placed 7th in a comparison of how long the great players were ranked in the world's top 3.<ref>{{ cite web | url=http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=2345 | title=The Greatest Chess Player of All Time – Part I |author =Sonas, J. | publisher=Chessbase | date=2005}} Part IV gives links to all 3 earlier parts: {{ cite web | url=http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=2409 | title=The Greatest Chess Player of All Time – Part IV |author =Sonas, J. | publisher=Chessbase | date=2005}}</ref> Sonas' 2005 article is more consistent with Steinitz' record between his victory over Anderssen (1866) and his loss to Emanuel Lasker (1894): he won all his "normal" matches, sometimes by wide margins; and his ''worst'' tournament performance in that 28-year period was 3rd place in Paris (1867).<ref name="WallProfileSteinitz" /> (He lost 2 handicap matches and a match by telegraph in 1890 against [[Mikhail Chigorin]], where Chigorin was allowed to choose the openings in both games and won both<ref name="silmanCollectedWorksOfSteinitz">{{ cite web | url=http://www.jeremysilman.com/book_reviews_jw/jw_cllctd_wrks_w_stntz.html | title=The Collected Works of Wilhelm Steinitz" | author=[[John L. Watson| Watson, J.]] | date=2004 | publisher=[[Jeremy Silman]] }} review of a book edited by Sid Pickard }}</ref>)

Initially Steinitz played in the all-out attacking style of players like Anderssen, and then changed to the positional style with which he dominated competitive chess in the 1870s and 1880s.<ref name="SilmanSteinitz" /> [[Max Euwe]] wrote, "Steinitz aimed at positions with clear-cut features, to which his theory was best applicable."<ref>{{ citation | title=From Steinitz to Fischer | last=Euwe | first=Max | author-link=Max Euwe | publisher=Chess Informant | date=1976 | location=Belgrade }}</ref> But he retained his capacity for brilliant attacks right to the end of his career; for example in the [[Hastings 1895 chess tournament|1895 Hastings tournament]] (when he was 59) he beat [[Curt von Bardeleben|von Bardeleben]] in a [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1132699 spectacular game] in which in the closing stages Steinitz deliberately exposed all his pieces to attack simultaneously (except his king, of course).<ref name="Fine1952WorldsGreatChessGames" /> His most significant weaknesses were his habits of playing "experimental" moves and getting into unnecessarily difficult defensive positions in top-class competitive games.<ref name="NYTimesSteinitzObit1900" /><ref name="SilmanSteinitz" />

===Personality===
{{wikisource|A Literary Steinitz Gambit}}
"Traditional" accounts of Steinitz describe him as having a sharp tongue and violent temper, perhaps partly because of his short stature (barely 5 feet) and congenital lameness.<ref name="SchoenbergGrandmasters" /><ref name="Fine1952WorldsGreatChessGames" /><ref name="NYTimes1887OnSteinitz" /> He admitted that "Like the Duke of Parma, I always hold the sword in one hand and the olive branch in the other",<ref name="WinterSteinitzQuotes" /> and under severe provocation he could become abusive in published articles.<ref name="WinterChessWithViolence">{{ cite web | url=http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/violence.html | title=Chess with Violence | author=Winter, E. }}</ref> He was aware of his own tendencies and said early in his career, "Nothing would induce me to take charge of a chess column ...Because I should be so fair in dispensing blame as well as praise that I should be sure to give offence and make enemies." When he embarked on chess journalism, his brutally frank review of Wormald’s "''The Chess Openings''" in 1875 proved him right on both counts.<ref name="WinterChessNotesArchive15">{{ cite web | url=http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/winter15.html | title=Chess Notes Archive [15] | author=Winter, E. }} Winter concludes his commentary with, "If instances can be identified of Steinitz being wrong in his denunciation of Wormald, we should like to be informed."</ref>

But his personal correspondence, his own articles and some third-party articles show that he had long and friendly relationships with many people and groups in the chess world, including [[Ignác Kolisch]] (one of his earliest sponsors), [[Mikhail Chigorin]], [[Harry Nelson Pillsbury]],<ref name="chessvilleSteinitzPapers" /> [[Bernhard Horwitz]], [[Amos Burn]]<ref name="WinterSteinitzQuotes">{{ cite web | url=http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/steinitz.html | title=Steinitz Quotes | author=Winter, E. }}</ref> and the Cuban and Russian chess communities.<ref name="LandsbergerSteinitzPapers" /><ref name="chessvilleSteinitzPapers" /> He even co-operated with the American Chess Congress in its project to regulate future contests for the world title that he had earned.<ref name="Thulin1899WorldChampionshipMatchOrNot" />

Steinitz strove to be objective in his writings about chess competitions and games, for example he attributed to sheer bad luck a poor tournament score by [[Henry Edward Bird]], whom he considered no friend of his,<ref name="WinterSteinitzQuotes" /> and was generous in his praise of great play by even his bitter enemies.<ref>for example he described Zukertort's win over Blackburne in the London 1883 tournament (where Steinitz finished second behind Zukertort) as "one of the most brilliant games on record", and Blackburne's win over Schwarz in Berlin, 1881, with the words "White's design, especially from the 21st move in combination with the brilliant finish, belongs to the finest efforts of chess genius in modern match play." {{ cite book | author=Fine, R. | title=The World's Great Chess Games | date=1952
| publisher=Andre Deutsch (now as paperback from Dover) }} Zukertort's win is at {{ cite web | url=http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1001854 | title=Zukertort's Immortal: Johannes Zukertort vs Joseph Henry Blackburne, London, 1883}} Blackburne's win is at {{ cite web | url=http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1029022 | title=Joseph Henry Blackburne vs Jacques Schwarz, Berlin, 1881 }}</ref>

He could poke fun at some of his own rhetoric, for example "I remarked that I would rather die in America than live in England. ... I added that I would rather lose a match in America than win one in England. But after having carefully considered the subject in all its bearings, I have come to the conclusion that I neither mean to die yet nor to lose the match."<ref name="WinterSteinitzQuotes" /> At a joint simultaneous display in Russia around the time of the 1895-96 [[Saint Petersburg]] tournament, [[Emanuel Lasker]] and Steinitz formed an impromptu comedy double act.<ref>{{ cite journal | journal=Quarterly For Chess History | issue=3 | date=1999 | title=Wilhelm Steinitz in Russia 1895-96 | url=http://www.chessville.com/reviews/QCH19993.htm }}</ref>

Although he had a strong sense of honour about repaying debts,<ref name="chessvilleSteinitzPapers" /><ref name="LandsbergerSteinitzPapers" /> Steinitz was poor at managing his finances: he let a competitor "[[Poaching| poach]]" many of his clients in 1862-1863,<ref name="chessvilleSteinitzPapers" /> offered to play the 1886 world title match against [[Johannes Zukertort]] for free,<ref name="WinterWorldChessChampion" /> and died in poverty in 1900, leaving his widow to survive by running a small shop.<ref name="NYTimesSteinitzObit1900" />

==Notable games==
[[Image:Wilhelm Steinitz.jpg|right|thumb|Wilhelm Steinitz]]
*[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1001497 Wilhelm Steinitz vs Augustus Mongredien, London 1862] was awarded the brilliancy prize at the 1862 London International Tournament.
*[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1019283 Wilhelm Steinitz vs Adolf Anderssen; 4th match game, London 1866] An old-style slug-out from the match that raised Steinitz to world number one.
*[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1132645 Johannes Zukertort vs Wilhelm Steinitz, Ch World (9th game of the match) 1886, Queen's Gambit Declined: Vienna. Quiet Variation (D37), 0-1] A good demonstration of Steinitz' positional principles. Black exchanges his powerful centre to create two weak [[Pawn structure| hanging Pawns]] on White's Queen-side and creates strong pressure against them. Zukertort eventually tries to slug his way out of trouble, but Steinitz wins with a sharp counter-attack.<ref name="Fine1952WorldsGreatChessGames" />
*[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1036356 Wilhelm Steinitz vs Mikhail Chigorin, Havana WCH 1892 (2nd game of the match), Ruy Lopez, 1-0] – Steinitz weakens Chigorin's pawns, gains superior mobility then forces a pawn promotion with the aid of a little combination.<ref name="Golombek1954GameOfChess">{{ cite book | title=The Game of Chess" | author=Golombek, H. | publisher=Penguin Books | date=1954 }}</ref>
*[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1036342 Wilhelm Steinitz vs Mikhail Chigorin, Havana WCH 1892 (4th game of the match), Spanish Game: General (C65), 1-0] Positional preparation creates the opportunity for a swift, devastating attack leading to checkmate on the 29th move.<ref name="Fine1952WorldsGreatChessGames" />
*[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1132699 Wilhelm Steinitz vs Curt von Bardeleben, Hastings 1895, Italian Game: Classical Variation. Greco Gambit Traditional Line (C54), 1-0] A great attacking combination in the old 1860s style. After White's 22nd move, all the White pieces are ''en prise'' but Black is lost. The game won the first brilliancy prize of the tournament.<ref name="Fine1952WorldsGreatChessGames" />

==Tournament results==
Sources:<ref name="storiascacchiTorneiAl1879">{{ cite web | url=http://xoomer.alice.it/cserica/scacchi/storiascacchi/tornei/pagine/itorneifino1880.htm | title=I tornei di scacchi fino al 1879 }}</ref><ref name="sympatico19thCentMatchesTournaments">{{ cite web | url=http://www3.sympatico.ca/g.giffen/19thcent.htm | title=Major Chess Matches and Tournaments of the 19th century }}</ref><ref name="endgameNLWorldExhibitions">{{ cite web | url=http://www.endgame.nl/wfairs.htm | title=World Exhibitions }}</ref><ref name="WallProfileSteinitz" /><ref name="ScoresRomanticEra" /><ref name="storiascacchiTorneiAl1880To1899">{{ cite web | url=http://xoomer.alice.it/cserica/scacchi/storiascacchi/tornei/pagine/itornei1880-99.htm | title=I tornei di scacchi dal 1880 al 1899 }}</ref><ref>[http://members.shaw.ca/edo2/players/p34.html Edo Historical Chess Ratings]</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center; margin:1em auto 1em auto;"
! Date !! Location !! Place !! Score !! class="unsortable"|Notes
|-
| 1859 || align=left| [[Vienna]] championship || 3rd || ??? || align=left | Behind [[Carl Hamppe]] and Jenay.
|-
| 1860 || align=left| Vienna championship || 2nd || ??? || align=left | Hamppe won.
|-
| 1861 || align=left| Vienna championship || 1st || 30/31 || align=left | &nbsp;
|-
| 1862 || align=left| [[London]] International Tournament || 6th || 8/13 || align=left | Behind [[Adolf Anderssen]], [[Louis Paulsen]], [[John Owen (chess player)| John Owen]], [[George Alcock MacDonnell]] and [[Serafino Dubois]].<br />Draws were not scored in this tournament. Steinitz was awarded the brilliancy prize for his win over [[Augustus Mongredien]].
|-
| 1862 || align=left| London championship || 1st || 7/7 || align=left | &nbsp;
|-
| 1865 || align=left| [[Dublin]] || 1st-2nd || 3½/4 || align=left | Tied with MacDonnell.
|-
| 1866 || align=left| London handicap tournament|| 1st || 8/9 || align=left | Steinitz won against [[Cecil Valentine De Vere]] (2-1), MacDonnell (2-0), Mocatta (2-0), and in the final S. Green (2-0).
|-
| 1867 || align=left| [[Dundee]] handicap tournament|| 1st-2nd || 3/3 || align=left | Tied with J.C. Fraser.
|-
| 1867 || align=left| Dundee || 2nd || 7/9 || align=left | Behind Neumann (7½/9); ahead of MacDonnell, De Vere, [[Joseph Henry Blackburne]], Robertson, J.C. Fraser, G.B. Fraser, Hamel and Spens.
|-
| 1867 || align=left| [[Paris]] || 2nd-3rd || 19½/24 || align=left | Tied 2= with [[Szymon Winawer]]; behind [[Ignác Kolisch|Ignaz von Kolisch]] (21/24); ahead of [[Gustav Neumann]], De Vere, [[Jules Arnous de Rivière]], [[Hieronim Czarnowski]], [[Celso Golmayo Zúpide]], [[Samuel Rosenthal]], [[Sam Loyd]], From, Rousseau, and D'Andre.
|-
| [[Baden-Baden 1870 chess tournament|1870]] || align=left| [[Baden-Baden]] || 2nd || 12½/18 || align=left | Behind Anderssen (13/18); ahead of Blackburne, Louis Paulsen, De Vere, [[Szymon Winawer]], Rosenthal and [[Johannes von Minckwitz]].
|-
| 1872 || align=left| London || 1st || 7½/8 || align=left | Ahead of Blackburne (5/8), [[Johannes Zukertort]], MacDonnell and De Vere.
|-
| 1873 || align=left| Vienna || 1st-2nd || 10/11: 21½/25 || align=left | Tied with Blackburne (10/11: 22½/30) and won the play-off 2-0; ahead of Anderssen (8½/11: 19/30), Rosenthal (7½/11: 17/28), Louis Paulsen, [[Henry Edward Bird]], Heral, [[Max Fleissig]], [[Philipp Meitner]], Gelbfuss, [[Adolf Schwarz]] and Pitschel.<br / >This tournament had a very unusual scoring system: each player played a 3-game mini-match with each of the others and scored 1 for a won mini-match and ½ for a drawn mini-match. Steinitz won his last 14 games and therefore completed his mini-matches by playing fewer games than anyone else. The numbers before the colons (:) are the points awarded; the other 2 numbers are the usual "games won / games played" scoring.
|-
| [[Vienna 1882 chess tournament|1882]] || align=left| Vienna || 1st-2nd || 24/34 || align=left | Tied with Winawer and drew the play-off; ahead of Mason (23/34), Zukertort (22½/34), Mackenzie, Blackburne, [[Berthold Englisch]], Paulsen and others including [[Mikhail Chigorin]] and Bird.
|-
| 1883 || align=left| London || 2nd || 19/26 || align=left | Behind Zukertort (22/26); ahead of Blackburne (16½/24), Chigorin 16/24, Englisch (15½/24), Mackenzie (15½/24), Mason (15½/24), Rosenthal, Winawer, Bird and four others.
|-
| 1894 || align=left| [[New York]] championship || 1st || 8½/10 || align=left | After losing the world title to Emanuel Lasker.
|-
| [[Hastings 1895 chess tournament|1895]] || align=left| [[Hastings]] || 5th || 13/21 || align=left | Behind [[Harry Nelson Pillsbury]] (16½/24), Chigorin (16/21), [[Emanuel Lasker]] (15½/21), [[Siegbert Tarrasch]] (14/21); ahead of [[Emanuel Schiffers]] (12/21), [[Curt von Bardeleben]] (11½/21), [[Richard Teichmann]] (11½/21), [[Carl Schlechter]] (11/21), Blackburne (10½/21), [[Carl August Walbrodt]], [[Amos Burn]], [[Dawid Janowski]], Mason, Bird, [[Isidore Gunsberg]], [[Adolf Albin]], [[Georg Marco]], [[William Pollock (chess player)| William Pollock]], [[Jacques Mieses]], [[Samuel Tinsley]] and [[Beniamino Vergani]].
|-
| 1895-96|| align=left| [[Saint Petersburg]] || 2nd || 9½/18 || align=left | Behind Emanuel Lasker (11½/18); ahead of Pillsbury (8/18) and Chigorin (7/18). The world's top 4 players played 6 games against each of the others.
|-
| [[Nuremberg 1896 chess tournament|1896]] || align=left| [[Nuremberg]] || 6th || 7/18 || align=left | Behind Emanuel Lasker 13½/18, [[Géza Maróczy]] (12½/18), Pillsbury (12/18), Tarrasch (12/18), Janowski (11½/18); ahead of Walbrodt, Schiffers, Chigorin, Blackburne, [[Rudolf Charousek]], Marco, Albin, Winawer, [[Jackson Showalter]], [[Moritz Porges]], [[Emil Schallopp]] and Teichmann.
|-
| 1897 || align=left| New York || 1st-2nd || 2½/4 || align=left | A ''triangular'' tournament; tied with [[Samuel Lipschütz]] and ahead of [[William Ewart Napier]].
|-
| [[Vienna 1898 chess tournament|1898]] || align=left| Vienna || 4th || 23½/36 || align=left | Behind Tarrasch (27½/36), Pillsbury (27½/36), Janowski (25½/36); ahead of Schlechter, Chigorin, Burn, [[Paul Lipke]], Maroczy, [[Simon Alapin]], Blackburne, Schiffers, Marco, Showalter, Walbrodt, [[Alexander Halprin]], [[Horatio Caro]], [[David Graham Baird]] and [[Herbert William Trenchard]].
|-
| 1898 || align=left| [[Cologne]] || 5th || 9½/15 || align=left | Behind Burn, Charousek, Chigorin and [[Wilhelm Cohn]]; ahead of Schlechter, Showalter, [[Johann Berger]], Janowski and Schiffers.
|-
| 1899 || align=left| London || 10-11th || 11½/27 || align=left | Behind Emanuel Lasker (23½/27), Janowski (19/27), Maróczy (19/27), Pillsbury (19/27), Schlechter (18/27), Blackburne (16½/27), Chigorin (16/27), Showalter (13½/27), Mason (13/27). This was the first time he had not won any prize money since 1859.
|}

==Match results==
Sources:<ref name="sympatico19thCentMatchesTournaments" /><ref name="WallProfileSteinitz" /><ref name="ScoresRomanticEra">{{ cite web | url=http://www.vuse.vanderbilt.edu/~spin/chessmatches.html | title=Scores of various important chess results from the Romantic era }}</ref><ref>[http://members.shaw.ca/edo2/players/p34.html Edo Historical Chess Ratings]</ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center; margin:1em auto 1em auto;"
! Date !! Opponent !! Result !! class="unsortable" | Location !! class="unsortable" colspan="2"|Score !! class="unsortable"|Notes
|-
| 1860 || E. Jenay || Drew|| [[Vienna]] || 2/4 || 2 : 2 || align=left | &nbsp;
|-
| 1860 || [[Max Lange]] || Won|| Vienna || 3/3 || +3=0–0 || align=left | &nbsp;
|-
| 1862 || [[Serafino Dubois]] || Won|| [[London]] || 5½/9 || +5=1–3 || align=left | &nbsp;
|-
| 1862 || [[Adolf Anderssen]] || Lost|| London || 1/3 || +1=0–2 || align=left | Offhand games
|-
| 1862–63 || [[Joseph Henry Blackburne]] || Won|| London || 8/10 || +7=2–1 || align=left | Only 2 years after Blackburne started playing chess.
|-
| 1863 || [[Frederic Deacon]] || Won|| London || 5½/7 || +5=1–1 || align=left | &nbsp;
|-
| 1863 || [[Augustus Mongredien]] || Won|| London || 7/7 || +7=0–0 || align=left | &nbsp;
|-
| 1863–64 || S. Green || Won|| London || 8/9 || +7=2–0 || &nbsp;
|-
| 1865 || James Robey || Won|| London || 4/5 || 4 : 1 || &nbsp;
|-
| 1866 || [[Adolf Anderssen]] || Won|| London || 8/14 || +8=0–6 || align=left | As a result of this win Steinitz was generally regarded as the world's best player.<ref name="WinterWorldChessChampion" />
|-
| 1866 || [[Henry Edward Bird]] || Won || London || 9½/17 || +7=5–5 || align=left | &nbsp;
|-
| 1867 || George Fraser || Won|| [[Dundee]] || 4/6 || 4 : 2 || &nbsp;
|-
| 1870 || Blackburne || Won || London || 5½/6 || +5=1–0 || align=left | &nbsp;
|-
| 1872 || [[Johannes Zukertort]] || Won || London || 9/12 || +7=4–1 || align=left | &nbsp;
|-
| 1873 || Blackburne || Won || Vienna || 2/2|| +2=0–0 || align=left | Play-off match.
|-
| 1876 || Blackburne || Won || London || 7/7 || +7=0–0 || align=left | &nbsp;
|-
| 1882 || [[Szymon Winawer]] || Drew || Vienna || 1/2|| 1 : 1 || align=left | Play-off match.
|-
| 1882 || Dion Martinez || Won || [[Philadelphia]] || 7/7 || +7=0–0 || align=left | &nbsp;
|-
| 1882 || Alexander Sellman || Won || [[Baltimore]] || 4/5 || 4 : 1 || align=left | &nbsp;
|-
| 1883 || [[George Henry Mackenzie]] || Won || [[New York]] || 4/6 || 4 : 2 || align=left | &nbsp;
|-
| 1883 || Dion Martinez || Won || Philadelphia || 4½/7 || 4½ : 2½ || align=left | &nbsp;
|-
| 1883 || [[Celso Golmayo Zupide]] || Won || [[Havana]] || 9/11 || 9 : 2 || align=left | &nbsp;
|-
| 1883 || Dion Martinez || Won || Philadelphia || 10/11 || 10 : 1 || align=left | &nbsp;
|-
| 1885 || Alexander Sellman || Won || Baltimore || 3/3 || +3=0–0 || align=left | &nbsp;
|-
| 1886 || Zukertort || Won || New York, [[St.Louis]] and [[New Orleans]] || 12½/20 || +10=5–5 || align=left | The contract for this match said it was "for the Championship of the World".<ref name="WinterWorldChessChampion" />
|-
| 1888 || Alberto Ponce || Won || Havana || 4/5 || 4 : 1 || align=left | &nbsp;
|-
| 1888 || Andrés Vásquez || Won || Havana || 5/5 || +5=0–0 || align=left | &nbsp;
|-
| 1888 || Golmayo || Won || Havana || 5/5 || +5=0–0 || align=left | &nbsp;
|-
| 1889 || Vicente Carvajal || Won || Havana || 4/5 || 4 : 1 || align=left | &nbsp;
|-
| 1889 || [[Mikhail Chigorin]] || Won || Havana || 10½/17 || +10=1–6 || align=left | Often described as a World Championship match, but may not have been.<ref name="Thulin1899WorldChampionshipMatchOrNot" />
|-
| 1890–91 || [[Isidor Gunsberg]] || Won || New York || 10½/19 || +6=9–4 || align=left | World Championship match
|-
| 1892 || Chigorin || Won || Havana || 12½/23 || +10=5–8 || align=left | World Championship match
|-
| 1894 || [[Emanuel Lasker]] || Lost || New York, Philadelphia and [[Montreal]] || 7/19 || +5=4–10 || align=left | World Championship match; Steinitz' first recorded defeat in a serious match.
|-
| 1896 || [[Emanuel Schiffers]] || Won || [[Rostov-on-Don]] || 6½/11 || +6=1–4 || align=left | &nbsp;
|-
| 1896–97 || Lasker || Lost || [[Moscow]] || 4½/17 || +2=5–10 || align=left | World Championship match.
|-
| 1897 || [[Samuel Lipschütz]] || Drew || New York || 1/2|| 1 : 1 || align=left | Play-off match.
|}

==Miscellaneous==
*Steinitz expressed the opinion that the reason [[Jew]]s do so well at chess is because of their patience, pure breeding, and good nature.<ref>[http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/jews.html Dr. Hermann Adler and Steinitz], the ''Chess Amateur'' (September 1911; p. 367; referenced by chess historian [[Edward G. Winter]] in "Chess and the Jews" (2003). (See also [[Hermann Adler]])</ref>
*Steinitz is featured on a stamp.<ref>{{citation
| last=Berkovich | first=Felix
| year=2000 | title=Jewish Chess Masters on Stamps
| publisher=McFarland & Company | isbn=978-0786406838}}</ref><ref>[http://www.jeremysilman.com/book_reviews_jd/jd_jewish_chess_masters.html ''Jewish Chess Masters On Stamps''] book review by [[John Donaldson]] at jerrysilman.com </ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist|3}}

== References ==
<!-- could use some page numbers here, and actually anywhere this is used should be cited inline -->
*{{citation
| last=Winter | first=Edward G. | author-link=Edward G. Winter
| year=1981 | title=World chess champions
| isbn=0-08-024094-1}}

==Further reading==
*{{Citation
|last=Kasparov|first=Garry|authorlink=Garry Kasparov
|year=2003
|title=My Great Predecessors, part I
|publisher = [[Everyman Chess]]
|id=ISBN 1-85744-330-6
}}
* ''The Games of Wilhelm Steinitz'', ed. Pickard & Son 1995. A collection of 1,022 Steinitz' games with annotations.
* ''Steinitz, primo campione del mondo'', Jakov Nejstadt, ed. Prisma 2000. {{it}}
* ''From Steinitz to Fischer'', ed. Sahovski Informator, Belgrade 1976.


==External links==
==External links==
*{{imdb name|id=0650344|name=Bruce Ornstein}}
{{commonscat|Wilhelm_Steinitz}}
*{{chessgames player|id=10421}}
*[http://www.souvenirworldja.com/chessworld/playbetter/Technical_Articles/worldchamps/steinitz/william_steinitz_1836.htm Steinitz biography]
*[http://www.chesscorner.com/worldchamps/steinitz/steinitz.htm Chesscorner bio]
*[http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=1070&letter=S&search=william%20steinitz ''Jewish Encyclopedia'' bio]
*[http://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/wcc-indz.htm World Chess Championship Pre-FIDE Events] – details of World Championship matches from Steinitz's era

{{start box}}
{{succession box |
before= ''(unofficial)'' |
title= [[World Chess Championship|World Chess Champion]] |
years= 1886&ndash;1894 |
after= [[Emanuel Lasker]]
}}
{{end box}}

{{ChessWorldChampions}}

<!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]] -->

{{Persondata
|NAME= Steinitz, Wilhelm
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Steinitz, William
|SHORT DESCRIPTION=first official [[World Chess Championship|world chess champion]]
|DATE OF BIRTH=[[May 17]], [[1836]]
|PLACE OF BIRTH=[[Prague]], [[Austrian Empire]]
|DATE OF DEATH=[[August 12]], [[1900]]
|PLACE OF DEATH=[[New York]], [[United States]]
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steinitz, Wilhelm}}
[[Category:World chess champions]]
[[Category:Czech chess players]]
[[Category:Austrian chess players]]
[[Category:British chess players]]
[[Category:American chess players]]
[[Category:People from Prague]]
[[Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States]]
[[Category:Jewish chess players]]
[[Category:Czech Jews]]
[[Category:Austrian Jews]]
[[Category:1836 births]]
[[Category:1900 deaths]]
[[Category:Chess writers]]
[[Category:Chess theoreticians]]


{{DEFAULTSORT:Ornstein, Bruce}}
{{Link FA|fi}}
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American film actors]]


{{US-film-actor-stub}}
[[br:Wilhelm Steinitz]]
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[[mk:Вилхелм Штајниц]]
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[[no:Wilhelm Steinitz]]
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[[ru:Стейниц, Вильгельм]]
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[[sr:Вилхелм Штајниц]]
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[[uk:Штейніц Вільгельм]]

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Bruce Ornstein is an American actor. He appeared in 8 films or TV-episodes between 1977 and 2000.

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