World Chess Championship 1886

Opponents of the 1886 World Chess Championship

Portraits
	Wilhelm Steinitz	Johannes Hermann Zukertort
nation
status	Winner against Adolf Anderssen in 1866	Winner of the London Tournament in 1883
Age	49 years	43 years

The 1886 World Chess Championship was the first official World Chess Championship .

It is true that duels between the best chess players had taken place several times in the history of chess. But the world title "Champion of the World" was awarded for the first time in the duel between the Austrian Wilhelm Steinitz, who lives in the United States, and the originally Polish player Johannes Hermann Zukertort , who is now based in the United Kingdom .

Steinitz had considered himself world champion since his duel victory against Adolf Anderssen in 1866. Zukertort had won the heavily occupied London tournament in 1883 before Steinitz and now claimed the title in turn. In order to resolve this disagreement and establish a single, generally recognized world chess champion, the two opponents should fight a title fight aimed at ten wins from any number of chess games. This title fight was the first chess world championship recognized by all chess historians and took place from January 11th to March 29th, 1886 in the United States . After 20 games played in New York City , St. Louis and New Orleans , Wilhelm Steinitz had achieved the necessary ten victories in five draws and five defeats and was the first generally recognized world chess champion with the title “Champion of the World”.

prehistory

See also : List of World Chess Championships

In Europe, North America and Australia, chess masters had competed in tournaments since the middle of the 19th century. Strong chess masters had also fought duels against each other on several occasions, beginning with the duel between Alexander McDonnell and Louis-Charles Mahé de La Bourdonnais in 1834 .

Steinitz was already considered the strongest Prague player in childhood. After success at tournaments of the Vienna Chess Society, Steinitz caused a sensation at a London tournament. Although he only finished last, his bold style was praised by tournament winner Adolf Anderssen.

From 1862 to 1866, Adolf Anderssen was considered the strongest chess player in the world.

Competition 1866	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	Victories	Points
Adolf Anderssen	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	6th	6th
Wilhelm Steinitz	0	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	1	1	8th	8th

From July 14th to August 10th 1866 there was a duel in London between Adolf Anderssen, who is considered the strongest chess player in the world, and Wilhelm Steinitz, which Steinitz won with 8: 6 points. In this duel, as in any games between the two opponents, there was no draw.

Competition 1872	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	Victories	Points
Wilhelm Steinitz	1	1	½	½	1	1	½	0	1	1	½	1	7th	9
Johannes H. Zukertort	0	0	½	½	0	0	½	1	0	0	½	0	1	3

Zukertort learned to play chess at the University of Breslau while studying medicine. His great chess career began while he was living in England, around 1872, after having previously trained with Anderssen. From August 6 to September 5, 1872, Steinitz and Zukertort fought a first duel against each other in London, which Steinitz won with 9: 3 points.

Steinitz did not play any serious tournaments after his victory in the Vienna tournament in 1873, while Zukertort stood out with positive results during these years. The peak of Zukertort's skill level was reached after several victories in English tournaments in the following years and the tournament victory in Paris in 1878.

At the beginning of 1882, Steinitz proposed a consultation competition against Zukertort, which, however, he refused. Instead, Zukertort was ready to "play alone with Steinitz under acceptable conditions". If Steinitz did not want this, he should play at the Vienna tournament in 1882. Steinitz took part in the Vienna chess tournament in 1882 and achieved victory together with Winawer , while Zukertort ended up in shared fifth place. Steinitz often poked at Zukertort for this, even after the tournament in London in 1883, which was considered the strongest tournament in the world . Johannes Hermann Zukertort won this tournament ahead of Wilhelm Steinitz and then questioned Steinitz's status as Champion of the World , as he now considered himself the title holder.

Wilhelm Steinitz moved to the United States in August 1883, but did not receive citizenship until November 23, 1888. He only changed his first name to William around the time he was granted citizenship.

Zukertort was tired of Steinitz's taunts about avoiding a duel, and so in March 1885 he had a challenge printed on it in Chess Monthly magazine . Both parties should appoint a second and the latter an arbitrator.

In January 1885 the German chess newspaper Zukertort certified that it was still at the zenith of its fame and its artistry. The Steinitz playing style was described by Richard Mangelsdorf elsewhere shortly before the World Cup as safe. Wilhelm Steinitz himself reported in the International Chess Journal shortly before the start of the competition that his health had improved significantly since he had lived in the United States.

organization

On March 28, 1885, Steinitz appointed Manhattan Chess Club secretary Gustav Simonson as a provisional second. On May 30, 1885, Zukertort appointed the secretary of St. George's Chess Club in London, James Innes Minchin. The seconds were later replaced by Thomas Frére for Steinitz and Charles Möhle for Zukertort. Frére and Minchin negotiated how the competition would come about. On December 29, 1885, the game contract was signed by Steinitz and Zukertort.

The event, largely financially supported by patrons , was planned for around nine months. Among other things, the reflection time , victory conditions and financial regulations were discussed.

Playing conditions

Double watch

Since double clocks were first used at the London tournament in 1883, there was little experience with them. Zukertort asked for two hours to think about 40 moves, while Steinitz insisted on a longer reflection time. The contracting parties finally agreed on two hours for 30 trains and one hour each for 15 additional trains. Games should be played every other day from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. and continued from 8:00 p.m. to 12:00 p.m. Aborted games should be completed on the rest days. In the case of a medically determined illness, up to three days of rest could be claimed. There was no time limit for delays to games, but the time was counted towards the reflection time. In the event of a game being abandoned, the drafts had to be written down in words and were noted in the usual notation on the game forms when the game was restarted.

For the repetition of positions , the special rule was agreed that, in deviation from the valid chess rules of the German Manual, if a series of moves is repeated six times, both players have the right to claim a draw.

Acts that unfairly harm or offend the opponent during the game were fined from ten to one hundred US dollars . Violations of the rules were fined between five and fifty US dollars and fined fifty to two hundred and fifty US dollars for delays in the duel or behavior that would be detrimental to revenue from the duel. All fines would benefit the enemy.

Venues

Telegraph connections 1891

New Orleans around 1888

Up to the first four victories of a party was played in New York City, then up to three more victories of a party should be guested in St. Louis, in order to continue the fight until the decision in New Orleans. The first venue was Cartier's Rooms at 80 Fifth Avenue in New York City; a venue that had chess historical significance insofar as Paul Morphy fought and won a duel against Louis Paulsen at the first United States chess congress in 1857 . Steinitz and Zukertort used the same board and pieces as Morphy and Paulsen. Forty spectators attended the opening of the World Chess Championship and a demonstration board was used for the first time . The live transmission to various chess clubs in the United States and London was ensured by telegraph . For this purpose, telegrams ( cable dispatches) with the results were sent.

Framework

The winner of the World Chess Championship should be the player who wins ten wins first. Draw games were not counted. With a score of 9: 9 wins, the match should be counted as a draw and the world championship title should not be awarded. Both counterparties deposited a stake of 2000 US dollars each. The winner of the duel should receive the full amount. Most recently, Steinitz, the winner of the duel, received $ 4,000 in prize money, but Zukertort also received $ 750. Furthermore, Steinitz is said to have received around $ 1000 by betting on his victory, but this could not be proven.

The arbitrator and stakeholder was Charles F. Buck from New Orleans.

Point 7 of the sub-rules and agreements of the competition provided for the use of a demonstration board for the spectators and allowed the use of pocket chess games. However, analysis was prohibited . The exploitation rights of the chess games should belong to Steinitz and Zukertort.

course

→ Main article : World Chess Championship 1886 / games

The following table gives an overview of the results and time consumption of the counterparties. In most of the games, the rejected Queen's Gambit and the Spanish game were up for debate.

Lot	Place *	Date (1886)	Game result		opening	ECO code	Trains	time			Victories
			Steinitz	Zuckerort				Steinitz	Zuckerort	Lot	Steinitz	Zuckerort
1	NYC	11th January	1	0	Queen's Gambit declined	D11	46	2: 45h	2: 30h	5: 15h	1	0
2	NYC	13th January	0	1	Scottish game	C47	46	3: 20h	2: 36h	5: 56h	1	1
3	NYC	15. January	0	1	Queen's Gambit declined	D10	47	3: 05h	2: 15h	5: 20h	1	2
4th	NYC	January 18th	0	1	Spanish game	C67	39	2: 30h	1: 25h	3: 55h	1	3
5	NYC	January 20th	0	1	Queen's Gambit declined	D10	32	2: 15h	1: 15h	3: 30h	1	4th
6th	SL	3 February	1	0	Spanish game	C67	61	3: 33h	1: 53h	5: 26h	2	4th
7th	SL	February 5th	1	0	Queen's Gambit declined	D40	35	2: 10h	2: 05h	4: 15h	3	4th
8th	SL	February 8	½	½	Spanish game	C67	22nd	1: 15h	0: 20h	1: 35h	3	4th
9	SL	February 10th	1	0	Queen's Gambit declined	D26	38	2: 12h	1: 55h	4: 07h	4th	4th
10	NO	February 26th	½	½	Spanish game	C67	21st	0: 58h	0: 23h	1: 21h	4th	4th
11	NO	1st March	1	0	Spanish game	C49	42	2: 39h	1: 25h	4: 04h	5	4th
12	NO	3 March	1	0	Spanish game	C67	44	2: 37h	1: 35h	4: 12h	6th	4th
13	NO	5. March	0	1	Queen's Gambit declined	D26	86	4: 55h	3: 10h	8: 05h	6th	5
14th	NO	March 13th	½	½	Spanish game	C67	48	2: 55h	1: 20h	4: 15h	6th	5
15th	NO	March, 15	½	½	Queen's Gambit declined	D35	49	2: 14h	1: 02h	3: 16h	6th	5
16	NO	17. March	1	0	Spanish game	C65	49	2: 45h	2: 10h	4: 55h	7th	5
17th	NO	19th March	½	½	Queen's Gambit declined	D53	52	2: 35h	1: 35h	4: 10h	7th	5
18th	NO	March 22	1	0	Spanish game	C65	40	2: 10h	1: 15h	3: 25h	8th	5
19th	NO	March 24th	1	0	Queen's Gambit declined	D53	29	1: 04h	1: 00h	2: 04h	9	5
20th	NO	March 29	1	0	Steinitz Gambit	C25	19th	0: 30h	0: 30h	1: 00h	10	5

^* NYC is New York City, SL is St. Louis, NO is New Orleans

According to Minckwitz, the total time taken during the competition was 48:27 hours for Steinitz and 31:39 hours for Zukertort, for a total of 80:06 hours. 844 moves were played.

New York City

The New York City host was the Manhattan Chess Club , founded in 1877 , which raised $ 1,000 for this purpose. From December 5 to 13, 1885, Zukertort drove the RMS Etruria from Liverpool to New York City. In addition to Steinitz, a chess delegation from the United States received him there. After several weeks of preparation, the first duel for the world chess championship began on January 11, 1886. This was rated by Minckwitz in his book published in 1886 as "the most important chess competition of all time".

Of the first five games, Zukertort won four and Steinitz one. An eight-day break followed until the opponents drove to St. Louis to continue the duel.

St. Louis

In St. Louis, the duel continued at the St. Louis Chess, Checkers and Whist Club .

With the Spanish opening, Steinitz won the first game in St. Louis. At the beginning of February 1886, the Illustrirte Zeitung predicted during the 4: 2 leadership of Zukertort that he would probably not keep his lead due to a lack of perseverance. In the February 13 issue, the newspaper noted that the prediction had been confirmed and that Steinitz would probably win the duel. After Steinitz added three more to his win from New York City, the duel was moved to New Orleans when the score was 4-4.

New Orleans

In New Orleans, Steinitz and Zukertort played in the New Orleans Chess, Checkers and Whist Club .

Zukertort only won one of the last eleven games, whereby Steinitz won the title "Champion of the World" with a score of 10: 5 wins.

aftermath

World title

Wilhelm Steinitz later became a citizen of the United States and changed his first name to William. As this he defended his world championship in 1889 , 1890 and 1892 until he lost it to Emanuel Lasker at the 1894 World Chess Championship .

Zukertort's death

Often, Zukertort's exhaustion during the 1886 World Chess Championship is made responsible not only for his defeat, but also for his death on June 20, 1888.

Game contract

The game contract between Steinitz and Zukertort has been privately owned by a collector since the Manhattan Chess Club was dissolved in 2002.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Minckwitz, pp. 1-2
2. ↑ ^{a b} chessgames.com: Zukertort vs Steinitz 1886 , accessed on April 20, 2009
3. ↑ Source: BigDatabase 2005
4. ↑ See http://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/w$s$$mix.htm for more duels from Steinitz in London.
5. ↑ ^{a b c} Minckwitz, p. 5
6. ^ ^{A b} Kurt Landsberger: William Steinitz, Chess Champion: A Biography of the Bohemian Caesar. McFarland, Jefferson 1993, ISBN 0-89950-758-1 , pp. 206 f.
7. ↑ ^{a b} http://www.koenig-plauen.de/Rubriken/Weltmeister/steinitz.htm
8. ↑ Minckwitz, pp. 6-7
9. ^ Biographical sketches . In: Minckwitz, pp. 13-18
10. ↑ Minckwitz, pp. 8-9
11. ↑ Minckwitz, pp. 7-8
12. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Steinitz & Zukertort: Contracts between the players . In: Minckwitz, pp. 19-27.
13. ↑ ^{a b c} New York Times , January 12, 1886. Preview or full text as PDF file (PDF file requires cookies from nytimes.com)
14. ↑ Note: Location on Google Maps
15. ↑ ^{a b} chessbase.de: Steinitz versus Zukertort , March 29, 2006
16. ↑ Minckwitz, p. 12. Postscript by D. O.
17. ↑ http://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/y6sz$wix.htm
18. ↑ Minckwitz, pp. 198-199
19. ^ Modified taken from Minckwitz, p. 202
20. ^ Col. FW Morse: The Manhattan Chess Club - the first 21 years . Chess Magazine, February 1898. Online reprint from Sarah's Chess Journal
21. ↑ Minckwitz, p. 8
22. ↑ Minckwitz, p. 9
23. ↑ Minckwitz, p. 10
24. ↑ Minckwitz, pp. 10-11

literature

• J. Minckwitz (Ed.): The decisive battle between W. Steinitz and JH Zukertort for the championship of the world . Schach-Verlag Adolf Roegner, Leipzig, April 27, 1886 ( public domain , but only accessible with a proxy ).
• Raymund Stolze : Contested crown. Sportverlag, Berlin 1992, ISBN 3-328-00526-9 .

Web links

• Information at mark-weeks.com (English)
• Report at chessgames.com (English)