Wilhelm Steinitz

Wilhelm (later William) Steinitz (May 17, 1836–August 12 1900) was an Austrian chess player and the first official world chess champion. Known for his original contributions to chess strategy such as his ideas on positional play, his theories were held in high regard by such disparate chess players as Aron Nimzowitsch, Siegbert Tarrasch, and Emanuel Lasker.

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Born in Prague, Czech Republic (then part of the Austrian Empire), Steinitz was world chess champion from 1886 to 1894, retaining the title in four matches against Johannes Zuckertort, Mikhail Chigorin (two times) and Isidor Gunsberg. He lost two matches against Lasker, his successor as world champion. Steinitz adopted a scientific approach to his study of the game. He would formulate his theories in scientific terms and "laws".

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Steinitz became a US citizen on November 23, 1888, having resided for five years in New York, and he changed his first name from Wilhelm to William.

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After losing the world title, Steinitz developed severe mental health problems and spent his last years in a number of institutions in New York, making a series of increasingly bizarre claims (including his having won—at pawn odds!—a game of chess with God conducted via an invisible telephone line). His chess activities had not yielded any great financial rewards, and he died a pauper in his adopted home city in 1900. Steinitz is buried in Cemetary of the Evergreens in Brooklyn, New York.

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Lasker, who took the championship from Steinitz, once said, "I who defeated Steinitz shall do justice to his theories, and I shall avenge the wrongs he suffered." Steinitz' 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.

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