Notable Games
William Steinitz
15 celebrated games · 424 in the full archive
◈The games that made the legend
Dubois – Steinitz · 1862 · 0–1
London 1862 — from Steinitz's international debut, a fierce Black win over the Italian master Serafino Dubois, his doubled rooks smashing through on the h-file (24…Rh1+, 25…R8h2+).
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Steinitz – Mongredien · 1863 · 1–0
London 1863 — an early attacking gem: against the fianchetto defence Steinitz sacrifices twice on h7 (15.Nxh7, 16.Rxh7) and hunts the king to its doom (21.Rh8+, 22.Qxf7).
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Anderssen – Steinitz · 1866 · 0–1
The 13th game of the 1866 match Steinitz won 8–6 to succeed Anderssen as the world's leading player — a slow maneuvering struggle Lasker later called a forerunner of positional chess.
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Steinitz – Paulsen · 1870 · 1–0
Baden-Baden 1870 — the audacious Steinitz Gambit in the flesh: he walks his king to e3 in the opening (5.Ke2, 8.Ke3) and still wins, living proof of his creed that the king is a strong piece.
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Steinitz – Zukertort · 1872 · 1–0
London 1872 — a King's Gambit from the match Steinitz swept 7–1 over Zukertort, a foretaste of their 1886 world-title clash.
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Steinitz – Anderssen · 1873 · 1–0
Vienna 1873 — Steinitz outplays the great Anderssen in a Queen's Gambit, the rook raid 16.Rxd7 and 18.Qxf7+ deciding it.
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Steinitz – Blackburne · 1876 · 1–0
London 1876 — from the match Steinitz won 7–0 without conceding a game: a model Ruy Lopez build-up (g4, Ne3–f5) erupts into a kingside mating attack (23.Qh6, 25.Bf6).
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Steinitz – Sellman · 1885 · 1–0
Baltimore 1885 — a textbook positional game against the French: Steinitz clamps the queenside with the knight tour Nd1–b1–d2–b3–a5 and squeezes Sellman to defeat, a favourite of the strategy manuals.
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Zukertort – Steinitz · 1886 · 0–1
Game 9 of the 1886 match — the first official World Championship. Steinitz saddles White with hanging pawns on c4 and d4 (22.c4), besieges them and breaks through: the model of his positional doctrine.
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Steinitz – Zukertort · 1886 · 1–0
The final game of that match — winning it made Steinitz the first official World Chess Champion (10–5). A 19-move Vienna crowned by 15.Ne4, 16.Bxh6 and 17.Rxh6!
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Steinitz – Chigorin · 1892 · 1–0
Game 4 of the 1892 title defence — a patient Ruy Lopez build-up erupts with the rook sacrifice 24.Rxh7+! Kxh7 25.Qh1+, mating on move 29.
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Steinitz – Chigorin · 1892 · 1–0
Game 16 of the 1892 match — Steinitz cripples Black's queenside pawns, takes the freer game, and forces a passed pawn home by a neat combination.
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Chigorin – Steinitz · 1892 · 0–1
The 23rd and decisive game: with Steinitz pressing hard, Chigorin's 32.Bb4?? walked into 32…Rxh2+ (33.Kg1 Rg2#) — one of history's most famous blunders, and the move that let Steinitz keep his crown.
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Steinitz – Von Bardeleben · 1895 · 1–0
Hastings 1895, brilliancy prize — Steinitz's Immortal. His rook rampages along the seventh rank untouchable (22.Rxe7+ … 25.Rxh7+); von Bardeleben walked out rather than resign, and Steinitz announced the forced mate. He called it his finest game.
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Steinitz – Lasker · 1896 · 1–0
St. Petersburg 1895–96 — the deposed champion strikes back, sacrificing to storm the king (14.Qxe4, 16.Qxg6) and beating the reigning World Champion Emanuel Lasker in their four-master tournament.
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