Defending champion | Challenger | |||||
Wilhelm Steinitz | Isidor Gunsberg | |||||
| ||||||
Born 14 May 1836 54 years old | Born 1 November 1854 36 years old | |||||
The third World Chess Championship was held in New York City from 9 December 1890 to 22 January 1891. Holder Wilhelm Steinitz (known as William Steinitz since his naturalisation as an American citizen) narrowly defeated his Hungarian challenger, Isidor Gunsberg.
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". [1]
The American Chess Congress's 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 second or third placed competitor within a month. [1] [2] Steinitz wrote that he would not play in the tournament and would not challenge the winner unless the second and third placed competitors failed to do so. [3] 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 Weiss then wanted to get back to his work for the Rothschild Bank, conceding the title to Chigorin.
However, the third prize-winner Isidor Gunsberg was prepared to play for the title. The match was played in New York in 1890 and ended in a 10½–8½ victory for Steinitz. The American Chess Congress's experiment was not repeated, and Steinitz's last three matches were private arrangements between the players. [4] [ unreliable source ] [5]
The winner would be first to 10 wins (draws not counting), or most wins after 20 games. A draw would be declared if the score reached 9 wins each.
Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Wins |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
William Steinitz (United States) | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 6 |
Isidor Gunsberg (Austria-Hungary) | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 4 |
Steinitz led by 2 with only one game left, and so was declared the winner.
The Latvian Gambit is a chess opening characterised by the moves:
The French Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves:
The Philidor Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves:
The Vienna Game is an opening in chess that begins with the moves:
The Caro–Kann Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves:
Petrov's Defence or the Petrov Defence is a chess opening characterised by the following moves:
The Three Knights Game is a chess opening which most commonly begins with the moves:
The Scotch Game, or Scotch Opening, is a chess opening that begins with the moves:
The World Chess Championship 2008 was a best-of-twelve-games match between the incumbent World Chess Champion, Viswanathan Anand, and the previous World Champion, Vladimir Kramnik. Kramnik had been granted a match after not winning the World Chess Championship 2007 tournament.
The World Chess Championship 1886 was the first official World Chess Championship match contested by Wilhelm Steinitz and Johannes Zukertort. The match took place in the United States from 11 January to 29 March, the first five games being played in New York City, the next four being played in St. Louis and the final eleven in New Orleans. The winner was the first player to achieve ten wins. Wilhelm Steinitz won the match 10–5, winning his tenth game in the twentieth game of the match. There were five draws.
The World Chess Championship 1889 was the second official World Chess Championship, and was between Wilhelm Steinitz and Mikhail Chigorin. It took place in Havana, Cuba. Steinitz defended his world title, and was the first of the two players to reach 10½. He won the match 10½-6½.
A Steinitz Variation is any of several chess openings introduced and practiced, or adopted and advocated by Wilhelm Steinitz, the first officially recognized World Chess Champion.
A World Chess Championship was played between challenger Max Euwe and title-holder Alexander Alekhine in various cities and towns in the Netherlands from 3 October to 16 December 1935. Euwe was the winner by overcoming a three-point deficit as late as the ninth game.
The 1978 World Chess Championship was played between Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Korchnoi in Baguio, Philippines, from July 18 to October 18, 1978. Karpov won, thereby retaining the title.
The 1981 World Chess Championship was played between Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Korchnoi in Merano, Italy from October 1 to November 19, 1981. Karpov won with six wins against two, with 10 draws. The two players had already played against each other in the World Chess Championship match 1978 in the Philippines, when Karpov also won.
The 1992 Fischer–Spassky match was a chess match between former world chess champions Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky. It was billed as a World Chess Championship, though it was an unofficial rematch of their 1972 World Championship match. Fischer won 10–5, with 15 draws. Although there was substantial media coverage, and some drama, public interest in this rematch was not nearly as great as with the 1972 World Championship match in Reykjavík, Iceland.