This is a sample of how Wilhelm Steinitz covered the First World Championship and is presented for your enjoyment from The Collected Works of Wilhelm Steinitz. The Introduction to the Steinitz-Zukertort match will give you a taste of the excitement in the atmosphere at the beginning of the first world championship match. The game itself is richly annotated by Steinitz and shows why he is considered the world's greatest chess instructor. This extract features just one of hundreds of games (850+) annotated by the man who was the idol of Bobby Fischer and revolutionized chess into what it is today!
At last there is a championship contest in progress before the Chess world, the like of which has not been witnessed since Morphy met Anderssen over the board in 1858. A number of matches between first-class Chess masters have been consummated subsequent to that great event, the last on record, in which two opponents were pitted against each other, each of whom had proved himself superior, by his previous exploits, to all other contemporary rivals for Chess fame. We may say with but little hesitation that the present contest is fully analogous in that respect with the famous match between the American and German master in 1858, for the rox populi fully indorsed this opinion as shown by the extraordinary support accorded by Chess amateurs all over the world to the necessary arrangements for the meeting between Messrs. Steinitz and Zukertort. It may fairly be doubted whether any other Chess expert would have been enabled to raise two thousand dollars as stakes against either of the two contestants in the pending championship match and while we fully appreciate the liberality of American lovers of the game, it is questionable whether a like handsome purse for expenses, such as has been subscribed for on the present occasion, would have been forthcoming for the purpose of deciding the rival claims between any other pair than the one now engaged in the struggle for Chess supremacy.
This article is provided by www.ChessCentral.com the leader in cutting-edge chess. At www.ChessCentral.com you will find chess software, chess sets, chess books, and chess products for beginners to Grandmasters.