The people behind the game
Wilhelm Steinitz
The first official world champion and the founder of positional chess. He argued that an attack only succeeds when the position justifies it.
- Born
- 1836
- Died
- 1900
- Country connections
- Austria / United States
At the board
The games. The ideas.
Explore classic encounters and championship battles. Play every move, or jump straight to the moments that tell the story.
1886 · World championship · Game 20
The first crown
The final game of the first official world championship. Steinitz’s exposed king survives while his pieces trap the black queen.
Read the position
Every move sets the scene.
Use the controls to explore the full game, or select an annotated moment below. Each explanation describes the position immediately after its highlighted move.
Complete move list 19 moves
This replay follows PGN Mentor through 19.Nxg4, also present in the contemporary reports reproduced by Chess Archaeology. The Lichess championship study stops one move earlier, after 18...Kf7. Compare the source ↗
The journey
A remarkable path.
Steinitz helped turn positional play into a systematic approach to chess. His early career developed in Vienna and London before he moved to the United States. His 1886 match against Johannes Zukertort is recognized as the first official world championship. [1]
Explore the championship record →The championship record
Time with the crown.
- 1886–1894Open world championship
Reigns are periods of title ownership, not a count of championship victories. Open-ended reigns reflect the record checked on 18 October 2026.
Sources & credits
Biographical details and title records checked . Country connections describe the player’s career and background, rather than a live federation listing.
Portrait: Schumann, Fritz · Public domain. Displayed in monochrome and cropped.
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