“Chess is so inspiring that I do not believe a good player is capable of having an evil thought during the game.“
-Wilhelm Steinitz, the first undisputed World Chess Champion from 1886 to 1894.
Wilhelm Steinitz was an Austrian and later American Grandmaster—and the first undisputed World Chess Champion from 1886 to 1894. Steinitz was born May 14, 1836, in the Jewish ghetto of Prague, Czech Republic, and died August 12, 1900, New York City, USA.
In the 1860s Steinitz married a lady 10 years younger named Caroline Golder (1846–1892), who gave birth to their only daughter Flora in 1866. Sadly, his daughter Flora died in 1888 at the age of 21 and his wife Caroline died four years later.
In 1897 he dedicated a pamphlet to the memory of his first wife and their daughter–addressing antisemitism. Steinitz, who was Jewish, wanted to challenge publicly and condemn the anti-Jewish sentiment prevalent in society at the time.
Sometime around 1893-94, Steinitz married a lady 31 years younger, his second wife Elizabeth Weibel (1867–1948) and they had two children—a son named William (born 1894) and a daughter named Julia (1898–1986). Elizabeth and their young children were alive but left destitute at the time of Steinitz’ death in 1900.
Steinitz died a pauper in the Manhattan State Hospital on Wards Island on August 12, 1900, from “chronic endocardia (mitral stenosis)” and “acute melancholia” according to the death certificate. He was nearly penniless; the German Press Club paid for his funeral and the German-inscribed headstone that marks his grave.
A Mad Man?
Interestingly, in February 1897, the New York Times prematurely and incorrectly reported his death in a New York mental asylum. Some authors claimed that he had contracted syphilis, which may have been a cause of the mental breakdowns he suffered in his later years. In the months prior to his death, he spent some time in mental institutions because of his failing mental health.
Steinitz is buried in the Cemetery of the Evergreens in Brooklyn, New York.
The World’s Best Selling Scholastic Chess Workbooks!
173,685 of John’s workbooks sold!
Beginner’s Book – Chess Rules For Students
“Knights Battle”
Chess Rules For Students is a workbook for students learning the game of chess and for beginning students returning to the game. No previous knowledge of chess is necessary. Parents unfamiliar with chess will find this booklet a valuable guide to their child’s new interest.
Chess Rules For Students is designed with students, coaches, and parents in mind. Reading level is appropriate for grade-school use. All major rules of chess are covered, and algebraic notation worksheets are included. Each page is in easy-to-use worksheet format.
A student-friendly Answer Key makes self-correction fun!
Beginners & Intermediate Book – Checkmate! Ideas For Students
“Knight Checkmates King!”
Checkmate! Ideas For Students is a workbook for beginning and intermediate students. Checkmate! covers the tactics used in checkmate attacks with clear explanations, diagrams and arrows to pinpoint the key features.
Unlike many other basic checkmate books, Checkmate! categorizes the checkmates by the tactics used to force the checkmate–like Pins, Sacrifices, Removing the Guard, Attraction, Clearance and Attacking Flight Squares–rather than only the checkmate pattern itself.
The worksheets and Answer Key are clear and simple for the student to use, and easy for the parent, teacher and coach to correct! Fun!
Intermediate & Advanced Book – Chess Tactics For Students
“Profiles Face-Off in King’s Shadow”
Chess Tactics For Students contains 434 carefully selected problems in worksheet format.
Chess Tactics has been extensively field tested with elementary, middle-school, and high-school students over a four-year period. This book is ideal for independent seat work as well as for homework and classroom instruction.
The worksheet format and Answer Key enable self-correction with minimal dependence or direct help from a chess teacher, coach, or parent.
