Wilhelm Steinitz (1836–1900): playing style, games and openings

1st World Champion, 1886–1894. Founder of positional theory: accumulate small advantages, defend soundly, and attack only when the position justifies it.

1836–1900 · Known for: Positional theory & tenacious defense · 582 games in the collection

Explore Wilhelm Steinitz's games in the analyzer Compare with your own games

Playing style: Attacker

Goes for the king: checks, pawn storms and opposite-side castling, and willing to give material for the initiative.

Aggression 68 / 100

Risk-taking 81 / 100

Endgame bias 45 / 100

Solidity 18 / 100

Simplification 25 / 100

These scores come from the 582 games used for the style profile (classical-length games), measured the same way the analyzer measures your own games.

Results

Wilhelm Steinitz scored 318 wins, 118 draws and 146 losses (65% score) in 582 games.

With White: 187 wins, 60 draws and 61 losses (70% score) in 308 games.
With Black: 131 wins, 58 draws and 85 losses (58% score) in 274 games.

Favourite openings

As White

King's Gambit: 45 games, 78% score
French Defense: 45 games, 73% score
Vienna Game: 43 games, 72% score
Queen's Gambit Declined: 42 games, 58% score
Italian Game: 32 games, 72% score
Ruy Lopez: 22 games, 70% score

As Black

Ruy Lopez: 90 games, 51% score
Italian Game: 78 games, 54% score
Scotch Game: 24 games, 71% score
Four Knights Game: 16 games, 56% score
King's Gambit: 15 games, 77% score
Queen's Gambit Declined: 9 games, 39% score

A famous game

Hastings 1895 brilliancy (Steinitz, William vs Von Bardeleben, Curt, 1-0, 1895) — replay it move by move and see Stockfish's verdict.