Blackburne-Steinitz 1876, an Unofficial World Chess Championship

Blackburne, the best English player during the latter part of the 19th century, was famous for his uncompromising attacking style, dazzling games in tournaments, large number of simultaneous games around the globe, blindfold exhibitions and fondness for whiskey, which he asserted improved his chess play. Such a romantic player, known also as the "Black Death", was always in the eye of the chess followers whose taste for exciting chess he made frequently spark. His chess career was to be one of the longest, spanning over fifty years, making him a legend. He was a romantic in the style of the old days where the heroic sacrifices and bright combinations where the common matter on the board all over the world.

Those days, however, were to end with the entrance of a new way of thinking, a more modest and patient style, but with the effectiveness of scientific affairs. And was precisely Steinitz the man who laid the fundaments of the new theory and the positional school of chess.

At the Second World Exhibition of London 1862, the Crystal Palace was remodelled, and along with the principal events, fourteen chess players where invited to take part in an international tournament, among them William Steinitz, the Austrian chess champion. That was the year of the arrival of Steinitz to English soil and he was to remain there for twenty years, establishing himself as the leading player in the world after modelling his chess thinking in the next decade from the wild and speculative combinations, where himself was raised, to his final positional understanding full of analysis and continuous research. At the end he would say: "Chess is a scientific game..."

The 1862 London International Chess Tournament was won by Adolf Anderssen, an affable and modest German professor of mathematics, but a fierce, if not the fiercest, attacking player and the strongest of the world, after the retirement of Paul Morphy.

Blackburne had learned to play chess not more than two years ago but his talent was already evident and was at the time the strongest chess player of Manchester. He also took part in the International Tournament, where he was to obtain a modest 10th place, managing to beat master players like Lowenthal, the Rev. Owen, Green and the newcomer Steinitz.

Later when he returned to Manchester he found his job in the hosiery trade occupied and he become a chess professional.
In London, owing to the favourable environment in the English chess world, Steinitz just had take the same decision, and the paths of both gentlemen were to cross many times in the future.

At February 5, 1876 the next note was published in 'The Field', a magazine of London:

"MATCH BETWEEN MESSRS BLACKBURNE AND STEINITZ"

"The preliminaries of this match have been settled, and the contest will commence on Thursday, the 17 inst., at the rooms of the West-end Chess Club, 8, New Coventry-street, W., where all the games will be played three times a week, namely, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. The first winner of seven games, exclusive of draws, is to be declared victor. We shall publish the detailed conditions in our next number."

In the following note the stakes were declared £60 a side and the games would be played with two hours to make the first thirty moves and an hour for the next fifteen. The time limit was regulated by sandglasses, and either player exceeding it by five minutes forfeited the game. The games were played in accordance with the laws of the British Chess Association, with the exception of a draw condition: if either player repeated the same move or series of moves six times in succession, the opponent could claim a drawn game.

By this time Stenitz had already developed a good deal of his positional theory, triumphed in a row of tournaments and defeated respectively in match play Anderssen, as well as his pupil Johannes Zukertort, an amazingly combinative player and a worthy successor for the former.
Steinitz was also the editor of a chess column in 'The Field', an important voice in the chess world because of the deep analysis of games presented. In any case it served him also as a channel to propagate his theories, which were not always well received.

William Steinitz

Blackburne in turn, had achieved his high status as one of the best players in the world. He was the English champion in 1868 an 1869, and had succeed at international tournaments like Viena 1873, where he shared first place with Steinitz, earning also his "Black Death" nickname. Finally at London 1876 he took first again.

J.H. Blackburne, the Black Death

In match play the two men had already faced each other as earlier as 1862, after Steinitz won the London Masters Tournament and a series of matches between him and some prominent players were arranged. However as Steinitz had defeated Anderssen, the 1876 match was considered an unofficial chess championship, and also the money surrounding the affaire was of importance according to the time.

'The Field' had the rights to publish the games and issued several notes after the ending of each game. Blackburne and Steinitz annotated all the games which 'The Field' published also later. The annotations are not separated by name, but show the understanding of the game by the two old masters and the level of theory at the time. The use of time controls regulated by clocks was starting to be a common matter, and in general terms chess players were still not fully experienced dealing with it and his reactions give some insight into his psychology. The first note appeared on the 19th February:

"MATCH BETWEEN MESSRS BLACKBURNE AND STEINITZ"

"According to announcement, the first game in this momentous contest commenced on Thursday, the 17th, at the West-end Chess Club. After some preparations, play commenced at half-past two o'clock; the toss for the first move having fallen in favour of Mr. Steinitz. An alteration in the conditions as published in our last number was agreed upon by the two combatants, to the effect that the time limit should be regulated by alarum [sic] time-pieces instead of sand glasses."

Steinitz W. -- Blackburne J.H.

Ruy Lopez

1.