Despite coming in 3rd place in the American Chess Congress's tournament held in 1889, the tied first-place finishersMikhail Chigorin andMax Weiss refused to challenge the title. Steinitz accepted Gunsberg's challenge in 1890, and they played in New York. Though Steinitz won their second game, by game 5 Gunsberg had taken the lead. Gunsberg managed to be just one game behind Steinitz after winning Games 12 and 16, but Steinitz strengthened his lead by winning game 18, and then drew Game 19 to win 10.5 to 8.5 points. Gunsberg favoured theEvans Gambit with the white pieces, and held his own, ended up winning 4 games against Steinitz, who would continue to hold the title of World Champion untilhis 1894 match againstEmanuel Lasker.
Gunsberg is agreed to have reached the peak of his chess career in the years leading up to the World Championship, following which his wife Jane died oftuberculosis, and though he continued to give lectures and write about chess, his skill level sharply dropped off.
In 1887 theAmerican Chess Congress started work on drawing up regulations for the future conduct of world championship contests. Steinitz actively supported this endeavor, as he thought he was becoming too old to remain world champion – he wrote in his own magazine "I know I am not fit to be the champion, and I am not likely to bear that title for ever".[1]
TheAmerican Chess Congress's final proposal was that the winner of a tournament to be held in New York in 1889 should be regarded as world champion for the time being, but must be prepared to face a challenge from the second or third placed competitor within a month.[1][2] Steinitz wrote that he would not play in the tournament and would not challenge the winner unless the second and third placed competitors failed to do so.[3] The tournament was duly played to select Steinitz's challenger for the world championship, but the outcome was not quite as planned:Mikhail Chigorin andMax Weiss tied for first place; their play-off resulted in four draws, though neither player wished to challenge for the world champion title -[4]Weiss then wanted to get back to his work for theRothschild Bank, conceding the title to Chigorin, who in turn hadplayed and lost to Steinitz in the world championship the previous year.[5]
However, the third prize-winnerIsidor Gunsberg was prepared to play for the title. He practiced before the match by organising a first-to-10 match against Chigorin,[6] a precursor to the modernCandidates Tournament.[7] He issued his challenge to Steinitz following the match, which ended with 11.5 points each.
The world championship was played in New York in 1890 and ended in a 10½–8½ victory for Steinitz. The American Chess Congress's experiment was not repeated, and Steinitz's last three matches were private arrangements between the players.[8]
Steinitz introduced what was at the time anovelty, with 4.f3, which he would go on to play againstEmanuel Lasker in the 1894 world chess championship. Though the opening was fairly even, Steinitz missed a chance to capitalise on a potential lead on the 11th move. He could've played 11.Nd3, winning a tempo on the black rook. At this point, the game was adjourned until 7 o'clock, and shortly after regrouping Steinitz offered a draw, which was accepted by Gunsberg.[9]
Position after 18. g3??. This allowed Steinitz to winthe exchange with Nc3, because the queen is either forced to leave the defence of the bishop on d2 (leading to greater material loss), or the bishop must take the knight, which is what happened in the game. This bishop was pinned to the rook, leading the black bishop to play BxC1.[10]
Steinitz led out of the opening, especially after Gunsberg made a positional error with 14.c4?! (failing to centralise his c2 knight to hamper black's progress), and had a commanding advantage after 17.. Bg5 18.g3??, where Gunsberg failed to spot apin tactic, and went downthe exchange, after 18.. Nc3.
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Wilhelm Steinitz
Isidor Gunsberg
Mikhail Chigorin (Russian Empire)
