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The Steinitz Papers Reviewed by Prof. Nagesh Havanur
The author of these lines, Kurt Landsberger is a great-grand-nephew of the great master. His quest for the legacy of his famed ancestor resulted in the biography, William Steinitz, The First World Champion (McFarland, 1995.) The present work has taken several years and traversing through three continents. The account of the heroic efforts to preserve the precious legacy of Steinitz makes poignant reading. Mr.Földeák of Budapest recalls how he came into possession of two Steinitz letters. In the 1940s he was a member of the Hungarian Chess Problem Association. There he met, and became friends with a Mr. Ernst Bokor, a Jewish player. The conditions for the Jews became worse after Hungary was occupied by the Germans. One of their mutual friends, the well-known problemist Dr.Gy. Paros, suggested that Bokor go underground. Paros was ready to hide Bokor in the country at his mother’s home. Bokor refused. He was born here, he said, and this is where he wanted to stay. He was ready to face the future, whatever it brought. At the beginning of June, the Jews of Ujpest were put into freight cars and they disappeared. Nobody knows where they went, but they were never seen again. Just before the deportation Bokor wrote a few lines to Földeák advising that should something happen to him he left his chess collection to him. The collection survived the war. Among the books Földeák. found many papers, diagrams, games as well as two Steinitz letters. It is not known how Bokor came to own these. The letters came from the estate of Ignaz Kolisch. Here is the first of them:
One could only gauge the precarious existence of a chess professional in those days from these words. The second letter to Kolisch is more confident and cordial:
Part II first shows him at the height of his powers as World Champion dealing with the likes of Zukertort and Tschigorin in one match after another. The hostility between Steinitz and Zuckertort is well-known. But he enjoyed the warm friendship of Tschigorin, his other World Championship rival. The correspondence between the two is marked by affection and mutual respect. The same is the case with Pillsbury, who regarded himself as a disciple of Steinitz. In general these letters to his contemporaries are a joy to read.
But there are also tragic moments like the following:
Flora Steinitz (1866-1888), the daughter, died of endocarditis. She helped her father in publishing his International Chess Magazine and took care of his correspondence. She also sold pictures and chess materials to spectators during the Match against Zuckertotort. The following description is from a New York newspaper report:
And a few days later:
The father couldn’t even afford an overcoat for her even as she stood in freezing cold day after day to earn a few dollars for the family. Her demise continued to haunt him till the end. He wrote “… my most cherished hopes are dead and buried in the grave of my daughter…’’ Bachmann, the old biographer of Steinitz quotes the letter of a friend:
(The anecdote is mentioned in Landsberger’s biography, William Steinitz, The First World Champion (McFarland, 1995.) There is an element of hyperbole in these sympathetic words. In 1894 Steinitz was old, poor and ailing, his body wracked by gout. He was seriously thinking of retirement from active play. But his precarious existence as a professional player and continuing penury left him little choice but to accept the challenge from Lasker. Besides, he was anxious to prove to the chess world that he was not a spent force and continued to be the best player. The Match was an uphill struggle, with Steinitz fighting till the bitter end and conceding defeat only in the 17th game. [Editor: You can find all of the Lasker v. Steinitz 1894 World Championship games annotated right here at Chessville.] The book offers contemporary opinion on the event, which makes interesting reading. (For more on this match, see the article, Romancing History.) Unfortunately, the Bohemian Caesar could not reconcile himself to the loss of the title he had held for 28 years. Embittered by defeat and still hopeful of regaining past glory he challenged Lasker to a Return Match. When the latter refused to respond, he declared that he would reclaim the title. Lasker first treated the declaration with scorn and accepted the challenge only when he was ready. None of Steinitz’s friends could dissuade him from the folly of this venture. Part III of the book deals with his doomed efforts to regain his pre-eminence in the chess world. As the late Ken Whyld, chess historian, aptly put it, it was a tragic drama reminiscent of King Lear with a touch of Don Quixote. In the historic Hastings Tournament (won by Pillsbury on his debut) held next year, Steinitz was placed only fifth. What was worse, he was soundly beaten by Lasker in their individual encounter. In the quadrangular St. Petersburg Tournament that followed (won by Lasker) he performed well and came second ahead of Pillsbury and Tschigorin. In the individual encounters with Lasker he was not too successful, with three losses, two draws and one solitary win. But this was a classic victory and the effort encouraged him to entertain further hopes of regaining the title from Lasker. Unfortunately, the Return Match in Moscow turned out to be a debacle for Steinitz who lost by the overwhelming score of 2 wins,10 losses and 5 draws. He was devastated and never recovered from the psychological blow. The aftermath was tragicomic. The 61-year-old champion was unable to return home from Moscow as he got into a scandalous affair with an infatuated young Russian secretary who was 18-years-old. The girl’s guardian complained to the American Consul who had him sent to the lunatic asylum in Moscow! Then began a nightmare:
It is astonishing that none of his great Russian contemporaries like Tschigorin and Schiffers came to his rescue. They seem to have been unaware of his detention, and the friends at the Moscow Chess Society who were informed of his confinement were not allowed to visit him. In the outside world, among the few who acted with alacrity was Lasker who issued a public appeal to help Steinitz. This seemed to have little effect. The old man was released only after the doctors certified that his condition was satisfactory. He had spent more than a month in the hospital. Thereafter Steinitz continued to play in tournaments with varying success. He was placed fourth in Vienna 1898 tournament and fifth in Cologne tournament held during the same year. It was only in the last tournament at London 1899 that he failed to win a prize. The family was now in dire straits. Proud as he was, he could not bring himself to seek help from others. Shipley, an old friend and chess patron, recalls how he learnt of his impoverished condition and sent him a cheque by way of Christmas present. Steinitz wrote a gracious reply thanking him and returned part of the amount requesting him to offer it to a mutual friend, believing that man to be more needy than himself. Shipley comments that the letter is full of pathos. Steinitz bravely hid the fact that he was practically starving when he received the cheque, and was quick to think of the needs of another.
The book offers a wealth of archival material. Apart from a collection of letters between Steinitz and his contemporaries, it includes valuable documents, photographs, facsimiles and game scores. There is an illuminating commentary throughout, and also a biographical dictionary of all the characters figuring in the book. Only a few games have found their way into the present work. The following game was played in a friendly match that Steinitz won with the score 6.5-4.5.
Schiffers – Steinitz [C64]
No lover of chess history and tradition should miss this book. Recommended.
Prof.
Havanur's review was first published in
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By
this time it was all over with him. Sick and broken in spirit, he
retreated into a private world and passed away on 12th August,
1900.
