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GM Ding Liren is officially among the participants of the FIDE Candidates Tournament. The field of eight players was announced today by the International Chess Federation. Ding replaces GM Sergey Karjakin, who was banned for six months due to expressing his strong support for Russia's warfare in Ukraine on social media.

Ding's participation, which is now official, was already pretty certain when Karjakin's appeal against his ban was dismissed. Here's FIDE's announcement of the participants, a month before the start of the event, on Twitter:

Ding failed to qualify directly for the Candidates, but because of Karjakin's ban, he can now play as a substitute because he is the highest-rated player who wasn't in the field yet. The regulations (here in PDF) state:

2.3 If any replacement is needed, the highest-rated player in the FIDE May 2022 standard rating list shall be invited, provided he/she has at least 30 standard games rated in the FIDE rating lists from June 2021 to May 2022.

When Karjakin received his ban on March 21, Ding had only played four standard games after June last year, but in March-April he played a further 28 games in China to become eligible. As the only participant with a rating over 2800, he will be the top seed in the field:

The FIDE Candidates Tournament takes place June 16-July 7, 2022 in Madrid, Spain. In this guide you will find all the information available, including all details about Chess.com's official and Twitch-exclusive coverage from the playing hall. Also, don't miss our SmarterChess predictions and our Meet the Candidates article where we present you all eight players extensively.

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Ding Liren Officially In the Candidates As FIDE Announces Participants - Chess.com

The 2022 FIDE Candidates tournament will occur in Madrid, Spain, from June 16-July 5, 2022. The tournament will consist of eight qualified players, and the winner earns the right to challenge GM Magnus Carlsen for the World Champion title. This article will use SmarterChess predictions, brought to you by ChessGoals.com,to calculate each player's odds of winning the event. We'll first cover the statistical models and then dive into the breakdowns for each player.

I looked at all Candidate Tournaments since 2013, when Carlsen qualified for the championship, to build the statistical models. Previous events had 14 rounds and an average rating of 2770-2787. I logged birth year, peak rating, the peak year, points off of peak, and years off of peak. For peak ratings, I only looked before that event date. All of these factors were in consideration for a statistical model to predict performance rating. The most important predictors were:

Factors 3 and 4 were not statistically significant and only affected projected performance ratings by about one Elo point. Both current and peak ratings had a positive association with predicted performance ratings.

I calculated the implied win-loss-draw odds for each game and applied random numbers to determine the result. After summarizing all 56 games for a tournament simulation, I checked if there was a clear winner or a tie for first place. I simulated 1000 tournaments (56,000 games) to determine the final odds and results. The draw rate for the simulations was 69.2% of the matches.

The most common winning score in the Classical segment was 8.5 points, which is a +3 score over 14 games. The average winning classical score was 8.7 points, which highlights that a player has to have the ability to play at a very high level to win this prestigious event.

We will start with the lowest projected finishers in the simulations and work our way up to the top finishers. I'm using April 2022 FIDE ratings for the numbers listed below and live ratings for the models.

Duda is only 23 years old and has the lowest rating (2750) in the event. His peak rating is 2760, so he hasn't shown that he can consistently perform at the 2810+ level required to win the candidates. He's projected to win 29 events in the classical and 9 of 23 tie-for-first scenarios, totaling 38 wins in 1000 simulations (4% chance to win). His most likely score is 6 points, with an average score of 6.2 in the simulations. Duda qualified by winning the Chess World Cup 2021, so we cannot count out the youngster!

Rapport has a similar profile to Duda in that he's one of the youngest players in the field and hasn't had as high of a peak rating as the other players in the event. It's unlikely that a player can come into a Candidates Tournament at their peak rating and win if the peak rating isn't over 2800. Rapport wins 37 events solo in simulations and 12 in the tiebreaks, totaling 49 events out of 1000. However, rapport's strong performances in Berlin and Belgrade earned him second place in the FIDE Grand Prix event. It's exciting that the two lowest odds are both young players that could surprise the cold-hearted statistical models.

Radjabov has an exciting profile. He was the youngest grandmaster in history in 2001 when he earned the title at age 14. He had a peak rating of 2793 in 2012 and has shown flashes of brilliance in his chess career. The high peak performance rating bumps him up a bit in the odds over Duda and Rapport, but he still hasn't reached the 2800+ mark. He won 76 of the 1000 simulated events and had an average of 6.8 points.

Nepomniachtchi has recently come off a world championship match against Carlsen in 2021, where he started out playing extremely high-quality chess for the first five games. After that, Magnus won four of the next six games to secure the match 7.5-3.5.Nepomniachtchi is below the next group of players in the simulations due to his <2800 current and peak ratings. He averaged 6.8 points and won 78 of the simulated events. I gave him a slight bump up in the tiebreak odds and had him winning 21/44 tiebreak scenarios. His strong 2821 rapid rating could come into play if he can get his way back up to 8+ points in the event.

The youngest player in the field is only 18 years old and recently skyrocketed to his 2804 FIDE rating. I know I will get some heat for this prediction, so please send your complaints to IM Danny Rensch, CCO of Chess.com. He's the man who hires me to write these articles. Hear me out on this one. Alireza has a current rating of 2804 with a peak rating of 2804. Even though this is very strong, we have three other players that have a history of being rated 2816 or higher! Historically, players have also been at the top longer than Firouzja before winning a candidate's event. His most common score in the simulations was 50%, with an average of 7.3 points. He won 114 simulations outright plus an additional 36/90 in the tiebreakers, notching him 150 victories out of 1000 events.

Nakamura is in a virtual tie with Firouzja regarding the odds. He wins 144 events out of 1000 but scores more tournament victories in the tiebreakers due to his 2837 rapid rating. His average score is 7.2/14, with a most common score of 7.5 points. That's a higher mode but lower average score and odds than Firouzja. I believe Naka is the dark horse of the event and could surprise everyone if he comes in with a 2800+ performance. Nakamura was number two in the world at age 27 with a 2816 FIDE rating. The average age of the last five winners was 30, so this 34-year-old may need to strike now before the odds are against him.

He is the last qualifier for this event, with the second-highest FIDE rating in the field after his recent flurry of tournaments to make sure he qualifies. Ding has been so consistent at the top that he's probably the gambling favorite once the websites account for his qualification. The other player that has been at the top for this long of a recent stretch is GM Fabiano Caruana, but currently, Fabiano has been in a bit of a slump. In 1000 simulations, Ding won 157 in the classical and 49 in the tiebreaker, totaling 206 victories! His average score and most likely score both fell squarely at 7.5 points.

The models say that Caruana is the most likely challenger to face Magnus Carlsen in the next FIDE World Championship! Caruana scored an impressive 7.7 average with a most common score of 8 points out of 14. He won 197 events in the classical and another 62 in the tiebreaker totaling 259 tournament victories. Caruana's peak rating of 2844 back in 2014, combined with his solid current rating, makes him the favorite to win it all.

The data-building for this article was a fun exercise trying to figure out what predicts a player's performance in past candidate events and applying it to the 2022 tournament. Here's an exciting look at the full table of scores in the simulations. Caruana and Ding both had some 11/14 winning scores!

If you're interested in improving your chess with data-driven articles like this one, please check out my website ChessGoals.com for more content. I might bump up Firouzja to the 20% range if I were to break away from the data, but it's also hard to say if he should be above Nakamura.

Check out NM Matt Jensen going through this article in this video:

Let us know what you think about the predictions in the comment section below!

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Who Will Win The 2022 Candidates? - Chess.com

Chess.com's latest Coach of the Month is FM Alessandro Santagati! A skilled coach with more than 10 years of teaching experience, Santagati prides himself on giving each student exactly what they need to succeed. Read on to learn more about this enthusiastic Italian FM.

Readers seeking private instruction can contact Alessandro Santagati via his Chess.com profile and can find other skilled coaches at Chess.com/coaches.

At what age were you introduced to chess, and who introduced you?

I started my chess journey at the age of 11 when I played in a tournament at my school. It was a tournament for players under the age of 16; I won three games in a row, all using scholar's mate! I then lost all the other games, finishing with three points out of seven games.

What is your first vivid memory from chess?

In the beginning, chess looked pretty complex. I remember not wanting to give up because it was an exciting challenge for me. When I was 13, I lost a lot of games in the tournaments I played. At age 14, I played a tournament for players rated under 2000. Despite the fact that my rating was 1452 at the time, I got very close to winning and ended up finishing third. This was something that definitely motivated me a lot.

Which coaches were helpful to you in your chess career, and what was the most useful knowledge they imparted to you?

I think I learned a lot from different people. When I was a child, local coaches helped me appreciate the study of the classics like Jose Raul Capablanca. As an adult, I had some private sessions with two really good grandmasters, Jan Werle and Andrey Sumets. They helped me to improve my positional understanding, as well as my opening knowledge.

Which game do you consider your "Magnus Opus?"

GM Jan Werle is probably the best player I beat in my chess career. I like this game because my approach was very cautious. At the same time, I was trying to create some counterplay at the right moment. It worked.

How would you describe your approach to chess coaching?

My approach as a coach is to really listen to my students. I work mainly with one-on-one lessons, and it's essential to understand the person's individual skills and goals. I take a look at their games to explore their weaknesses, and I prepare customized material to solve their main problems.

What do you consider your responsibility as a coach and which responsibilities fall on your student?

My responsibility is to create a tailored plan for each student, and to give them all the tools available to help them understand some key concepts to improve their chess games. After that, it is up to the student to stay motivated and follow the program.

What is a piece of advice that you give your students that you think more chess players could benefit from?

Playing chess, especially if you play good chess, can help you tremendously in developing a good thinking process that is going to be helpful in every aspect of your daily life.

What is your favorite teaching game that users might not have seen?

I really like this game, as it clearly shows the basic principles behind a good attack. To create a good attack, it's necessary to have certain conditions, especially when we are talking about attacking the king.

It's very important to have good control with the pawns and enough pieces to support the pressure because, very often, it's necessary to sacrifice. The other two important elements are open lines that can help the pieces to attack better, and the weaknesses of the enemy squares or pawns.

A good attack is a step-by-step process: you make a threat, and your opponent could stop itbut it might cause a weakness. Eventually, they have too many weaknesses, and you can break the enemy's position.

What is the puzzle you give students that tells you the most about how they think?

A common problem for beginners and intermediate chess players is that they play with no strategy. Very often, I'll show this position to them and ask them a couple of questions. What is their plan in this position? Which elements of the position do they consider when coming up with their plan?

Do you prefer to teach online or offline? What do you think is different about teaching online?

I prefer to teach onlineit's my main job. I think online one-on-one lessons are the best choice. It's faster to set the chessboard, easier to load the material I prepared, and you can record the lesson.

What do you consider the most valuable training tool that the internet provides?

I really like Chess.com's analysis board and Puzzles. I've found classical puzzles to be very useful for myself; I think it's very important to work on difficult positions slowly without rushing.

Which under-appreciated chess book should every chess player read?

Interesting question. I'm not sure if it's under-appreciated, but I'd say Emanuel Lasker's Manual of Chess. Lasker is one of the stronger and longer-lasting chess players in the history of the game, and this book covers all of the most important key elements of chess strategy.

Are you a chess coach who's looking to find new students, build your brand, and get paid more for the work that you're already doing? Check out Chess.com's Coach Affiliate Program.

Previous Coaches of the Month:

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Coach Of The Month: FM Alessandro Santagati - Chess.com

SAN DIEGO The pawns are lined up and the gleaming white knight stands ready to attack. The game will resume, again, as soon as the hitters meeting is finished and sometime before the star third baseman lights up a box score.

Given Manny Machados torrid start for the San Diego Padres this season, it would be predictable to joke that the five-time All-Star is playing chess while his peers are playing checkers. But in Machados case, it is also true: When hes not battering opposing pitchers and stealing hits with acrobatic defensive plays, Machado can be found keeping his mind sharp with quiet contemplation at a chess board.

Chess is interesting, said Machado, who learned the game from Brady Anderson, the former player and Orioles executive, in Baltimore in 2017. Its something you cant just go play. Youve got to think ahead to what your opponent is thinking, what hes trying to do to you, how hes trying to attack you.

The game intrigued Machado from the beginning. He keeps a board on a small table between his locker and his clubhouse neighbor, Fernando Tatis Jr., has another board in the nearby players lounge; and plays at home during the winter with his father-in-law, Luis Alonso, who is the father of the former major leaguer Yonder Alonso.

When Tatis Jr. revealed last season that he occasionally plays chess, Machado began bringing a board to the park for matches in his downtime, just like the ones he had played in Baltimore.

If you play every day, youre in a battle with him, said Wayne Kirby, the Mets first-base coach and a regular opponent of Machados, both in Baltimore and again last summer in San Diego.

So many Orioles would play chess in Machados time there that players would wait in line and call I got next as if at a court for a pickup basketball game, Kirby said, and eventually the team kept three chess boards in the clubhouse and a traveling board for road trips. Machado said he is still recruiting new opponents in San Diego, having thus far matched wits with outfielders Wil Myers and Trayce Thompson, who this week was designated for assignment (in baseball, not in chess). Machado has also played a little with Tatis Jr.

His regular opponent, though, is Michael Brdar, San Diegos first-year hitting coach.

Its been fun, Brdar said. Hes good. Hes very good.

Machado vividly remembers the first time he and his main Orioles nemesis, Jonathan Schoop, played a game. It was in Seattle in 2017, Machado said. Both were beginners then, so raw that Machado said their first game lasted only about three minutes.

We both sucked, Machado said. It was interesting to pick up and learn from it.

Machado and Schoop had ascended together through Baltimores farm system and were competitive in everything, including who had the strongest throwing arm. They continued improving as chess players until their matches became something close to an addiction, complete with trash talking that still echoes today.

Who won more?

Come on, thats not even a question, said Schoop, who now plays second base (and plenty of chess) for the Detroit Tigers. I let him beat me a couple of times just to make him feel good. If we played 100 times, hed beat me maybe 10 times.

Machado laughs when this is relayed to him and corrects Schoops math.

Honestly, in the beginning it was a little rough because he knew a little more than I did when I started, Machado said. But once I learned how to do a couple of moves, he had no chance against me. Now, its probably 70/30 Im 70, hes 30.

Machado then upped the ante: I dont think he could win a game against me now. He wont even get his Queen out of the way. Hed be done.

Schoop, though, claims to know all of Mannys moves, especially one tendency in particular. If you take the horse away from him, he said, referring to the knight, hes done.

Kirby concurred. The horse is huge for Manny, he said. He likes that horsey.

Kirby and Schoop said games between the players would sometimes devolve into arguments because both were so competitive. Sometimes, Schoop said, Machado would accuse him of cheating.

They wouldnt get to 100 games, theyd be arguing too much, Kirby said. Theyd get into it because once you touch your queen or something, and then take your hand off of it, youre done. Both of them would be claiming they didnt take their hand off a piece.

In San Diego this season, Machado has had a hand on and in everything. Through Thursday, his .383 batting average, 46 hits and 27 runs scored all led the majors. At 29, he already ranks 19th among active players on M.L.B.s hits list (1,471) and 18th in home runs (258).

With Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera nearing the ends of their celebrated careers, it appears there will be a long wait for the next member of the 3,000-hit, 500-homer club. But Machados unusual combination of youth, production and durability could make him a candidate to join that fraternity one day.

Machado called Cabrera the best hitter Ive ever seen and spoke admiringly of his production.

I know the games changing a little bit, but theres no hitters like that anymore who go out and get 3,000 hits, 500 homers and 600 doubles, right? Machado said. Thats slugging.

It is the kind of hitter Machado strives to be, and it is the kind of hitter he is again after a nagging left shoulder injury last summer left him unable to lift his arm for a time. He still played 153 games, refusing to go on the injured list, and even now he smiles coyly while declining to reveal the exact diagnosis of the injury. (I cant say that. I cant tell you. I dont know what it was. Im not sure what it was.)

It is the entire package of slugger, star fielder, lineup staple and chess kingpin that has elevated him into a team leader for a club that has had its issues with that in the recent past.

You see him from afar and you have your opinions about him, Manager Bob Melvin, who joined the Padres this off-season, said of Machado, who has moved past some early-career issues and into a leadership role. And then you get here and see what hes all about. He is somewhat vocal, definitely leads by example. He shows up to play every single day. He performs every single day. There are subtle things about him that scream leadership.

Brdar, who started playing chess after watching The Queens Gambit two winters ago, suggested there can be a link between chess and hitting.

Youre going to make a bad move in chess, and a lot of times its how you recover from that instead of letting it leak into two, three, four bad moves in a row, Brdar said. Thats similar to hitting.

Youre going to chase a pitch here and there, youre going to miss a mistake here and there. But more often than not its about what you do the next two, three, four pitches after that, or the next two, three, four at-bats after that. I think there are definite parallels.

Machado agreed, noting that youre training your brain to do something right. People read, people do little puzzles to activate their mind.

For Machado, chess fills that role.

He and Brdar play slow games on the board in front of Machados locker if the hitting coach walks through the clubhouse and sees Manny has made a move, for example, Brdar will stop and make his own, and vice versa. Then, after the hitters meeting or batting practice, theyll play longer games on the board in the players lounge.

Right now he plays a fianchetto with his bishop, Brdar said of Machados opening strategy in many games. So he likes to have his bishop have the whole visual diagonally of the whole board.

Thats my move, Machado said. When I saw The Queens Gambit, I didnt really know the names at the time. I still dont that much. I know a few. But its all about openings. If you put yourself in a good position and start attacking in a certain way and you stick to it, you can do it. Thats one of the moves I use the most.

Brdar proudly reports that he has learned to shut down that move. Machado ruefully admits that in their games so far this season, the hitting coach has won three times and Machado only once, with one tie.

But its a long year, Machado said. Things change. Its just like baseball. You go on a hot streak, you go on a cold streak. Im on my cold streak right now.

More:
Manny Machado Brings Chess (and Hits) to the Padres - The New York Times

Wilhelm Steinitz (May 14, 1836 August 12, 1900)

Wilhelm Steinitz looms as one of the largest figures in chess. Earning the distinction of being the first ever World Champion in 1886, he was a successful competitive player and chess journalist whose theoretical teachings revolutionized chess and laid the foundations of the modern game. He is, arguably, chess greatest thinker.

Steinitz was born on May 14, 1836, in Prague, the capital of the Kingdom of Bohemia that is now the Czech Republic. He was the last of thirteen children of a poor Jewish tailor who groomed him to become a rabbi.

Steinitz and his family were confined in the Jewish ghettos of Prague, but when these were abolished in 1850, he became free to roam the city. One of his favorite places was the Caf Wein, the chess haunt of the best players in Prague.

The young Steinitz was so proficient at mathematics that his parents soon abandoned their plans for a religious vocation for him and sent him instead to the Vienna Polytechnicum in 1857. He worked as a journalist in the city to support himself, but, with his income proving insufficient, he eventually abandoned his studies and turned to chess for a living.

Master Class Vol.9: Paul Morphy

Learn about one of the greatest geniuses in the history of chess! Paul Morphy's career (1837-1884) lasted only a few years and yet he managed to defeat the best chess players of his time.

Steinitz was already a strong player when he came to Vienna. He spent most of his time at the Caf Rebhuhn, and there gradually developed into Viennas strongest player. He won the citys championship on his third try in 1861, scoring 30 points out of 34 games. This performance was reminiscent of Paul Morphys dominance only three years before, that he became known as The Austrian Morphy.

Following his victory in 1861, the Vienna Chess Society asked Steinitz to represent Austria in the great London Tournament of 1862. This was to be his first international tournament, and the tough field that included Adolf Anderssen, Louie Paulsen and Johan Lowenthal would test him thoroughly. He finished only sixth, but won the tournaments brilliancy prize for his game against Augustus Mongredien.

Steinitz must have found ample opportunities in London for a budding chess professional like him, because he attempted to stay there for good. For one, there was the legendary Simpsons Divan, the only caf in Europe that rivaled Frances Caf de la Rgence. There, Steinitz could give odds and make easy pickings of amateurs, or challenge other strong players to a match. It was in these matches, especially, that masters like Steinitz displayed their skills and built their reputation. With the players and their patrons placing huge bets aside, these matches became the gladiatorial, nerve-wracking contests of Victorian London.

The interior of the Caf de la Rgence circa 1906

Steinitz beat Joseph Henry Blackburne in 1863 (8-2), and Henry Bird in 1866 (7-5) in this sort of high-stakes play. Now considered as Londons strongest player, Steinitz challenged Adolf Anderssen shortly after beating Bird.

Anderssen had been considered the worlds best player after Paul Morphy withdrew from competition in 1858, and this he affirmed by winning London 1862. If Steinitz hadnt surpassed him yet, he muddled the chess hierarchy, beating Anderssen narrowly, 8-6. Every game in this tough match was decisive, and Steinitz would always point to 1866 as the year he became world champion.

Find more info at Chess Archaeology

Yet, even Steinitz himself knew that his claims to ascendancy over Anderssen were shaky at best. Their match was tied at 6-6, and he might have only been fortunate to win the last two games. In the succeeding years, he failed to show clear superiority over his rival. Anderssen, in fact, won the great Baden-Baden Tournament of 1870, beating Steinitz in their two encounters.

The defeat so affected Steinitz that he began a thorough assessment of his game. While, perhaps, he only meant to fix his weaknesses, he could not have been aware that he had begun his theoretical undertakings that were to influence the game profoundly.

Three years later, in the strong Vienna Tournament of 1873, Steinitz unveiled a new, positional playing style. He won the tournament ahead of Anderssen, one of the few times he outperformed Anderssen in a non-match play.

Steinitz took a nine-year break from competition after this victory, and spent the period on that other significant endeavor of his career - chess journalism. In 1873, he became the chess correspondent of The Field, the leading British sports magazine.

The Field became Steinitzs platform for his new approach to the game, and his writings and ideas were later to become the basis of the classical principles of chess. While these ideas were yet too novel for the Romantics to understand in Vienna 1873, they would soon awaken every player to a whole new understanding of the game.

When Steinitz returned to competition, he won the Vienna International Tournament of 1882. His great rival Anderssen had passed away, but a new force in his protg had emerged. He was Johannes Hermann Zukertort. Like Steinitz, he had also beaten Anderssen and Blackburne in matches.

Zukertort won the equally strong London International Tournament of 1883 in dominant fashion, which established him and Steinitz as the two strongest players in the world. Only a match between them could settle the matter of the worlds best player.

Master Class Vol.5: Emanuel Lasker

The name Emanuel Lasker will always be linked with his incredible 27 years reign on the throne of world chess. In 1894, at the age of 25, he had already won the world title from Wilhelm Steinitz and his record number of years on the throne did not end till 1921 when Lasker had to accept the superiority of Jose Raul Capablanca. But not only had the only German world champion so far seen off all challengers for many years, he had also won the greatest tournaments of his age, sometimes with an enormous lead. The fascinating question is, how did he manage that?

The match came to be arranged almost three years later, in the United States of America in January 1886. It was, of course, no different from all the other tough matches they had been involved in as leading masters, what with the $2000 a side that Steinitz, Zukertort and their patrons had wagered. This time, however, the chess world wanted formality, and thus the players, their patrons, and the public alike acknowledged the match to be the first-ever World Chess Championship.

Johannes Zukertort and Wilhelm Steinitz

Zukertort raced to a 4-1 lead. Steinitz, however, fought back and proved too formidable for Zukertort, eventually wining, 10-5, to become the first official world champion. The match made it clear that Zukertort had not reached Steinitzs level of positional understanding.

Find more info at Chess Archaeology

Steinitz defended his title successfully three times, twice against Mikhail Chigorin in 1889 and 1892, and against Isidor Gunsberg in 1890. He finally lost it to Emanuel Lasker in 1894, but by then he was already fifty-eight and well past his prime.

Steinitz remained competitive after losing the title, and finished respectably in great tournaments such as Hastings 1895, St. Petersburg 1895, Nuremberg 1896, and Vienna and Cologne in 1898. Only in London 1899 did he fail to land a prize, but then his health had already seriously deteriorated. He passed away the following year.

Steinitz stands as the most influential figure in the game, and no one has caused as much upheaval in chess thought as he did. He was a child of the Romantic Era, but was the first to sense the fundamental flaws of the attack at all costs Romantic style of play. His keenness and compelling

drive to search for the truths of chess gave rise to the Classical school. He demonstrated clearly the ideas and principles of this school in his writings, and they were completely understood and assimilated by the succeeding generations. Chess would move on to the Classical Era, its golden age, and the classical style of play would soon be perfected by outstanding players such as Siegbert Tarrasch, Akiba Rubinstein, and Jose Raul Capablanca.

Steinitz himself understood all his contributions when he said:

I was champion of the world for twenty-eight years (referring to 1866 as the year he became world champion) because I was twenty years ahead of my time. I played on certain principles, which neither Zukertort nor anyone else of his time understood. The players of today, such as Lasker, Tarrasch, Pillsbury, Schlechter and others, have adopted my principles, and, as is only natural, they have improved upon what I began, and that is the whole secret of the matter.

Steinitz true legacy has perhaps been aptly expressed by an adoring follower. This little man, he said, taught us all to play chess.

The following games of Steinitz are worthy of close study:

You can go over all five games in the replayer below. Feel free to try your own variations!

See the article here:
Wilhelm Steinitz, the thinker, and the dawning of chess' classical age - ChessBase