Steinitz, W. – Bird, H.E. 1866




Results
 
Name   Edo    Dev.   Score  /  Games 
Steinitz, Wilhelm    2652 (37) 9.5/17 
Bird, Henry    2479 (46) 7.5/17 
 
Status: formal

Event table notes

Event data
Place: London, England
Start date: Sep. 1866
End date: Nov. 1866
 
Notes:
Feenstra Kuiper, Hooper and Whyld, Moran, Di Felice, La Grande Storia degli Scacchi and Giffen give +7-5=5 for Steinitz; Sarah's Morphy website gives +7-6=6 for Steinitz; Sunnucks gives +7-6=6 for Steinitz in her article on Bird but +7-5=5 in her article on Steinitz; Golombek and Bird's Chess History and Reminiscences (quoting the Athenaeum of 7 Sept. 1880) give +7-6=7 for Steinitz; Bird in an article in the Brooklyn Eagle of 17 Jan. 1892 (see Sarah's Chess Journal) gives +8-7=6 for Steinitz, as does Bird via Reichhelm in Hilberts' book on Shipley (p.59); Elo gives 10.5/17 for Steinitz (rather than 9.5/17 if the result is +7-5=5). Di Felice and Giffen give dates as Sept.-Nov. 1866; Feenstra Kuiper, Golombek, Moran, Hooper and Whyld and La Grande Storia degli Scacchi give 1866; Sarah's Morphy website gives 1867; Sunnucks gives 1867 in her article on Bird but 1866 in her article on Steinitz; Bird's Chess History and Reminiscences gives 1867 in one place and 1866-7 in another; Bird also gives 1867 in an article in the Brooklyn Eagle of 17 Jan. 1892 (see Sarah's Chess Journal), and in an account given by Reichhelm, quoted in Hilbert's book on Shipley (p.59). The Illustrated London News of 15 Sept. 1866 gives one of the games and says the contest was 'just arranged', so it presumably started in Sept. 1866, and the 24 Nov. 1866 issue says Bird was called away when the score stood +6-5=5 for Steinitz. The 8 Dec. 1866 issue gives a corrected score of +7-5=5, sent in by Steinitz. The Albion of 1 Dec. 1866, the Philadelphia Daily Evening Bulletin of 7 and 14 Dec. 1866, and the New York Clipper of 19 Jan. 1867 also give +6-5=5 for Steinitz. The Dec. 1866 issue of the Chess World gives the final score as +7-5=5, after which Bird left. The 5 Jan. 1867 issue of the Illustrated London News gives the last game, saying that it was unfinished. The New York Clipper of 29 Dec. 1866 gives the result so far as +6-5=5 for Steinitz, and the 19 Jan. 1867 issue gives this as the terminal score. The 26 Jan. 1867 issue, however, gives the 17th game, which was apparently unfinished when Bird had to leave England, but at that point Bird 'most assuredly would have lost'. I will include this last game and use the score +7-5=5 for Steinitz.
 
References
Books
   Bird, Chess History and Reminiscences
   Di Felice, Chess Results, 1747-1900, page 45
   Elo, Rating of Chessplayers, page 90
   Feenstra Kuiper, 100 Jahre Schachzweikämpfe, page 18
   Golombek, Golombek's Encyclopedia, page 29
   Harding, Eminent Victorian Chess Players, page 117
   Harding, Steinitz in London, page 137, 137, 347
   Hilbert, Walter Penn Shipley, page 59
   Hooper and Whyld, Oxford Companion (1st ed.), page 32, 330
   Moran, World Chess Championship I, page 3
   Sergeant, Century of British Chess, page 143
   Sunnucks, Encyclopaedia of Chess, page 46, 467
Periodicals
   [Alb], 6 Oct. 1866
   [Alb], 1 Dec. 1866
   [BDE], vol. 52, no. 16, 17 Jan. 1892, page 17
   [BDE], vol. 52, no. 86, 27 Mar. 1892, page 17
   [CPM], vol. 2, no. 12, Dec. 1866, page 369
   [CW], vol. 2, no. 10, Dec. 1866, page 299
   [ILN], vol. 49, no. 1389, 15 Sep. 1866, page 267
   [ILN], vol. 49, no. 1393, 6 Oct. 1866, page 347
   [ILN], vol. 49, no. 1400, 24 Nov. 1866, page 515
   [ILN], vol. 49, no. 1402, 8 Dec. 1866, page 559
   [ILN], vol. 50, no. 1407, 5 Jan. 1867, page 23
   [NYC], 29 Dec. 1866
   [NYC], 19 Jan. 1867
   [NYC], 26 Jan. 1867
   [PDEB], 12 Oct. 1866
   [PDEB], 7 Dec. 1866
   [PDEB], 14 Dec. 1866
   [TFF], 6 Oct. 1866
   [TFF], 8 Dec. 1866
   [TFF], 22 Dec. 1866
Web
   Giffen, Glen.  [Events Timeline]
   Sarah.  [Bird Talk]
   Sarah.  [Paul Morphy's Contenders]
   Sericano, C.  [I campionati del mondo fino al 1885]
   Sericano, C.  [I matches 1865/79]

Match information updated: 3 Apr. 2022