World Chess Championship 1894

{{Infobox chess match

|comp1 = Wilhelm Steinitz

|comp2 = Emanuel Lasker

|image1 = File:Wilhelm Steinitz2.jpg

|image2 = File:Frank Eugene Smith - Bildnis Schachweltmeister Dr. Emanuel Lasker.jpg

|title1 = Defending champion

|title2 =
Challenger

|flag1 = USA

|flag2 = German Empire

|flag1_variant = 1891

|dob1 = 14 May 1836

|age1 = 57/58 years old

|dob2 = 24 December 1868

|age2 = 26 years old

|prev = 1892

|prev_link = World Chess Championship 1892

|next = 1896–97

|next_link = World Chess Championship 1896–1897

|score1 = 7

|score2 = 12

}}

The fifth World Chess Championship was held in New York City (games 1–8), Philadelphia (games 9–11), and Montreal (games 12–19), and was contested from 15 March to 26 May 1894. Holder William Steinitz lost his title to challenger Emanuel Lasker, who was 32 years his junior.

__TOC__

Buildup

Image:Lasker-Steinitz.jpg (left) vs. Emanuel Lasker (right)}}]]

Reigning World Champion Steinitz publicly spoke of retiring; Lasker challenged him, and he changed his mind. Initially Lasker wanted to play for $5,000 a side and a match was agreed at stakes of $3,000 a side, but Steinitz agreed to a series of reductions when Lasker found it difficult to raise the money, and the final figure was $2,000 each, which was less than for some of Steinitz's earlier matches (the final combined stake of $4,000 would be worth about $495,500 at 2007 valuesUsing incomes for the adjustment factor, as the outcome depended on a few months' hard work by the players; if prices are used for the conversion, the result is about $99,500 - see {{cite web | url=http://www.measuringworth.com/uscompare/ | title=Six Ways to Compute the Relative Value of a U.S. Dollar Amount, 1774 to Present | access-date=2008-11-19}} However, Lasker later published an analysis showing that the winning player got $1,600 and the losing player $600 out of the $4,000, as the backers who had bet on the winner got the rest: {{cite journal | journal=Lasker's Chess Magazine | volume=1 |date=January 1905 | title=From the Editorial Chair | author=Emanuel Lasker | author-link=Emanuel Lasker | url=http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Lasker's_Chess_Magazine/Volume_1 | access-date=2008-05-31 }}). Although this was publicly praised as an act of sportsmanship on Steinitz's part,{{cite journal | journal=New York Times | date=11 March 1894 | title=Ready for a big chess match | url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1894/03/11/106900358.pdf | access-date=2008-11-19 | format=PDF}} Note this article implies that the final combined stake was US $4,500, but Lasker's financial analysis says it was $4,000: {{cite journal | journal=Lasker's Chess Magazine | volume=1 |date=January 1905 | title=From the Editorial Chair | author=Emanuel Lasker | author-link=Emanuel Lasker | url=http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Lasker's_Chess_Magazine/Volume_1 | access-date=2008-05-31 }} Steinitz may have desperately needed the money.{{cite web | url=http://www.chessville.com/reviews/SteinitzPapers.htm | archive-url=https://archive.today/20121025040240/http://www.chessville.com/reviews/SteinitzPapers.htm | url-status=usurped | archive-date=October 25, 2012 | title=The Steinitz Papers - review | access-date=2008-11-19 }}

Results

The first player to win ten games would be champion.

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" \|+World Chess Championship Match 1894
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Wins	Total
align=left \| {{flagathlete\|Emanuel Lasker\|Germany\|empire}} \| 1	style="background:black; color:white"\| 0	1	style="background:black; color:white"\| 0	=	style="background:black; color:white"\| =	1	style="background:black; color:white"\| 1	1	style="background:black; color:white"\| 1	1	style="background:black; color:white"\| =	0	style="background:black; color:white"\| 0	1	style="background:black; color:white"\| 1	0	style="background:black; color:white"\| =	1	10	12
align=left \| {{flagathlete\|William Steinitz\|United States}} \|style="background:black; color:white"\| 0	1	style="background:black; color:white"\| 0	1	style="background:black; color:white"\| =	=	style="background:black; color:white"\| 0	0	style="background:black; color:white"\| 0	0	style="background:black; color:white"\| 0	=	style="background:black; color:white"\| 1	1	style="background:black; color:white"\| 0	0	style="background:black; color:white"\| 1	=	style="background:black; color:white"\| 0	5	7

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|+World Chess Championship Match 1894

Wins

Total

align=left | {{flagathlete|Emanuel Lasker|Germany|empire}}

| 1