Chess | The World Champion Who Defeated God

Wilhelm Steinitz forever changed the way chess is played with his revolutionary theories, thus earning him the title of the “Father of Modern Chess.” Steinitz did away with the Romantic era of chess—a period when unsound attacks and flashy sacrifices were the norm—and substituted a more scientific and analytical way of playing.

Steinitz was born in Prague in 1836 to Jewish parents. Unlike Paul Morphy, he wasn’t loath to earn a living from chess. He defeated the world’s best player, Adolf Anderssen, in 1866 and proclaimed himself world champion. But his egotism and bad temper earned him few fans. Nevertheless, he defended his title ably. Steinitz played his match against Mikhail Tchigorin of Russia via cable. Steinitz was in New York, and Tchigorin was in Havana. New York police arrested Steinitz as a spy because they misinterpreted his chess moves as spy-talk.

The use of technology to play long-distance chess took a weird turn when Steinitz supposedly claimed that he used a telephone to call God and beat Him at chess, even after giving Him an extra pawn. This was an age when electricity was largely a mystery. The telephone was still in its infancy. It was also the heyday of spiritualism, and it was speculated that electricity might have something to do with the equally mysterious realm of the supernatural. If God, angels, and spirits were electrical entities as some supposed, then perhaps it was possible to communicate with them by electrical means.

The story of Steinitz defeating God is likely a garbled conflation of two separate incidents. In the first, Steinitz contemplated the possibility of telephoning or telegraphing God. In the second, he speculated on his results should he challenge God at chess. Taken in that context, it’s hard to interpret the story as a sign of Steinitz’s madness, as some historians have.

Still, there’s no doubt that Steinitz had mental issues. Whether they were caused by chess or some other factor is a matter of dispute. Either way, in 1899, his condition grew worse after failing in a London tournament. Steinitz had to be shut up inside a sanatorium. Tragically, the chess champion passed away on August 12, 1900, poor and insane.