The Birth of World Chess Masters

The history of chess is intricate that allotting a single day for exploring it will not be enough. Researching data that are related to the origin of the game with the use of published books is hard. Thanks to the creation of the Internet because it helps fasten some of the works needed to uncover the events that affected the game's development and popularization. Summaries of studies about the history of chess are featured in many Web sites so players will not have a hard time looking for them.

Knowing the third era that affected the game's history is important to trigger curiosity and enthusiasm among new players. It runs from 1850 to 945. It is the era wherein chess is recognized by international gaming authorities as a sport. Chess tournaments also proliferated during this stage. Lastly, in this stage, many great players became well known in the field.

German player Adolf Anderssen is recognized in 1851 as the first chess master when he won an international chess tournament which was held in London, England. Anderssen's popularity only lasted for several years when he was beaten by a prodigy from the United States, Paul Morphy. According to historians, Morphy's advantages over Anderssen are that he knows when to attack his opponents and when to establish good defense.

Prague chess player Wilhelm Steinitz entered the scene when he won the first World Chess Championship in 1886. His expertise in taking advantage of the weaknesses of his opponents led him to beat Johannes Zukertort. Unluckily, several years later, Steinitz is beaten by Emmanuel Lasker, a mathematician from Germany, at the 1894 World Chess Championship. Lasker is one of the great chess players because he was able to defend his title for several years.

In 1916, Lasker lost his title to Cuban chess player Jose Raul Capablanca. His simple techniques surprised many chess analysts because the strategies helped him maintain his title for almost eight years until Alexander Alekhine from Russia beat him in a championship match in 1924. Alekhine remained as the World Champion until he passed away in 1946.

The creation of the World Chess Federation and the establishment of the Women's World Championship are two of the major events in this stage. The number of local and international chess tournaments has observed to improve during the third phase of the game's history. However, to chess experts and analysts' dismay, the evolution of chess was hindered by the birth of the World War II.