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The Chess
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Editor: Dr Tim |
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The Chess
History |
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Editor: Dr Tim |
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© Dr Tim Harding
Last modified:
4 May 2012
William Steinitz paid the first of his two visits to Dublin in September 1865, for the first Irish chess congress.
Further research needs to be done on this although the principal events and some of his games are known. Steinitz's other visit to Dublin was in 1881.
News reports of this visit do not asppear to have been very extensive and searches for more information are continuing.
The exact dates of Steinitz's stay remain to be confirmed. He was not very famous then and his presence in the city was hardly headline news. The tournament games began to be played at 10.30am on Tuesday 26 September, after the official opening meeting on the evening of the 25th. So it is likely that Steinitz arrived on the 25th via train and boat from Britain.
Steinitz won the principal tournament and gave two blindfold simultaneous exhibitions.
On Saturday 7 October Steinitz played three opponents and the following Saturday he played five. He probably left the next day or on Monday 16 October.
Surprisingly there is no mention in the Irish Times report (of Monday 9 October) of Steinitz being present for the telegraph match played the previous Thursday evening, 5 October, when Löwenthal was named as the umpire in Dublin.