06 June 2018

Imagery of 1889 Steinitz - Chigorin

The previous post, Leading Chess Players in 1886, included a short discussion of images from the first World Championship, the 1886 Steinitz - Zukertort match. What can we learn from a similar discussion of the second World Championship, 1889 Steinitz - Chigorin (Havana)?

Google image search on '1889 Steinitz Chigorin'

[Call the rows 'A' to 'C' (from top to bottom) and number the images in each row '1' to 'x' (from left to right).]

Three of the images (A1, C3, & C4) show the same setting and appear to be taken from the 1889 match; the first version is from Steinitz vs Chigorin 1889 (chessgames.com). The large text image (C5) is from my page 1889 Steinitz - Chigorin : Background, which is a collection of clippings from issues of British Chess Magazine in the 1880s.

Two more images (A3 & A4) are said to be from the rematch 1892 Steinitz - Chigorin (Havana). Another image is shown twice (A2 & B1), where the second version includes a caption, 'Petersburgo 1896: M.Chigorin, E.Lasker, H.N.Pillsbury, W.Steinitz'. The other images have little to do with the 1889 match.

Back to the only image from the 1889 match (A1 etc.), none of the sources identified the origin of the image or the other six men behind the chess table. More information about the photo can be found on another page, Échecs à Cuba -- 500 ans d'histoire (europe-echecs.com), by Georges Bertola.

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