Summary: 1850 - 1880 How to use this page
Duration: covering
Most Dominant Player between 1850 and 1880 See more details
   Wilhelm Steinitz: 7.3 years as #1 (between September 1866 and July 1877)
The player who was ranked #1 most often between 1850 and 1880 was Wilhelm Steinitz, with 88 different months as the top-ranked player (a total of 7.3 years). Next on the list were Louis Paulsen (3.3 years) and Paul Morphy (3.3 years).
Highest-Rated Player between 1850 and 1880 See more details
   Wilhelm Steinitz: 2826 (April 1876)
The player who achieved the highest peak rating between 1850 and 1880 was Wilhelm Steinitz, with a rating of 2826 on the April 1876 list. The next-highest peak ratings between 1850 and 1880 were achieved by Ignatz Kolisch (2755 on the August 1867 list) and Johannes Zukertort (2749 on the January 1879 list).
Strongest Tournament between 1850 and 1880 Summary only | Top 5 | Top 10 | Top 20 | Top 50 | Top 100
   Baden-Baden, 1870: Class 18 (#1, #2, #3, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9)
The strongest tournament held between 1850 and 1880 was Baden-Baden 1870. This was a Class 18 tournament, including eight of the top ten players in the world (from the July 1870 rating list). The next-strongest tournaments were Vienna 1873 (Class 14) and Paris 1878 (Class 12).
     Event       Class       Top Ten Participation    Specific participants from top ten on rating list
 #1    Baden-Baden, 1870      18      #1, #2, #3, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9    #1 Adolf Anderssen (2714), #2 Gustav Neumann (2703), #3 Wilhelm Steinitz (2696), #5 Louis Paulsen (2638), #6 Szymon Winawer (2614), #7 Cecil de Vere (2601), #8 Joseph Blackburne (2578), #9 Samuel Rosenthal (2544) from July 1870 rating list
 #2    Vienna, 1873      14      #1, #2, #3, #6, #9    #1 Wilhelm Steinitz (2768), #2 Adolf Anderssen (2648), #3 Louis Paulsen (2624), #6 Henry Bird (2589), #9 Joseph Blackburne (2578) from July 1873 rating list
 #3    Paris, 1878      12      #1, #3, #4, #6    #1 James Mason (2702), #3 Johannes Zukertort (2663), #4 Adolf Anderssen (2638), #6 Joseph Blackburne (2617) from June 1878 rating list
 #4    London, 1862      9      #1, #2, #7    #1 Louis Paulsen (2663), #2 Adolf Anderssen (2660), #7 John Owen (2540) from June 1862 rating list
 #5    London, 1872      7      #1, #5, #10    #1 Wilhelm Steinitz (2729), #5 Johannes Zukertort (2641), #6 Joseph Blackburne (2610), #9 John Wisker (2560), #10 Cecil de Vere (2551) from June 1872 rating list
NOTE: "Class" is a Chessmetrics formula used to rank the strength of a tournament, by using the participation of top-10 players from the rating list (rather than just using the average rating of all participants). For more details, go here.
Strongest Match between 1850 and 1880 Summary only | Top 5 | Top 10 | Top 20 | Top 50 | Top 100
   Blackburne-Steinitz III (London), 1876: #1 vs #2
The strongest match held between 1850 and 1880 was Blackburne-Steinitz III (London), 1876. This was a matchup of #1 vs #2, including #1 Wilhelm Steinitz (2730) and #2 Joseph Blackburne (2648) from the February 1876 rating list. Next on the list were Anderssen-Paulsen I (London), 1862 (#1 vs #2) and Anderssen-Morphy Match (Paris), 1858 (#1 vs #3).
      Event       World Ranks    Match Participants
 #1    Blackburne-Steinitz III (London), 1876      #1 vs #2    #1 Wilhelm Steinitz (2730) and #2 Joseph Blackburne (2648) from the February 1876 rating list
 #2    Anderssen-Paulsen I (London), 1862      #1 vs #2    #1 Louis Paulsen (2677) and #2 Adolf Anderssen (2655) from the July 1862 rating list
 #3    Anderssen-Morphy Match (Paris), 1858      #1 vs #3    #1 Paul Morphy (2688) and #3 Adolf Anderssen (2570) from the December 1858 rating list
 #4    Anderssen-Kolisch II (London), 1861      #2 vs #3    #2 Adolf Anderssen (2645) and #3 Ignatz Kolisch (2628) from the July 1861 rating list
 #5    Anderssen-Kieseritzky Match, 1851      #1 vs #4    #1 Lionel Kieseritzky (2633) and #4 Adolf Anderssen (2516) from the June 1851 rating list
Best Individual Event Performance between 1850 and 1880 Summary only | Top 5 | Top 10 | Top 20 | Top 50 | Top 100
   Wilhelm Steinitz: 2829 in Blackburne-Steinitz III (London), 1876
The best individual event performance between 1850 and 1880 was achieved by Wilhelm Steinitz with a Chessmetrics Performance Rating of 2829 in Blackburne-Steinitz III (London), 1876. The next-best individual event performances were achieved by Johannes Zukertort (2774 performance) in Anderssen-Zukertort II (Berlin), 1871, and by Berthold Suhle (2772 performance) in Hirschfeld-Suhle Match (Berlin), 1865.
      Player Name       Chessmetrics Performance Rating    Event
 #1    Wilhelm Steinitz      2829 performance: 7/7 (100%) vs 2648   Blackburne-Steinitz III (London), 1876
 #2    Johannes Zukertort      2774 performance: 5/7 (71%) vs 2732   Anderssen-Zukertort II (Berlin), 1871
 #3    Berthold Suhle      2772 performance: 8/9 (89%) vs 2599   Hirschfeld-Suhle Match (Berlin), 1865
 #4    Wilhelm Steinitz      2763 performance: 12.5/15 (83%) vs 2563   Vienna, 1873
 #5    Johannes Zukertort      2757 performance: 9.5/11 (86%) vs 2570   Owen-Zukertort Match (Chiselhurst), 1878
NOTE: "Chessmetrics Performance Rating" is a Chessmetrics formula used to estimate the performance level of a player, based solely on the evidence of their results in one event. It only considers games against rated opposition, so the above summary excludes any games against unrated opponents.