High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Wilhelm (later William) Steinitz (Prague, May 17, 1836 – August 12, 1900) was an Austrian and then American chess player and the first undisputed world chess champion from 1886 to 1894. From the 1870s onwards, commentators have debated whether Steinitz was effectively the champion earlier. Steinitz lost his title to Emanuel Lasker in 1894 and also lost a rematch in 1897.