Wilhelm, Steinitz - Sellmann, Baltimore1885

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. dxc5
    These days you find the move order 6.Nf3; 7:Be3 played more than 6.dc5
6... Bxc5 7. Nf3 a6
    Preferable is the normal 7....Nc6 combined with the typical 8...f6 brake

8. Bd3 Nc6 9. Qe2 Nb4?!
   Having played a6, black must now continue with 9.. .b5 instead of this waste move which fits in white's plan

10. Bd2 b5 11. Nd1 Nxd3+ 12. cxd3!
   Excellent and unheard of at the time when it was played. This underlines the Steinitz's grasp of positional play. With this and his next move Steinitz intends to take control of the c4 and c5 squares. Had black foreseen the intentions of Steinitz, he would have played b4 on his next move.

12... Qb6? 13. b4 Be7 14. a3 f5?
   Relinquishing what ever little play he could have generated with a latter f6... broke. From now on watch Steinitz play - the grip he maintains on the queen side squares and the conversion is a treat to watch- especially the knight's tour to a5! Black should have played 14...d4! and gained breathing space at in compensation for the pawn.

15. Rc1 Bb7 16. Be3 Qd8 17. Nd4
   "The Square"!

17... Nb8 18. O-O h5
   Fearing g4 black weakens his position further, but already it is difficult to suggest anything good for black. He has already surrendered his trumps.

19. Nc3!
   There he goes!

19... Kf7 20. Nb1 g6 21. Nd2 Nd7 22. N2b3 Rc8 23. Na5
   Final destination! Put right pieces in the right place and you do not have to find a plan - it flows!

23... Ba8 24. Rxc8 Qxc8 25. Rc1 Qb8 26. Qc2 Bd8 27. Nac6 Qb7 28. Nxd8+ Rxd8 29. Qc7 Qb8 30. Bf2
   Threatens Bh4

30... Qb6 31. Nf3 Qxc7 32. Rxc7 Ke8 33. Ng5 Nf8 34. Bc5 Nd7 35. Bd6
   Perfect strangulation - any move by black ends in a loss and the e6 pawn is hapless. Triumph of strategy! 1-0

Wilhelm, Steinitz - Blackburn

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c3 Be7
    Popular plan here is to deploy this bishop on g7.

7. h3 O-O 8. Qe2 Ne8?!
   Blacks intended f5 is thwarted by white's next move. Instead black should have continued with 8...Re8; followed by Bf8; g6 etc.

9. g4 b5 10. Bc2 Bb7 11. Nbd2 Qd7 12. Nf1 Nd8 13. Ne3 Ne6 14. Nf5 g6 15. Nxe7+ Qxe7 16. Be3 N8g7 17. O-O-O
   White castles at a convenient time!

17... c5 18. d4 exd4 19. cxd4 c4?!
   After this black finds himself in an utter mess with none of his pieces doing anything significant. The yawning dark square weakness on the kingside decides his fate- a self destructive game by black.

20. d5 Nc7 21. Qd2 a5 22. Bd4 f6 23. Qh6 b4 24. g5 f5 25. Bf6 Qf7 26. exf5 gxf5 27. g6 Qxg6
    Those days resignation was considered to be a dishonorable thing !

28. Bxg7 Qxh6+ 29. Bxh6 Rf6 30. Rhg1+ Rg6 31. Bxf5 Kf7 32. Bxg6+ hxg6 33. Ng5+ Kg8 34. Rge1 1-0

Wilhelm Steinitz - Mikhail Chigorin

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 d6 5. c3 g6 6. Nbd2 Bg7 7. Nf1 O-O 8. Ba4
   Prophylaxis - unheard of in those days! Steinitz had come out with a definite plan for this game- an all-out king side attack. Before starting the same, he secures his center with Nf1 and Ne3 and saves his white bishop for a prospective assault on the black king.

8... Nd7 9. Ne3 Nc5 10. Bc2 Ne6 11. h4!
   Having done the preliminary work, Steinitz unleashes his intentions. A century later Kasparov employed a similar plan against Nigel Short in their PCA world championship match in London in 1993! Not without reasons they said that Steinitz was decades ahead of his time.

11... Ne7?
    11....h5 should have been played before the text move.

12. h5 d5 13. hxg6 fxg6??
   Fatal mistake

14. exd5 Nxd5 15. Nxd5 Qxd5 16. Bb3 Qc6 17. Qe2 Bd7 18. Be3 Kh8 19. O-O-O Rae8 20. Qf1!
   A wonderful move which straight away sets a mating pattern. For example if 20...Nd4?? 21.Rh7 Kh7; 22.Qh1 Bh6; 23.Qh6 mates

20... a5 21. d4 exd4 22. Nxd4 Bxd4 23. Rxd4! Nxd4??
    Re7 is forced

24. Rxh7+ Kxh7 25. Qh1+ Kg7 26. Bh6+ Kf6 27. Qh4+ Ke5 28. Qxd4+
   And white can chose between Qf4 or g4 mate! 1-0