Mikhail Chigorin played two World Championship matches against Wilhelm Steinitz, losing both times.
14 Facts About Mikhail Chigorin
2.
Mikhail Chigorin's parents died young and Mikhail Chigorin entered the Gatchinsk Orphans' Institute at the age of 10.
3.
Mikhail Chigorin became serious about chess uncommonly late in life; his schoolteacher taught him the moves at the age of 16, but he did not take to the game until around 1874, having first finished his studies before commencing a career as a government officer.
4.
Mikhail Chigorin played a series of matches with established masters Emanuel Schiffers and Semyon Alapin and notched up a large plus score against each.
5.
Mikhail Chigorin played a much publicised 'telegraph match' against Steinitz in 1890, devised to settle a theoretical argument.
6.
Mikhail Chigorin had the slight advantage of choosing the openings in advance from a list supplied by Steinitz and duly won both games.
7.
Mikhail Chigorin drew an 1893 match with Siegbert Tarrasch in Saint Petersburg and in his lifetime, maintained a narrow plus score against Tarrasch, who was a fearsome player in his own right.
8.
Mikhail Chigorin had a strong plus score against Richard Teichmann, but a poor record versus David Janowski.
9.
Mikhail Chigorin was perhaps the most skilled 19th century practitioner of the Evans Gambit, which featured in many of his great duels with Steinitz.
10.
Mikhail Chigorin's playing style featured a well-honed tactical ability and an imaginative approach to the opening.
11.
Mikhail Chigorin rejected many of the inflexible doctrines put forward by Tarrasch and Steinitz, but accepted Steinitz' teachings about the soundness of the defensive centre.
12.
Frank Marshall once commented on the highly agitated state that would possess Mikhail Chigorin when faced with difficult positions.
13.
Mikhail Chigorin founded a chess club in Saint Petersburg and tried for many years to establish a chess association, an attempt that finally succeeded just a few years after his death.
14.
Mikhail Chigorin was clearly not in good health and was diagnosed by doctors in Carlsbad with an advanced and untreatable case of diabetes.