World Chess Championship 1894

World Chess Championship 1894

	Defending champion	Challenger
	Wilheilm Steinitz	Emanuel Lasker
	Wilhelm Steinitz	Emanuel Lasker
	7 Scores 12 Game 1 0 60 moves → 1 Game 2 1 ← 42 moves 0 Game 3 0 52 moves → 1 Game 4 1 ← 60 moves 0 Game 5 ½ 50 move draw ½ Game 6 ½ 71 move draw ½ Game 7 0 46 moves → 1 Game 8 0 76 moves → 1 Game 9 0 49 moves → 1 Game 10 0 34 moves → 1 Game 11 0 38 moves → 1 Game 12 ½ 50 move draw ½ Game 13 1 ← 55 moves 0 Game 14 1 ← 46 moves 0 Game 15 0 44 moves → 1 Game 16 0 54 moves → 1 Game 17 1 ← 51 moves 0 Game 18 ½ 61 move draw ½ Game 19 0 52 moves → 1
	Born 14 May 1836 57/58 years old	Born 24 December 1868 26 years old

The fifth World Chess Championship was held in New York City (games 1–8), Philadelphia (games 9–11), and Montreal (games 12–19), and was contested from 15 March to 26 May 1894. Holder William Steinitz lost his title to challenger Emanuel Lasker, who was 32 years his junior.

Lasker challenged Steinitz after moving to the United States, which the latter accepted, after having publicly contemplated retirement. Lasker had made a name for himself by having defeated several elite European players, including Curt von Bardeleben (1889) and Joseph Henry Blackburne (1892). The two agreed the match would be won by the first to ten wins.

Though the match began with Steinitz consistently tying the score, Lasker pulled ahead convincingly from game 7 with five consecutive wins. Though Steinitz played several more wins after this point, he failed to equalise, and the match ended with Lasker scoring his tenth win on May 26, 1894.

The two would go on to rematch in 1896, with Lasker defeating Steinitz for a second time.