The Tarrasch–Mieses Match

Berlin, 9 September to 5 October 1916

Origin: The May Games

In the spring of 1916, Tarrasch undertook a chess tour through German cities. Mieses invited him to Café Kerkau in Berlin on 14 May 1916, where they played two serious games. Mieses won the first with Black after 38 moves (French Defence against Tarrasch’s poorly chosen 3.Bd3 setup); the second was drawn.

In his newspaper columns, Mieses proclaimed victory in the “little match.” Tarrasch demanded a correction; the papers refused. Tarrasch then challenged Mieses to a proper match to “restore his wounded honour.”

Format and Conditions

Prizes

The German Chess Federation declined to sponsor the match; the players’ registered letter went unanswered. Three private donations materialised:

• 100 marks from Otto Rosenfeld, a Stuttgart industrialist (chairman of the Swabian Chess Federation), for the most beautiful game. Awarded to Tarrasch (game 3).
• 100 marks from Kurt Steinweg, a chess enthusiast from Cologne, for the best-played game. Awarded to Mieses (game 8).
• Half a pound of butter, donated by Fritz Neuhaus, a medical student from Herleshausen in Thuringia. By 1916, Germany was deep in the “Turnip Winter” – the Allied naval blockade had caused severe food shortages, and butter had become a near-unobtainable luxury. Given the length of the match, the players pragmatically divided the butter between them, “in the spirit of the kind donor” (Tarrasch).

The Match

Illness and Extension

Mieses contracted a catarrh from the third to the fifth game and lost 0–3 during this phase, which Tarrasch himself described as decisive in his preface. A devoted regular spectator named Dora Hiller, whose greatest pleasure was her daily visit, suggested before the sixth game that the format be extended to seven wins.

Tarrasch later fell ill with influenza and missed “the simplest winning continuations” in the eleventh game.

Mieses’ Two Wins

Both of Mieses’ victories came with the Scotch Game (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4).

Press Coverage

The match received regular coverage in the Berlin press (Berliner Lokal-Anzeiger, Berliner Tageblatt, Vossische Zeitung, B.Z. am Mittag) and across Germany (Münchener Neueste Nachrichten, Fränkischer Kurier, Breslauer Zeitung, Frankfurter Zeitung). Internationally: Berlingske Tidende (Copenhagen), the Stockholm press, and in the United States the Washington Post and the Commercial Appeal (Memphis).

Tarrasch on Mieses’ Match Career

In the preface to his match book, Tarrasch drew an ironic yet respectful balance of Mieses’ career in matches: against Janowski and Walbrodt he drew (both “got off with a black eye”), Marshall won 5–4 (“if one can still call that a victory”), against Leonhardt and Schlechter Mieses was the winner, and against Rubinstein he won the first three games “in brilliant style” before losing “honourably” 5–3.

His conclusion: “So Mieses need not be ashamed of his failure; he finds himself in the best of company.”

Sources

Deutsche Version dieser Seite