"Youth Has Won!"
An Obituary for Jacques Mieses
This article appeared after the death of Jacques Mieses on February 23, 1954 in London. It honors the life's work of the grandmaster and shows some of his most beautiful combinations.
"Youth Has Won!"
1954 (Obituary)
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| Title | "Youth Has Won!" |
|---|---|
| Period | After February 1954 |
| Page | 106 |
| Type | Obituary |
Where Does the Title Come From?
The Hague 1949: “Youth has won!” — so, the obituary reports, “said the 84-year-old veteran Jacques Mieses when he beat the 86-year-old Dutchman van Foreest at The Hague in 1949”. The player meant is Dirk van Foreest; the article gives no first name.
Famous Quote
"Now I finally know what a splendid person I am!"
The obituary contains several diagrams with brilliant combinations from Mieses' long career – a worthy tribute to his tactical genius:
- Mieses–von Scheve Monte Carlo 1904
- Mieses–Albin Monte Carlo 1903
- Mieses–N.N. ca. 1906
- Perlis–Mieses Ostend 1907
The Kemeri Accident 1937
The article recalls Kemeri 1937: after a serious accident — Mieses had slipped while boarding an omnibus — he was wrongly reported dead and respectful obituaries appeared. He recovered after nine months in bed, read his own obituaries with amusement and remarked that only now did he know what a splendid fellow he was. One consequence remained: from then on Mieses walked with difficulty, his right leg several centimetres shorter.
"This time, however, his death is unfortunately a fact" – so the article about Mieses' actual death on February 23, 1954 in London.
Four Combinations as an Obituary
Instead of a biographical sketch, the author sets four diagrams side by side – "a small anthology", as he puts it. All four show mating patterns or discovered checks, exactly what Mieses was famous for.
| Game | Subheading | The Point |
|---|---|---|
| Mieses – von Scheve Monte Carlo 1904 |
Around Checkmate | The apparently pinned bishop is not pinned at all: 1.Bf4! starts a mating attack in which the pawn on d5 still plays its part. |
| Mieses – Albin Monte Carlo 1903 |
— | Neither king has castled. White announces mate in five, with a deflection sacrifice on the third move. |
| Mieses – N. N. ca. 1906 |
— | A rook ending that looks like hard work: 1.g4+ and 2.Rh4!! decide it. "Sometimes chess is that simple!" |
| Perlis – Mieses Ostend 1907 |
The Weapon of Discovered Check | Mieses with Black: 1…Bc3!! — a move "à la Mieses", as contemporary reports put it. A chain of discovered checks wins the queen. |
The notation follows the viewer's English piece letters; the original uses the German ones. The Ostend game against Julius Perlis earned Mieses one of his brilliancy prizes – he played it with the black pieces.
The clipping ends at the bottom of page 106; the article continued on the following page, which has not survived. That is also where the author's name would have been expected. Which periodical printed the obituary therefore cannot be determined – the clipping has no masthead.