Tournaments of Jacques Mieses

Jacques Mieses' tournament career spans almost seven decades, from the club tournaments of the Augustea Leipzig in 1882 to his last international tournament at Hastings 1949/50. On the international stage he was active for 62 years, from his master-tournament debut at Nuremberg and Leipzig in 1888 to his final appearance at Hastings. A career span without parallel in chess history.

---

Club Tournaments and First Congresses (1880s)

Before his master-tournament debut in 1888, Mieses competed in the club tournaments of the Augustea Leipzig and the Berlin Chess Society. To these was added, in 1887, the Main Tournament of the Frankfurt congress, where the master title hung on a single game. That result was precisely what secured his admission to the Nuremberg master tournament a year later.

• 1882: Leipzig, Augustea Winter Tournament – 1st place
  First documented tournament success, at age 17. The Deutsche Schachzeitung explicitly noted that the stronger players had not taken part. Source: DSZ 1882.
• Winter 1883/84: Leipzig, Augustea Winter Tournament – 1st place
  Second victory in a row, this time in a field of at least eleven players and six prize-winners. The earliest surviving Mieses chess position comes from this tournament: a winning endgame with Black against A. Roegner, played on 13 November 1883. Source: DSZ 1883.
• Summer 1884: Leipzig, Augustea Summer Tournament – 1st place
  Third victory in a row at the Augustea. Source: DSZ 1884.
• January 1885: Leipzig, Augustea Winter Tournament – 1st place
  Fourth victory in a row at the Augustea, in a field of eighteen. Second place went to the society's own president, Rudolf von Gottschall, followed by E. Conrad, G. Bock, and F. Jahn and E. Günther in fifth and sixth. Sources: Deutsche Schachzeitung 1885, no. 1 (January), p. 10 (announcement, 18 entrants), and ibid., p. 188 (prize list).
• 12–25 July 1885: Hamburg, 4th DSB Congress – Main Tournament: 6th of 8 Free Tournament: 2nd prize
  In the Main Tournament, Group III, 3 points from 7 games: wins against Beck, David and Richter, losses to Ahlhausen, Flad, Zimmermann and Harmonist. In the Free Tournament he took second prize, 40 marks, behind Marcus Kann of Vienna (60 marks) and ahead of David of Hamburg (30 marks). Against Kann he lost with White in 24 moves — a year before the analysis that gave the Caro-Kann Defence its name. Sources: Deutsche Schachzeitung 1885, no. 8 (August), pp. 252–253, and no. 9 (September), pp. 258 and 261.
• 1887: Leipzig, Augustea Winter Tournament – 2nd prize
  Behind Dr. M. Lange, ahead of G. Bock and W. Zachau. Die Brüderschaft reported the event in the summer of 1887 as recently concluded, without naming the season. The winner is probably Max Lange, the theorist and club historian of the Augustea. Source: Die Brüderschaft, vol. 3 (1887), p. 264.
• July/August 1887: Frankfurt am Main, 5th DSB Congress, Main Tournament – Shared 2nd/3rd prize
  3½ out of 5 in the winners' group, shared with Berthold Richter of Halle. First prize, and with it the master title, went to Johann Hermann Bauer of Vienna, to whom Mieses lost the decisive game. Source: Die Brüderschaft, vol. 3 (1887), p. 272.
• 1887/88: Berlin Chess Society, First Winter Tournament – 2nd prize
  8½ out of 11 in a field of twelve, half a point behind Horatio Caro and ahead of Heinrich Ranneforth. The prize was 60 marks. The society ran two winter tournaments in parallel; in the first, clocks and score-keeping were compulsory. Sources: Deutsche Schachzeitung, June 1888; Die Brüderschaft, vol. 4 (1888), pp. 42 and 146.

Early Career (1888-1900)

During this phase, Mieses established himself as an international master and played against the greatest names of his time.

• August 1888: Nuremberg, BSB Congress – Shared 2nd place
  Mieses' master-tournament debut, 5½ out of 10, shared with Hermann von Gottschall and behind Tarrasch. He did not hold the master title; the participants admitted him by vote because he had won as many games in the Frankfurt Main Tournament as its winner. Had the final game Paulsen against Tarrasch been drawn, four players would have shared first prize, Mieses among them. Source: Die Brüderschaft, vol. 4 (1888), pp. 264–265.
• December 1888: Leipzig, Augustea Jubilee Tournament – 3rd place
  Victory over Tarrasch. The first international master tournament followed half a year later at Breslau.
• 1889: Breslau, 6th DSB Congress – 3rd Place
  10½ out of 17 in Mieses' first international master tournament, behind Tarrasch and Burn and ahead of fifteen other players. Source: Deutsches Wochenschach, no. 31/32, 4 August 1889, pp. 275–276.
• 21–26 July 1890: Berlin, 1st Congress of the Association of German Chess Masters – Shared 5th–8th place (3/8)
  A single round-robin of nine players. Emanuel Lasker and Dr. B. Lasker shared first and second prizes with 6½ each. One of Mieses' three points came without play, after Curt von Bardeleben withdrew. Sources: Deutsches Wochenschach 1890, no. 30 (27 July), pp. 253–254, and no. 31/32 (10 August), pp. 267–268.
• 18–29 July 1892: Dresden, 7th DSB Congress, Master Tournament – Shared 14th–15th place (6/16)
  A single round-robin with 17 players in the final table, the ill Alapin having been struck off. Mieses finished level with Noa; Tarrasch won with 12 points ahead of Makovetz and Porges. Source: Der siebente Kongress des Deutschen Schachbundes. Dresden 1892 (Leipzig 1894), pp. 19–26.
• 1893: Kiel, 8th DSB Congress – 7th of 9
  German Chess Federation Congress
• 1894: Leipzig, 9th DSB Congress – 10th of 18
  German Chess Federation Congress
• 1895: Hastings – Shared 20th–21st place (7½/21)
  Legendary tournament with Lasker, Steinitz, Tarrasch, Pillsbury
• 1896: Berlin Chess Society, three-master match – 3rd of 3 (2/6)
  Modelled on the St. Petersburg tournament, each of the three masters played a short three-game match against each of the others. Bardeleben won with 4 points ahead of Walbrodt on 3; Mieses finished on 2. Source: Deutsche Schachzeitung 1896, no. 6 (June), pp. 174 and 190.
• November 1896: Vienna, Neuer Wiener Schachklub six-master tournament – Shared 3rd–4th place Shared Brilliancy Prize
  A single round-robin, five games for each player. Janowski won with 3½ out of 5 ahead of Schlechter on 3; Mieses and Winawer followed on 2½ each, Marco on 2 and Albin on 1½. Mieses and Janowski shared the 50-crown special prize for the finest game: the judges rated Mieses' win over Janowski on 4 November, a French Defence with Alapin's 3.Be3, as near equal to Janowski's win over Marco. Sources: Deutsches Wochenschach, vol. 12 (1896), no. 46, p. 438, and no. 47 of 22 November 1896, pp. 441–442; Deutsche Schachzeitung, vol. 52 (1897), p. 233.
• 1897: Berlin – Shared 3rd–4th place
  Schachverein Centrum master tournament, 18–28 January 1897
• 1899: London, International Congress, Minor Tournament – Shared 4th–5th place (7½/11)
  A single round-robin of twelve players, held alongside the master tournament. Mieses went unbeaten against the top three, among them the winner, the young Brooklyn player Frank Marshall, and shared fourth and fifth prizes with Jones. Why he was not in the master tournament itself is not known. Sources: Deutsche Schachzeitung 1899, no. 6 (June), pp. 188–189; American Chess Magazine, vol. 3, no. 1 (July 1899), p. 11.

Career Peak (1900-1914)

Mieses reached his best form and belonged to the extended world elite.

• 1900: Paris – Shared 7th Place Brilliancy Prize
  Brilliant game against Janowski
• 1901: Monte Carlo – 6th Place
  First of the famous Monte Carlo tournaments; winner Janowski
• 1902: Monte Carlo – 12th Place
  Large international tournament (20 players); winner Maróczy
• 1902: Hanover, 13th DSB Congress – 4th Place
  Ahead of Wolf, Chigorin and Marshall
• 1903: Monte Carlo – 8th Place
  Double round-robin with 14 masters; winner Tarrasch
• 1903: Vienna – Shared 5th–7th place
  King's Gambit thematic tournament of the Vienna Chess Club (only the King's Gambit Accepted allowed). After losing to the hitherto winless Gunsberg, Mieses quipped: "To be run over by a corpse is dreadful."
• 1904: Monte Carlo (Rice Gambit thematic tournament) – 3rd Place
  Thematic tournament on the Rice Gambit; behind Swiderski and Marshall
• 1904: Cambridge Springs – 8th–9th Place
  Strong international field in the USA
• 1904: Coburg, Master Tournament – Shared 6th–7th place
  Game against Bernstein
• 1905: Barmen – Brilliancy Prize
  Brilliant game against von Bardeleben
• 1906: Stockholm – 3rd Place
  Victory over Chigorin
• 1906: Ostend – Participation
  International master tournament
• 1907: Vienna, Trebitsch Memorial – 1st Place
  Greatest tournament success of his career!
• 1907: Ostend, Master Tournament – 3rd–4th Place
  Shared third place at world-class event
• 1907: Carlsbad – 16th–18th Place
  21 players — almost the entire world elite (only Lasker and Tarrasch absent). Won by Akiba Rubinstein ahead of Maróczy and Nimzowitsch.
• 1908: Vienna – Brilliancy Prize
  Brilliant game against Schlechter
• 1909: St. Petersburg, Chigorin Memorial – 11th–12th Place
  Memorial tournament for the Russian master
• 1911: San Sebastián – Tournament Director
  As organizer, Mieses introduced full expense coverage for players — a milestone for professional chess. Capablanca's breakthrough.
• 1912: San Sebastián – Tournament Director
  Follow-up tournament, eleven players in a double round-robin. Capablanca withdrew just before the start; Rubinstein won with 12½/20.

Late Career (1920-1950)

Even at an advanced age, Mieses remained active and achieved remarkable successes.

• 1920: Gothenburg – Strong Result
  2709 performance rating
• 1923: Liverpool – 1st Place
  Ahead of Maróczy, Thomas and Yates
• 1923: Scheveningen – Shared 6th–7th place
  International master tournament
• 1923/24: Hastings (Christmas Congress) – 8th Place
  First Hastings appearance after twenty-eight years (last in 1895). Premier Section, nine rounds. Winner Max Euwe with 7½/9; Mieses 3/9 after a poor start (½ from 4 rounds).
• 1924: Leipzig – Shared 1st Place
  The 59-year-old professional shared first with Teichmann at 4½/5.
• 1924/1927: Chess Olympiads — National Team Player
  Paris 1924 (unofficial) and London 1927 for Germany
• 1925: Baden-Baden – 19th Place
  At age 60 against the new generation
• October 1928: Berliner Tageblatt Anniversary Tournament, Berlin – Tournament Director
  To commemorate the 40th anniversary of Mieses' chess column in the Berliner Tageblatt, the Mosse publishing house staged an eight-player tournament in the ping-pong room of Café König (Unter den Linden, corner of Friedrichstrasse). Capablanca won unbeaten with 8½/12 ahead of Nimzowitsch; Tarrasch withdrew after three rounds due to illness. Prize fund 5,200 marks (2,000/1,400/1,000/800). Mieses' most significant organisational achievement since San Sebastián 1911.
• 1930: Venice – 1st place (3/4)
  Five-player round-robin. At 65, Mieses' first outright tournament win since Liverpool 1923. Ahead of Eugenio Szabados.
• 1930: Paris – 9th place
  International tournament
• 1930: Frankfurt am Main – 9th place
  International tournament. Source: QCH 2/1999.
• 1930: Zwickau – Shared 3rd place
  Central German Masters tournament. Source: QCH 2/1999.
• 1931: Nice – Shared 5th–8th place (4½/9)
  Won by Brian Reilly. Mieses defeated the artist Marcel Duchamp.
• January 1935: Brussels – Shared 1st Place
  4-player round-robin. 2/3 points, shared 1st place with Jerochoff ahead of O'Kelly and L. Jung. All six games preserved. – Source: Wiener Schachzeitung 1935, p. 250
• April/May 1935: Margate Premier – 10th place (2/9)
  At age 70, oldest participant, against Reshevsky (winner) and Capablanca. Only win against Vera Menchik. Famous from "The Queen's Gambit"
• March/April 1937: Margate Premier Reserves, Section C – 1st place (7½/9)
  At age 72, clear and unbeaten tournament victory (over 80%) ahead of Sacconi (Italy), Van Seters (Belgium) and van Doesburgh (Netherlands). Parallel to the main tournament won by Fine/Keres. – Sources: Los Angeles Times 18.4.1937; Wiener Schachzeitung 1937, pp. 101–102; BritBase, Margate 1937
• 1937: Kemeri – Reporter
  Present as a journalist, not as a player. Bus accident with severe consequences — recovery in Leipzig
• Dec. 1938/Jan. 1939: Hastings (Premier Reserves A) – Shared 2nd Place (5½/9)
  First tournament in England after emigration. Winner Imre Koenig (Yugoslavia) with 6/9; Mieses shared second place with Markas Luckis (Lithuania), both on 5½ points. White Rock Pavilion, 28 December 1938 – 6 January 1939. – Source: BritBase, Hastings 1938/39.
• April 1939: Margate Premier Reserves, Section C – 1st place (9½/11)
  At 74, unbeaten with eight wins and three draws in a twelve-player section, half a point clear of Podhorzer and Znosko-Borovsky (9 each). His second Section C win at Margate: the first had come three months before the bus accident at Kemeri, this one with a lasting walking disability and barely four months after he had settled in England for good. Norfolk Hotel, Cliftonville, 12–21 April 1939. – Source: BritBase, Margate 1939.
• 1946: Hastings – Brilliancy Prize
  At age 80 awarded for brilliant game!
• Jan./Feb. 1948: Sweden Tour – Simul Tour
  Four-week tour through approx. 10 cities. "The most exhausting of my entire life" – Source: Hanna de Mieses Family Collection
• 1948: Stockholm – Shared 3rd–5th place
  Last major international tournament at age 82
• Dec. 1948/Jan. 1949: Hastings (Premier Reserves) – 3½/9 Brilliancy Prize
  Won the brilliancy prize against E.G. Sergeant — subscribed for by his fellow competitors.
• Feb./March 1949: Netherlands/Belgium/Luxembourg – Simul Tour
  Amsterdam, The Hague, Brussels, Antwerp, Leuven, Verviers, Charleroi, Luxembourg. Prins: "unique in the history of chess" – Source: Tidskrift för Schack, June 1949
• 26 March 1949: The Hague – Exhibition game vs. Dirk van Foreest (86) – Win
  Arranged by the Royal Dutch Chess Federation. Combined age: 170 years. "Youth has been victorious!"
• Aug.–Oct. 1949: Germany/Holland – Journey
  Berlin (literary matter), Leipzig (one week), Holland – Source: Hanna de Mieses Family Collection
• Dec. 1949/Jan. 1950: Hastings (Premier Reserves A) – 1½/8 Last Tournament
  Mieses' final tournament — 54 years after the legendary first Hastings Tournament of 1895, as the sole surviving participant.
• Sept. 1950: Palatinate/Westphalia – Simultaneous Tour
  Seven cities in twelve days (Zweibrücken, Pirmasens, Oggersheim, Worms, Siegen, Lüdenscheid, Münster). The DSZ commented: "Never before has a master of even approximately his age dared to undertake a chess tour."
• Feb./March 1950: Isle of Man – Invitation
  One-month invitation – Source: Hanna de Mieses Family Collection
• March 1952: Simultaneous Exhibition – 7 Wins, 2 Draws
  Against 9 opponents, at age 87 after five-week illness – Source: Hanna de Mieses Family Collection