Jacques Mieses (1865-1954) might have said the same thing because these days he seems to be remembered (if at all) for losing games. Writing the October, 1944 issue of the British Chess Magazine, Miese himself wrote, “...I have always been an erratic player, even when I was at my best. At that time, when Marshall and myself entered a tournament, the general opinion was that we could as well finish at the top as at the tail of it.”
In his prime from the early1900s to the early 1920s Chess metrics has him generally just outside the top ten best players in the world. His highest estimated rating of 2660 was in 1907 which placed him at #11 on the list. The top 10 were: Lasker, Maroczy, Tarrasch, Schlechter, Rubinstein, Marshall, Duram Teichmann, Janowsky and Forgacs. In 1921 Mieses was ranked #9 at 2625/ Cearly he was a better player than most of us give him credit for and he did play a lot of great games. He had a very aggressive style that won him many brilliancy prizes, but he also suffered some catastrophic losses.
Mieses was born on February 27, 1865, in Leipzig as a scion of a merchant family. He studied natural sciences (biology, chemistry, physics, and earth sciences, aiming to understand fundamental principles and processes governing the universe, living organisms, and Earth's systems.) In 1882 at the age of 17, he won the Berlin Championship.
In 1937, he was nearly killed in a serious car accident and spent almost a year in the hospital. He was affected by World War II and was persecuted by the Nazis, but he managed to escape their clutches and make it to England. When he arrived there in 1938 he had the equivalent of what amounted to about $150 in buying power, but he somehow managed to survive and eventually became a British citizen.
Mieses was an international referee and worked as a journalist writing columns and reporting on tournament reports for newspapers across Europe. He also gave a lot of blindfold and simultaneous exhibitions. Although long past his prome, in 1950, FIDE awarded him the GM title and he remained a strong player in his old age. At the age of 88 he took part in the London Blitz Championship.His daily exercise routine included calisthenics, pushups and swimming and remained interested in world events. He died shortly before his 89th birthday on February 23, 1954, in London.
Today’s game was played in the Congress of the German Chess Association pf 1902 that was played in Hanover. The game is typical of both players…a messy tactical affair. After playing an old fashioned gambit which, by the way, Marshall himself used frequently early in his career, Mieses’ attack isn’t quite strong enough to finish Marshall off. But, when, in a winning position, Marshall played 30…Qc5 he overlooked Mieses’ stunning finish.
Jacques Mieses–Fank Marshall1–0C2113th DSB Kongress (Hanover)21.07.1902Stockfish 17
C21: Danish Gambit 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 Black gets slightly better results with 3... d5 4.c4 cxb2 5.xb2 d6 Black has a wide choice of moves here, but this move along with 5...d5 are most often seen. 6.b3 d7 7.c3 c6 8.d5! The position is equal. a5 9.g3 f6 While this shields g7 it would have been safer to eliminate the B. However, the ensuing complications probably could not be calculated OTB. 9...xc4= 10.xg7 xg7 11.xg7 g4 12.xh8 xg2 13.f6+ f8 14.c1 e6 15.xg8+ xg8 16.xg8 xg8 with equak chances. 10.e2 A few years later Mieses found an improvement. 10.b5 c6 11.c3 e7 12.xa5 xd5 13.exd5 cxb5 14.e2 White is better and eventually won. Mieses,J-Berger,J Vienna 1908 10...c6 11.f4 h6 12.c3 b6 13.f3 e7 14.d4 0-0 15.de6 e8 This looks good, but the position is very complicated. Instead of the text which leaves black with a poor, if not lost, position, he should have guarded g7 with 15...Rf7 15...f7 16.d1 f8 17.f3 e7 with equal chances. 16.h5 This is tactically faulty and leaves white with a lost position! 16.xg7 is a winner. xg7 17.h5+ f8 18.xf6 xf6 19.xf6+ f7 20.xh6+ g8 21.f3 and white has won a piece. 16...f8 17.xe8 xe8 18.xf8 xe4+ 19.e2 a6 Stepping up the pressure. 19...Kxf8 was playable, bit not as effective. 20.0-0-0 xe2 21.d4 xg2 22.e1 xf8 23.xe2 d5 24.e3 c4 25.e6+ f7 Voluntarily accepting a pin on the N causes his advantage to disappear. 25...h8 leaves white with no effective continuation. 26.d1 f3 27.de1 c5 Black;s N+4Ps shpuld prove superior to white's R. 26.g4 Black must be careful! f1+ 26...xh2 results in disaster. 27.xg7+! h8 28.xf6 f4+ 29.xf4 xb2 30.f6 d3+ 31.d2 h6 32.xf7+ g8 33.g7# 27.e1 xf2 28.e2 After this black is back in charge. 28.xf6 Of course the B cannot be taken because of the pin on the g-Pawn. It's surprising that two excellent tacticians missed this move. d2+ 29.b1 a3+ 30.a1 and black can draw with 30...Nc2+ or he can try to win with 30...g6 28...f1+ 29.e1 f2 29...f3 Now ...h5 is a strong threat. 30.xf6 g6 31.b2 xb2 32.xb2 g7 Black's Ps should prove to be enough compensation for the exchange. 30.e2 30.xf6 was the only way to keep the balance. d2+ 31.b1 a3+ 32.a1 c2+ 33.b1 a3+ 34.a1 c2+ 35.b1 a3+ 30...c5 Threatening a dangerous looking discovered check, but Mieses is alert to the mate in 4 this move permits! 31.xg7+ h8 31...xg7 32.xf6+ g8 33.g7# 32.g8+ Black resigned. It;s mate in 2 1–0
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