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.
[Event "13th DSB Kongress (Hanover)"] [Site ""] [Date "1902.07.21"] [Round ""] [White "Jacques Mieses"] [Black "Fank Marshall"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C21"] [Annotator "Stockfish 17"] [PlyCount "63"] [EventDate "1902.07.21"] {C21: Danish Gambit} 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 dxc3 {Black gets slightly better results with 3... d5} 4. Bc4 cxb2 5. Bxb2 d6 {Black has a wide choice of moves here, but this move along with 5...d5 are most often seen.} 6. Qb3 Qd7 7. Nc3 Nc6 8. Nd5 $1 {The position is equal.} Na5 9. Qg3 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... Nxc4 $11 10. Bxg7 Bxg7 11. Qxg7 Qg4 12. Qxh8 Qxg2 13. Nf6+ Kf8 14. Rc1 Be6 15. Qxg8+ Qxg8 16. Nxg8 Kxg8 {with equak chances.}) 10. Be2 {A few years later Mieses found an improvement.} (10. Bb5 c6 11. Bc3 Ne7 12. Bxa5 Nxd5 13. exd5 cxb5 14. Ne2 { White is better and eventually won. Mieses,J-Berger,J Vienna 1908}) 10... c6 11. Nf4 Nh6 12. Qc3 b6 13. Nf3 Be7 14. Nd4 O-O 15. Nde6 Re8 {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... Rf7 16. Rd1 Bf8 17. f3 Qe7 {with equal chances.}) 16. Bh5 {This is tactically faulty and leaves white with a lost position!} (16. Nxg7 {is a winner.} Kxg7 17. Nh5+ Kf8 18. Nxf6 Bxf6 19. Qxf6+ Qf7 20. Qxh6+ Kg8 21. f3 { and white has won a piece.}) 16... Bf8 17. Bxe8 Qxe8 18. Nxf8 Qxe4+ 19. Ne2 Ba6 {Stepping up the pressure. 19...Kxf8 was playable, bit not as effective.} 20. O-O-O Bxe2 21. Rd4 Qxg2 22. Re1 Rxf8 23. Rxe2 d5 24. Qe3 Nc4 25. Qe6+ Nf7 { Voluntarily accepting a pin on the N causes his advantage to disappear.} (25... Kh8 {leaves white with no effective continuation.} 26. Rd1 Qf3 27. Rde1 c5 { Black;s N+4Ps shpuld prove superior to white's R.}) 26. Rg4 {Black must be careful!} Qf1+ (26... Qxh2 {results in disaster.} 27. Rxg7+ $1 {[%mdl 512]} Kh8 28. Qxf6 Qf4+ 29. Qxf4 Nxb2 30. Qf6 Nd3+ 31. Kd2 h6 32. Rxf7+ Kg8 33. Qg7#) 27. Re1 Qxf2 28. Re2 {After this black is back in charge.} (28. Bxf6 {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.} Qd2+ 29. Kb1 Na3+ 30. Ka1 {and black can draw with 30...Nc2+ or he can try to win with 30...g6}) 28... Qf1+ 29. Re1 Qf2 (29... Qf3 {Now ...h5 is a strong threat.} 30. Bxf6 g6 31. Bb2 Nxb2 32. Kxb2 Kg7 {Black's Ps should prove to be enough compensation for the exchange.}) 30. Re2 (30. Bxf6 {was the only way to keep the balance.} Qd2+ 31. Kb1 Na3+ 32. Ka1 Nc2+ 33. Kb1 Na3+ 34. Ka1 Nc2+ 35. Kb1 Na3+) 30... Qc5 { Threatening a dangerous looking discovered check, but Mieses is alert to the mate in 4 this move permits!} 31. Rxg7+ Kh8 (31... Kxg7 32. Qxf6+ Kg8 33. Qg7#) 32. Rg8+ {Black resigned. It;s mate in 2} 1-0
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