Jacques Mieses

Jacques Mieses (February 27, 1865, in Leipzig – February 23, 1954 in London) was a German-born Jewish chess player and writer. He moved to England in the 1930s to escape Nazi persecution and became the first British grandmaster in 1950. He was a dangerous attacker with a number of brilliant victories to his credit, e.g. against Frank Marshall (Monte Carlo 1903). His best achievement was to win the first Trebitsch Memorial at Vienna 1907. He also ... more

Jacques Mieses (February 27, 1865, in Leipzig – February 23, 1954 in London) was a German-born Jewish chess player and writer. He moved to England in the 1930s to escape Nazi persecution and became the first British grandmaster in 1950. He was a dangerous attacker with a number of brilliant victories to his credit, e.g. against Frank Marshall (Monte Carlo 1903). His best achievement was to win the first Trebitsch Memorial at Vienna 1907. He also organized the master tournament of San Sebastián 1911 and insisted that all the masters' expenses were paid. This was the first international tournament of José Raúl Capablanca, who surprised everyone by winning. Mieses wrote many tournament reports, but his style was regarded as fairly dry, in contrast with his wittiness in person. He often used the Scandinavian Defense, and greatly developed its theory in the early 1900s. The chess opening 1.d3 is Mieses Opening. less