Ignatz (Ignaz, Ignacy) von Popiel (27 July 1863 – 2 May 1941) was a Polish-Ukrainian

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

player.

Biography

Born into a noble family in

Drohobych Drohobych ( uk, Дрого́бич, ; pl, Drohobycz; yi, דראָהאָביטש;) is a city of regional significance in Lviv Oblast, Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Drohobych Raion and hosts the administration of Drohobych urban hro ...

, Galicia (then

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

), he began study law at the

University of Graz The University of Graz (german: link=no, Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, ), located in Graz, Austria, is the largest and oldest university in Styria, as well as the second-largest and second-oldest university in Austria. History The unive ...

(''Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz''). Then started his chess career in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, where he took 10th in 1886, took 2nd in 1887 (''Glaser Schachgesellschaft''), and took 2nd in 1888. In the period between 1889 and 1892, he studied law at the

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (Polish: ''Uniwersytet Jagielloński'', UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and the 13th oldest university in ...

in Cracow. In 1889, he tied for 3rd-4th (elim.) and tied for 5th-6th at Breslau (the 6th

DSB Congress The ''Deutscher Schachbund'' (DSB) was founded in Leipzig on 18 July, 1877. When the next meeting took place in the Schützenhaus on 15 July 1879, sixty-two clubs had become member of the chess federation. Hofrat Rudolf von Gottschall became Chair ...

, ''Hauptturnier B'',

Emanuel Lasker Emanuel Lasker (; December 24, 1868 – January 11, 1941) was a German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher who was World Chess Champion for 27 years, from 1894 to 1921, the longest reign of any officially recognised World Chess Champ ...

won). In 1892, he tied for 1-3rd (elim.) and took 7th in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

(the 7th DSB-Congress, ''Hauptturnier A''). In 1895, he won in the Lvov Chess Club championship. In 1896, he tied for 2nd-3rd in

Eisenach Eisenach () is a town in Thuringia, Germany with 42,000 inhabitants, located west of Erfurt, southeast of Kassel and northeast of Frankfurt. It is the main urban centre of western Thuringia and bordering northeastern Hessian regions, situat ...

(the 10th DSB-Congress), took 13th in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, and won in Lviv. In 1897, he tied for 1st-2nd (elim.) and won in Berlin. In 1898, he tied for 10th-11th in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

(the 11th DSB-Congress). In 1899-1900, he took 9th in Vienna. In 1900, he tied for 11th-12th in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

(the 12th DSB-Congress). In 1902, he took 16th in

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...

, and took 18th in

Hannover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German States of Germany, state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germa ...

(the 13th DSB-Congress). In 1904, he took 3rd in the Lvov City championship, and 3rd in Lvov (''Quadrangular''). In 1905, he drew a match with Oskar Piotrowski (+3 –3 =3). He took 5th at Lvov 1912, and took 2nd, behind Piotrowski, in the Lvov City championship in 1914. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, in 1915, he took 6th at Vienna. After the war, Popiel was one of the strongest chess players in Lvov, Poland. He participated several times in the Lvov City championship; took 2nd in 1925, tied for 2nd-4th in 1926, tied for 2nd-3rd in 1927, took 8th in 1931, and took 14th in 1933. Playing in a pre-Olympic tournament at Lodz 1935 took 13th place. In 1937 he left Lvov for

Bochnia Bochnia (german: Salzberg) is a town on the river Raba in southern Poland. The town lies approximately halfway between Tarnów (east) and the regional capital Kraków (west). Bochnia is most noted for its salt mine, the oldest functioning in Eu ...

, and tied for 5-7th in the Cracow City championship.Tadeusz Wolsza, ''Arcymistrzowie, mistrzowie, amatorzy...''. Słownik biograficzny szachistów polskich, tom 5. Wydawnictwo DiG, Warszawa 2007, pp. 89-98. He died on 2 May 1941 in

General Government The General Government (german: Generalgouvernement, pl, Generalne Gubernatorstwo, uk, Генеральна губернія), also referred to as the General Governorate for the Occupied Polish Region (german: Generalgouvernement für die be ...

, Poland. He was the uncle of Stepan Popel, a Ukrainian chess master.

Notable chess games

Emanuel Lasker vs Ignatz von Popiel, Breslau 1889, Vienna Game, Mieses Variation, C26, 0-1Ignatz von Popiel vs Dawid Janowski, Cologne 1898, DSB 11th Kongress (GER ch.), Sicilian Defense, Pin Variation, B40, 1-0Ignatz von Popiel vs Georg Marco, Monte Carlo 1902, Philidor Defense, C41, 1-0

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Popiel, Ignatz Von 1863 births 1941 deaths People from Drohobych Polish chess players Ukrainian chess players Polish Austro-Hungarians Ukrainian people of Polish descent 19th-century Polish nobility Austrian untitled nobility 20th-century chess players 20th-century Polish nobility