Chess Trivia

Mackenzie, Arthur (1861-1905)
Chessplayer who composed chess problems when he was blind. He was responsible for the popularity of the two-mover in the early 20th century. By coincidence, a problem submitted to a composing tournament was almost identical to another problem submitted by H. Lane. They both featured the same key move. By a greater coincidence, H. Lane was also blind.

Mackenzie, George (1837-1891)
Winner of the second, third, and fifth American Chess Congresses. Recognized as American chess champion from 1865 to 1890. He was a Lieutenant in the British army and a Captain in the US Army, fighting for the North during the Civil War.

Maelzel, Johann (1772-1838)
Mechanical engineer who bought the Turk from Wolfgang von Kempelen's son. He supposedly invented the metronome and was a good friend of Beethoven. Prince Eugene de Beauharnais bought the Turk from Maelzel in 1811 for 30,000 francs and Maelzel gave part of the money to Beethoven. In 1817 he bought the Turk back from the Prince for the same sum. No cash was handed over to the Prince, but Maelzel was to pay from any profit he might make. The Prince died but his heirs sued Maelzel for the balance. Maelzel fled to America with the Turk to escape the debts and lawsuits. Maelzel was buried at sea in 1838 after dying on a ship bound from Cuba to America.

Magazine, Chess
The first magazine devoted entirely to chess was Le Palamede, founded by La Bourdonnais in 1836. The oldest existing chess magazine in the world is Deutsche Schachzeitung, founded in 1846. The longest surviving English magazine, the British Chess Magazine, was started in 1881. The first U.S. chess magazine, The Chess Monthly, was published by Daniel Fiske in 1857. The first Russian magazine, Shakhmatnyi listok, was published by Tchigorin in 1876.

Makovetz, Gyula (1860-1903)
Editor of Hungary's first chess magazine, Budapesti Sukkezende, from 1889 to 1894.

Manchester Chess Club
Oldest chess club in Britain, which began on September 3, 1817.

Manhattan Chess Club
Oldest chess club in America, which began in a cafe in lower Manhattan in 1877. Up to recently, it had been located in Carnegie Hall.

Mannheim Congress 1914
A series of chess tournaments in Germany when World War I broke out. The 19th congress of the German Chess Federation began on July 20 and stopped August 1. First place was 2000 marks ($500). Players included Alekhine, Marshall, Reti, Janowski, Spielmann, Tarrasch, Mieses, Duras, Tartakover, Bogoljubov, and Vidmar. Alekhine won (9.5-1.5), followed by Vidmar and Spielmann. Only 11 of the scheduled 17 rounds were played. Frank Marshall escaped to Amsterdam. His baggage showed up in New York fice years later with all of the contents still intact. The Russian chessmasters find themselves all under arrest and the prize fund is cut in half. Alekhine was held in a German police station then a military prison. He was certified as medically unfit for military service and released after 6 weeks. Tarrasch learned that his son was already killed in action.

Marathon chess
In 1983 two bus drivers from Bristol, England played chess non-stop for 200 hours. Roger Long and Graham Croft played 189 games with Long winning 96 to 93.

Marco, Georg (1863-1923)
Romanian-born Austrian of grandmaster strength. He was a very large powerful man and was referred to as the "strongest" chess player in the world.

Mariotti, Sergio (1946 - )
First and only Italian Grandmaster (1974).

Maroczy, Geza (1870-1951)
A waterworks engineer and math teacher who was one of the most successful players from 1899 to 1908. Supposedly his ghost returned in 1985 and has been playing Korchnoi thru a Swiss medium.

Marseillaise Chess
A variation of chess invented in 1925 in which each player plays two moves at a time.

Marshall, Frank (1877-1944)
The first American to defeat a Soviet player in an international tournament (New York, 1924). He reigned as U.S. Champion for 30 years, but only defended his title once when he defeated Ed Lasker (5-4) in 1923. He was the first master to play more than 100 games simultaneously. In 1916 he played 105 players at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. He won 82 games, lost 8, drew 15. In 1922 he played 155 games simultaneously in Montreal. He scored 126 wins, 21 draws, and 8 losses after 7 hours of play. A week later he was able to replay 153 of the games from memory. What bothered him was forgetting the other two games. He thought he was losing his memory. He started the Marshall Chess Club in 1922 to rival the Manhattan Chess Club. He claimed he played at least one game of chess every day for 57 years. In 1904 he was proclaimed U.S. Chess Champion when Pillsbury declined a match with him because of illness. Pillsbury died in 1906. Marshall did not officially accept the title until 1909, when he won a match with Jackson Showalter, the champion before Pillsbury. He announced his retirement in 1936 as U.S. Chess Champion.

Martz, Bill (1945-1983)
Played 104 consecutive tournament games without a loss. He held degrees in mathematics and law but never practiced. He was a car salesman.

Master
The youngest master was Jordy Mont-Reynaud at 10 years, 7 months (1994). The oldest player to become a master was Oscar Shapiro, at age 74.

Matanovic, Aleksandar (1930- )
Yugoslav Grandmaster (1955) and chief editor of Chess Informant. He has won the Yugoslav championship 3 times. From 1990 to 1994 he was FIDE Executive Deputy President.

Match
The first over-the-board match of consequence was the McDonnell-La Bourdonnais match in 1834. The longest running annual match is the Oxford-Cambridge match, which has been held every year since 1873.

Match of the Century
The first USSR vs. Rest of the World match held in Belgrade in 1970.

Mate
There are 8 different ways to mate in two moves and 355 different ways to mate in three moves.

Mathilda
Daughter of Otto II who was "won" as a result of a chess match between Ezzo, the Count of Palatine, and her brother, the Holy Emperor, Otto III.

Matulovic, Milan (1935- )
GM Matulovic of Yugoslavia was sentenced to 9 months imprisonment for killing a woman by dangerous driving (No, he didn't say J'adoube). In 1967 he took back a move without saying J'adoube (I adjust) and drew his game with Bilek in the Interzonal. He is sometimes referred to as J'adoubovic.

McCormick, Edgar (1914-1991)
Participant of more U.S. Open chess tournaments than any other person (37 times). In World War II he was a cryptographer. He won the U.S. Amateur Championship in 1961, and again in 1990, at the age of 75.

McKenna, Patrick
Currently on death row at the Ely State Prison in Nevada for killing a jail cellmate after an argument over a chess game.

Mechanics Institute
Oldest chess meeting place in the United States, founded in 1854. Formerly the Mercantile Library in San Francisco, it was not incorporated as a chess club in its own right.

Mecking, Henrique (1952- )
Brazilian grandmaster. He was champion of Brazil at 13 and won the South American Zonal at 14. During his candidates' match with Petrosian, he mad a formal protest. He accused the formal world champion of kicking the table, shaking the chessboard, stirring the coffee too loudly, and rolling a coin on the table. He went to the referee twice to complain that Petrosian was breathing too loudly. Mecking kicked back at the table and made noises of his own. Petrosian responded by turning his hearing aid off. He retired from chess in 1978 when he contracted myasthenia gravis, a debilitating muscle disease. He returned to chess in 1991.

Menchik-Stevenson, Vera (1906-1944)
World Woman Champion Vera Menchik defended her title six times, scoring 78 wins, 4 draws, ond only 1 loss. In 1927 she won the first Women's World Chess Championship with 10 1/2 out of 11. She played in her first world championship as a Russian, the next five as a Czech, and the last one as a Briton. She died in Kent in June 1944 after a German V-1 rocket hit her home, killing her mother and her sister, Mrs. Olga Rubery (world challenger in 1935 and 1937). Vera's husband, R.H.S. Stevenson, was the secretary of the British Chess Federation who died in 1943. At the time of her death, Vera was serving on the editorial staff of "Chess" as games editor.

Menchik Club
Players who lost to Vera Menchik. In the 1930s Albert Becker said if anyone should lose to this woman, he would be a member of the Menchik Club. His was the first member. Other members included Max Euwe, Sammy Reshevsky, Mir Sultan Khan, Sir George Thomas, C. H. O'D. Alexander, Edgar Colle, Frederick Yates, William Winter, Lajos Steiner, Frederich Saemisch, Milner-Barry, Harry Golombek, and Jacques Mieses (who lost to her four times in a match).

Mephisto
The best of the automations. It was operated from another room by electro-mechanical means. It entered the County Chess Association held in England in 1878 and won. Gunsberg was the operator. He operated it from the cellar of the tournament hall. Mephisto was built by C.G. Gumpel. Mephist was shown for 12 months only and then broken up. When playing with ladies it would obtain a winning position and then lose the game, offering to shake hands afterwards. Mephisto was first exhibited at the Westminster Aquarium in London ion 1876.

Mephisto Portorose
One of the strongest commercially available chess microcomputers. In 1990 it defeated Karpov, Huebner, and Bronstein in simultaneous exhibitions, won the West German blitz championship, and earned an International Master (IM) norm by scoring 7-4 in the Dortmond Open.

Mexico
In the 1930s the Mexican government offered all foreign chess masters appointments as chess instructors in the Army. Kostich was made a Colonel. Alekhine and Capablanca did not accept their rank. Reuben Fine and Kashdan were made Lieutenants.

Mieses, Jacques (1865-1954)
Born Jakob Mieses but he changed his name to sound more elegant. He was the first British player to receive the Grandmaster title. When he was in his 84, Jacques played a game against the Dutch master, Van Forrest, who was two years older than he. After he had won, Mieses rose from the board and said, "Youth has been victorious." As a chess master, he was active for 60 years (1888-1948).

Miles, Anthony (1955- )
The first English-born player to become a grandmaster for over-the-board play, in 1976. He once defeated the World Othello Champion at his own game. He won the World Junior Championship at Manila in 1974. He received an Honorary Master of Arts Degree for ches from Sheffield University. In 1975 he agreed to a draw against Reuben without making a move. This was the first time a game was agreed drawn in International competition without making a single move, thus making it the shortest game ever played.

Milner-Barry, Sir Philip Stuart (1906- )
English player of IM strength who was one of the code-breakers of World War II. He later became Under-Secretary of the Treasury in England.

Minasyan, Artashes
Winner of the 58th and last USSR Championship, held in Moscow in 1991. His prize was a gold medal and a new car fresh from the "Lada" factory. The USSR championship was an 11-round Swiss. Twenty-seven Grandmasters and 29 International Masters participated, won by an untitled player.

Minckwitz, Johannes (1843-1901)
German player of IM strength who wrote several chess columns, magazines, and books. He threw himself under an electric train which cut off both his arms. He died five days later.

Mont-Reynaud, Jordy (1983- )
World's youngest master (1994) at 10 years, 7 months.

Moonraker
James Bond novel by Ian Fleming which contains references to Paul Morphy.

Morphy, Paul (1837-1884)
The Pride and Sorrow of Chess. He imagined himself persecuted by his relatives and went into a state of seclusion. He thought his food was poisoned or that someone was out to kill him. He once attacked a person in the street and challenges him to a duel to the death to settle an imagined wrong. He had a fetish with women's shoes. Morphy had hats and cigars named after him. He was the first sports figure to issue a commercial endorsement when he dclared of a watch, "I have examined the contents of this watch and find it to be made of 100 percent genuine machinery." When he arrived in Paris to play Anderssen, he was suffering from the flu. His medical treatment consisted of being leeched. He lost four pints of blood and was too weak to leave his hotel bed. So, he played Anderssen from his hotel room and won 7-2. When he returned to New York, he was greeted by Longfellow, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Samuel Morse, and John van Buren, the former President's son. Van Buren toasted Morphy as 'The Chess Champion of the World.' It was the first time that expression had been used.

Mouret, Jacque (1787-1837)
Operator of The Turk from 1819 to 1824. He sold the secret of how The Turk operated to the Magazin Pittoresqu in 1834. This was the first authentic revelation of the Autmaton's secret. In 1836, the magazine 'Palamede' re-published Mouret's disclosures. He was a nephew of Philidor.

Move
David Bronstein took 50 minutes to make his first move. Herman Steiner spent 75 minutes over his second move. In 1980 an International Master spent 2 hours and 20 minutes before making his 7th move.

Munich 1936
Considered the extra Chess Olympiad. The German Chess Federation wanted to organize an Olympiad as a counterpart to the Olympic Games at Berlin. Munich was chosen since its local chess club was celebrating its centenary. But since the German Chess Federation was not part of FIDE, the event was not recognized as belongiing to the official series of Olympiads. Twenty-two countries and 208 participants entered. A total of 1680 games were played in this event of teams with eight players and two reserves. Hungary won without conceding a single drawn match.

Murder and chess
In 1960 a sailor got in a fight with a spectator in a Greenwich Village bar when the spectator criticized the sailor's chess game. The sailer struck the spectator with a broken beer bottle and struck a jugular vein. The sailor was eventually acquitted of murder and charged with accidental death instead.

Murshed, Niaz (1966- )
Won the Bangladesh championsip at age 12 years and 309 days, becoming the youngest winner of a national federation. He won the Bangladesh championship at age 13, 14, and 15 as well. His is the first and only Grandmaster (1986) from Banglasdesh.

MY 60 MEMORABLE GAMES
Bobby Fischer's modern classic which almost never got published. In 1964 Bobby withdrew his manuscript before it went to press. He had to buy his way out of the contract with Simon & Schuster. He was concerned about revealing his opening strategy. Five years later he updated his original work of 52 games to MY 60 MEMORABLE GAMES and had Larry Evans collaborate on the book. Fischer's original title was MY LIFE IN CHESS, then MY MEMORABLE GAMES - 60 TOURNAMENT STRUGGLES.