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 dist ...

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 h ...

, 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 (''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 in Cracow. In 1889, he tied for 3rd-4th (elim.) and tied for 5th-6th at Breslau (the 6th DSB Congress, ''Hauptturnier B'', Emanuel Lasker 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 ...

(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, sit ...

(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 state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

(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 German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

(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 i ...

, and took 18th in

Hannover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

(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 List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, 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, 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, Poland. He was the uncle of

Stepan Popel Stepan (Stefan, Stephan, Stephen) Popel (Popiel) (born 15 August 1909, Komarniki, Galicia, Austria-Hungary (now Ukraine) – died 27 December 1987, Fargo, North Dakota, USA) was a multiple chess champion of Lviv, Paris and eventually, of th ...

, 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