Born in Riga, Latvia. His father was an officer in the Russian and Latvian armies; Walter remembers stories of imperial banquets at which the Tsar rewarded his guests by allowing them to leave with the expensive place settings. The family lived in the resort district of Riga Jurmala (Riga Beach), a popular relaxation and holiday locale. Jursevskis studied architecture at the University of Riga for four years, but eventually decided to concentrate on art. In May 1945 he left Riga by sea just before the advancing Soviet forces arrived; he landed at Kiel, and spent the next two years in various D.P. (Displaced Person) camps across Germany. In 1948 Jursevskis emigrated to Canada, and after a year's employment with the CPR at Cameron Lake (to fulfill contractual requirements) he settled in Vancouver, working as a commercial artist for the Eatons company. In later life he carried out freelance work and also repaired porcelain and crystal.

Jursesvkis learnt chess from his father at age six or seven, and achieved success in a number of events, including winning the Riga Jurmala championship on one occasion. [Incidentally Riga Jurmala also includes the resort of Kemeri, which hosted several large international tournaments in the late 1930s.] As a displaced person after WW2 he played in a number of small international events, including Blomberg and Lübeck (both 1945), Meerbeck (1946), and Hanau (1947). In these events Jursevskis crossed swords with strong players from the Baltic countries who were also in D.P. camps, along with German and Austrian masters, including Bogoljubow, Sämisch, Rellstab, Zemgalis, Endzelins, and Arlauskas (the latter two emigrated to Australia and became correspondence GMs).

After moving to B.C. Jursevskis largely outclassed the local opposition, a situation which continued until the arrival of Elod Macskasy in 1957. Indicative of this is a match Jursevskis contested with Leo Duval soon after coming to Vancouver; Duval was a four-time B.C. Champion, had finished fifth in the 1945 Canadian Championship and was known as a tough opponent, yet Jursevskis easily won the match with a 6-2 score. Jursevskis entered the 1949 B.C. Championship and won it with a perfect score, repeating the same feat the following year. He went on to win the championship a further four years in succession, 1954-1957; in recognition of his achievements, Jursevskis was given the championship trophy, the Chris Spencer Cup, in perpetuity. He played in three Canadian Championships, his best result occurring in 1957 when he tied for third behind Vaitonis and Fuster. Jursevskis was a very good blitz player; the D.P. tournaments that he participated in often had adjunct speed events alongside them; Walter invariably did better against the same opposition in the speed tournaments rather than the regular events. He even penned a 14-page booklet in Latvian on the subject (Technique and Tactics of Five Minute Chess, Memmingen 1946). As a professional artist he contributed drawings to a number of chess magazines and also illustrated several chess books: one particular series consisted of chess terms/concepts interpreted via cartoons. His two favourite openings are the Ruy Lopez and the Cambridge Springs defence.

Biography, games against Sämisch,F and Heinla,H. (American Zone ch, Hanau, 1947), against Zemgalis (match British Columbia - Washington, 1956) and 7 more games played in Vancouver (1949-1957).

Picture of Miervaldis ("Walter") Jursevskis playing with Endzelins, Blomberg, 1945:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/v0000yz0f...