Rumoredly this happened during a tournament in England.

One hotel employee addressed him with <Mister Mieses> (pronounced with an /aI/ like mice) Mieses responded slightly annoyed:
<It's Master Mieses.> (pronounced with /i:/ like in meet)

Mieses is pronounced "mee-suz", which means once again, a pun self-implodes due its own idiocy

Unless I'm "meesing" something...

Yes and no. The original quote which Steinbeck used in his tragic story is (something to the effect):

The best laid plans
a mice and men
gang aft astray

which was by Robbie Burns, the Scottish poet. He is describing how the field mice build their nest, but then the mower comes with his scythe and destroys their home. So their best laid plans often go wrong, or no matter how you plan, there may well be something you either didn't foresee or missed.

Then Steinbeck used this as the title of his short novel or long story.

Another book titled thus is 'Catcher in the Rye' also a quote from Burns.

Amusing variation. I played this game through quickly not noticing the B on c6 was attacked. Great play by Lasker. Mieses was no mug either.

***** >

True, but the Scottish dialects which Burns used (and maybe misused) are sometimes closer to Old and even modern German, although it also has a mix of 'Gaelic' etc or a mix of Anglo-Saxon and Celtic or whatever history of language is involved.

The problem (for the tragic life of the pun) is that there wasn't a particularly "well laid plan" by Mieses, in his own line it seems that Nge2 as is played more commonly, is better. The attack on the B on c5 is typical but gaining 2 B's is offset but black's control of the d file and d4...

Here's a more successful game by White (he wins as Black gets tired I think and misses a nice finisher!):

In the story, "justice" is sacrificed for vengeance and a lack of understanding: something like that.

In any case Steinbeck is well worth reading. I also like the stories of Cheever (who deals with very different subjects, classes of people, and places): I re-read one this morning.

There is also a dramatic story by Dreiser I read where a journalist has to go and witness the capture (and trial) of a black man who had been accused (wrongly) of rape, in (one of the Southern US States) - it is quite a complex story, and quite moving. Of course it was set early in the 20th Century. There is also a "miscarriage of justice" in that story: but it is more than a morality tale about right and wrong...

You make a good point: Mieses misplayed the opening, something one cannot do and hope to survive vs Lasker

Notice the year of the game? 1889
Mieses was 24 while Lasker was only 21

Yes, he was young I suppose when he played that game. I saw some of his combinations looked 20 moves ahead when he was at his peak. One of the very great masters ever.

I'm not very converted to Mieses system though it seems to me White spends too much time fianchettoing...but maybe there is nothing wrong with it.

<WannaBe> Please be aware that there is no such thing as anything written for fun or amusement, (after all, can there be literature or art after Auschwitz, and the US invasions of Vietnam, Afghanistan etc is the obvious point..): such a naive and simplistic comment, assuming that there is ever any innocent writing, or even speech, smacks of a sadly dangerous right wing and insular attitude and a simplicity of thought which is sadly prevalent in today's "thought tormented"* and corrupted world. In future please do not interrupt my enormously important and informative literary lectures.