Ignatz von Popiel was born into a noble family in Drohobych, Galicia (then Austria-Hungary). His nephew Stephan Popel became a Ukrainian-American master.
Popiel started his chess career in Vienna, where he took 10th in 1886, second in 1887 (Glaser Schachgesellschaft), and second in 1888. From 1889 to 1892, he studied law at the Jagiellonian University in Cracow. In 1889, Popiel tied for third-fourth places (was thus eliminated) and tied for fifth-sixth at Breslau (the 6th DSB Congress, Hauptturnier B, Emanuel Lasker won). In 1892, he tied for 1-3rd (eliminated) and took seventh in Dresden (the 7th DSB-Congress, Hauptturnier A).
In 1895, Popiel won the Lvov Chess Club championship. In 1896, he tied for finished joint second-third in Eisenach (the 10th DSB-Congress). Popiel also won in Berlin that same year.
In 1904, Popiel finished third in the Lvov City championship, and third in Lvov (Quadrangular). In 1905, he drew a match with Oskar Piotrowski (+3 –3 =3).3 Popiel took fifth at Lvov 1912, and came second, behind Piotrowski, in the Lvov City championship in 1914.
During World War I, in 1915, Popiel finished sixth at Vienna. After the war, he was one of the strongest chess players in Lvov, Poland. Popiel participated several times in the Lvov City championship, finishing second in 1925, tying for second through fourth in 1926, and tied for second-third in 1927.
Popiel died on 2 May 1941 in General Government, Poland.
Wikipedia article: Ignatz von Popiel
Kibitzing
