{{Short description|German chess player (c.1788–1836)}} '''Julius Mendheim''' (c. 1788<ref>David Vincent Hooper and Kenneth Whyld: ''The Oxford Companion to Chess'', 1992 (2nd ed.), Oxford University Press, p.89 {{ISBN|0-19-280049-3}}</ref> – 25 August 1836<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.berlinerschachverband.de/archiv/chronik/spieler/index.html |title=Die bekanntesten Persönlichkeiten der Berliner Schachgeschichte |language=de |accessdate=2009-03-31 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090821213957/http://www.berlinerschachverband.de/archiv/chronik/spieler/index.html |archivedate=2009-08-21 }}</ref>) was a German chess master and problemist.
Not much is known about Mendheim's life. By profession, he was probably a merchant.
He was the first famous Berlin chess master and a member of the ''Berliner Schachgesellschaft'' (founded 1827). Earlier, he was a regular guest at the ''Old Club'' of Berlin (which existed from 1803 to 1847), but not a regular member there, despite having the reputation of being the best Berlin player.<ref>Egbert Meissenburg, ''Juden im Schachleben Deutschlands 1830-1930'' in ''Menora: Jahrbuch für deutsch-jüdische Geschichte 1996''</ref> The young Ludwig Bledow, forthcoming co-founder of the Berlin Pleiades, lost the majority of the games he played with his older mentor. Mendheim seemingly inspired Bledow and the forming of the Pleiades, but he died before the group was firmly established.
Mendheim's strength can be seen from the fact that he single-handedly conducted the correspondence games that Berlin played against other cities (Breslau 1829–1833, Hamburg 1833–1836).<ref>[https://www.chesscafe.com/text/spinrad34.pdf Jeremy P. Spinrad, ''Julius Mendheim'']</ref> He was an author of ''Taschenbuch für Schachfreunde'' (Berlin, published by Alexander Mosar, 1814) and ''Aufgaben für Schachspieler'' (Berlin, published by Traugott Trautwein, 1832).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mattnetz.de/books/such.html |title=Suchliste |website=www.mattnetz.de |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080409234557/http://www.mattnetz.de/books/such.html |archive-date=2008-04-09}}</ref> He gets some mention in the ''Handbuch des Schachspiels'' section on problem composers.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessplayer?pid=117582 Mendheim at Chessgames.com]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mendheim, Julius}} Category:1780s births Category:1836 deaths Category:Sportspeople from the Kingdom of Prussia Category:18th-century German Jews Category:German chess players Category:Jewish chess players Category:Chess composers