Emil Josef Diemer was a German chess master and is one of the creators of the Blackmar–Diemer Gambit which has become one of the more popular chess gambits as it is named after Diemer, along with Armand Blackmar. He also had a remarkable time in 1956 in his chess history.
He won several tournaments even though later in England he loses. Diemer also stood by the Nazi publications and even later after he got better from his psychic condition was able to interact with the team at the federation of chess players.

Full name: Emil Joseph Diemer
Born: 1908-1980
Place of Birth: Radolfzell
Profiles
Biography
Emil Joseph Diemer was born in Baden in 1908 in the German town of Radolfzell. Diemer started playing chess from a young age and in 1932, one of his games was recorded and published. In 1956 did he find success that is termed as the greatest at Biden, blitz championship.
Being out of work in 1931 after not being fit for a small task in a publisher’s house, he was fired and he joined the “German Party” in Germany and became an active member.
For obvious reasons, this made him get thrown out of their home on the same day by his father. International events concerning chess were a no miss for him and he started reporting for chess events in the German Reich. The articles he wrote was published. From the year 1942 to 1943 he participated in Chess tournaments alongside Klaus Junge.
It became easier for him to take care of himself as German member due to his devotion in all he did. He agitated the party relentlessly in the Kampfzeit’ years that had many struggles before taking power. Through this engagement, he was able to get more new friends and therefore a gateway to becoming a professional chess player.
He praised their chess struggle in newspapers and magazines within the German publications. Even though he was working, he still was dependent till the end of his life for support from admirers.
He still went on reporting for chess tournaments even after the subsiding of the war. He later sold the bools he had with chess contents giving simuls. The stigma that he faced in the past within the German party made it hard for him to be able to support himself along those lines.
Diemer was a master in the middle tier and had relatively little success in chess. In 1953, he accused the officials of the Chess federation in Germany of a press campaign concerning innocent corruption of the youth and homosexuality.
The Beginning
Diemer was born in 1908 but it was not until 1932 that he began playing chess. He had a passion for the game. Though he was still dependent after being chased by his father, he could report many chess events through the media and writings that he did and could get some money. He had special tactics that always made people surround his board to get to learn from him.
Being within the Nazi, he was able to make publications that later on even made him became famous around his country and even in the Netherlands.
He had relatively little success in chess but in his life, he aspired to be a champion. He also engaged in the struggle and they later got the independence as the Nazis gave him the chance to some earning even though it could not totally sustain him.
Achievements
Diemer played a total of 57 games between the years 1938 to 1985. He won a total of 39 games, draws on 4 games, lost 14 games and his general score is 71.93%. with white pieces, he opened with the queen’s pawn at 21 games, Pirc defense in 4 games, queen’s pawn game at D05 1 game, and the A41 queen’s Pawn 1 game.
Diemer gained more success in 1956 by winning Reserve Group in the areas of Beverwijik. Open championships within the Netherlands at Kampen and also international tournaments in Rapperswil that were international in the nation of Switzerland.
In the international championships in Switzerland engaging Thun Diemer became second, the same place as Ghent, ahead of them was the Grandmaster Galway O’Kelly Alberic.
After a period of success, he got disappointed in England after participating in a tournament which he later discovered in a women’s magazine the biorhythm cause of the bad score. This bombarded his chess friends with graphs and calculations for the biorhythm. This then led him to the discovery of the Nostradamus. He later lost interest in chess as his interest in Nostradamus increased in him.
The French Clairvoyant in the 16th Century was such a turning point for him since he cracked the Nostradamus’s and for more than 25 years, he’s said to mail more than 10,000 letters concerning the secret code of Nostradamus.
Nostradamus dominated his life more. He accosted pedestrians who were unsuspecting and ever even disturbed a funeral by saying in a loud voice that someone was being buried alive. He also lamented the drying of the river Rhine and the falling of the nuclear bombs on the Heidelberg.
He even sent chills to the authorities of the town on the ringing of the phone fearing that he would be the one announcing to them the apocalypse.
Moreover, as he was losing strength in chess he stayed strong hope that a day will come when he’ll be the best in chase worldwide. To him though, he longed for the Nobel Prize for his Nostradamus’ work as was his expectation after the investigations he did.
The Blackmar-Gemeinde magazine that he published closed down due to the impatience of his creditors. This brought about a massive bombardment to everyone in the chess world with endless analysis from the letters regarding his gambit. This gave him recognition as far as in the Netherlands where the Ten Have company published his language book.
In 1965, Diemer committed himself to the psychic clinic within Gengenbach. The director that was taking care of him in the clinic considered chess the course of the extreme stress Dimer and prohibited him from engaging in the game.
Later in 1971, the psychic ban was lifted and his membership in the chess federation was restored in German. After this, he played within the club cover and the team. Dimer to this time was still not financially independent but still resided in Gengenbanch being a resident partially and a patient in the hospital till his demise.
The cancelation of his clinical medication was brought in by a young admirer who also organized for his admission back to the German federation of chess players.
He was also given the first board within the team and got the new dentures that he war earlier promised in 1952. This got him back to the game and was always delighting the many young disciples who surrounded his board now and then due to his attacking style.
Furthermore, Diemer had disciples during his 50s and 60s within the Netherlands and also in Germany. Although he was not very strong, in chess they knew him as having relentless aggression referring to him as a prophet.
Triumphant procession is the description of the simul tours Diemer went through. He is referred to as someone processing unusual genius.
Impact on Chess
Throughout his life, Dimmer engaged in many games like unorthodox, Gambit of Diemer-Duhm, and of Alapin-Diemer. But he is famously known for the refinement of Armand Edward Blackmer’s old idea currently known as the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit, which is also one of the more frequently played Chess openings.
Diemer later died at 82 years old in Gengenbanch. Until his death, for the past five years, he had ceased playing chess, he had ceased playing chess.
In the village before his demise, villagers always saw him still thin and tall in the streets but stumbling as he was already half-blind and had a prophet’s beard. Furthermore, they respected him since rumors had it that he was once a great figure in the chess sphere or even the greatest. He was a remarkable player who liked glaring by one side and mostly trying to find an attack and nothing more. He played his last game in 1984.
Did you enjoy reading about Emil Josef Diemer? If you did, you might be interesting in reading other player profiles such as Hikaru Nakamura, Emanuel Lasker, and Paul Morphy.
Sources
- https://web.archive.org/web/20100308022655/http://www.chesscafe.com:80/text/hans07.pdf
- http://www.chessville.com/reviews/EmilJosefDiemer1908-1990ALifeDevotedtoChess.htm
- http://www.vistula.risp.pl/felietony/diemer.htm