Louis-Charles Mahé de La Bourdonnais

Louis-Charles Mahé de La Bourdonnais (* 1795 ( according to some sources also 1797 ) on the island of Réunion ; † December 13, 1840 in London ) was a French chess master .

Mahé de La Bourdonnais was one of the strongest players of the early 19th century . Because of his unusual talent for combination , he is considered the greatest master that France has had since Philidorus .

Career

La Bourdonnais came from a wealthy family and even in his youth spent a lot of time in the famous Parisian chess café Café de la Régence , where he had his own table and played there almost every day from noon to midnight. The chess fever seized him and from then on the “royal game” became part of his life. He played against anyone who was willing to make a small bet. He took lessons from Alexandre Deschapelles , the strongest player in France until then, whom he soon ousted from the throne.

In 1827 he published the life story of his grandfather Bertrand François Mahé de La Bourdonnais , a famous admiral.

In 1833 he published a chess textbook, Nouveau Traité du jeu des échecs , which was tailored to the needs of chess amateurs. Since there was no longer a player in France who could beat him, La Bourdonnais went to London in 1834 to challenge the local champion and strongest player in Great Britain , the Irish Alexander McDonnell , to a competition. The first significant match in chess history lasted from June to November and consisted of 88 games. La Bourdonnais won 44, lost 30 and played 14 games. The games still played without a chess clock were noted and published.

After winning the competition against McDonnell, La Bourdonnais was considered the strongest player in the world. He returned to Paris and founded the first chess newspaper Le Palamède there , which was later continued by Pierre Saint-Amant .

Shortly afterwards, La Bourdonnais developed dropsy and died on December 13, 1840. After his death, a plaster cast of the skull was made, which served as a template for the portraits that have been preserved.

Lot

McDonnell - La Bourdonnais

	a	b	c	d	e	f	G	H
8th									8th
7th									7th
6th									6th
5									5
4th									4th
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	G	H

Final position after 37 ... e3 – e2

One of his games ended with a curious final position that has not been forgotten to this day:

McDonnell - La Bourdonnais

London, 1834

Sicilian Defense , B32

1. e2 – e4 c7 – c5 2. Ng1 – f3 Nb8 – c6 3. d2 – d4 c5xd4 4. Nf3xd4 e7 – e5 5. Nd4xc6 b7xc6 6. Bf1 – c4 Ng8 – f6 7. Bc1 – g5 Bf8 – e7 8. Qd1 – e2 d7 – d5 9. Bg5xf6 Be7xf6 10. Bc4 – b3 0–0 11. 0–0 a7 – a5 12. e4xd5 c6xd5 13. Rf1 – d1 d5 – d4 14. c2 – c4 Qd8 – b6 15. Bb3– c2 Bc8 – b7 16. Nb1 – d2 Ra8 – e8 17. Nd2 – e4 Bf6 – d8 18. c4 – c5 Qb6 – c6 19. f2 – f3 Bd8 – e7 20. Ra1 – c1 f7 – f5 21. De2 – c4 + Kg8 -H8 22. Bc2 – a4 Qc6 – h6 23. La4xe8 f5xe4 24. c5 – c6 e4xf3 25. Rc1 – c2 Qh6 – e3 + 26. Kg1 – h1 Bb7 – c8 27. Be8 – d7 f3 – f2 28. Rd1 – f1 d4 –D3 29. Rc2 – c3 Bc8xd7 30. c6xd7 e5 – e4 31. Qc4 – c8 Be7 – d8 32. Qc8 – c4 Qe3 – e1 33. Rc3 – c1 d3 – d2 34. Qc4 – c5 Rf8 – g8 35. Rc1– d1 e4 – e3 36. Qc5 – c3 De1xd1 37. Rf1xd1 e3 – e2 White gave up because the black pawn avalanche could no longer be stopped.

Works

Nouveau traité du jeu des échecs , Paris 1833.

Individual evidence

literature

Carl Utterberg: De la Bourdonnais versus McDonnell. The Eighty-Five Games of Their Six Chess Matches . McFarland & Company. Jefferson, North Carolina 2005, ISBN 0-7864-2114-2 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Mahé de La Bourdonnais, Louis-Charles
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	La Bourdonnais, Louis-Charles Mahé de; de la Bourdonnais, L. Ch. M.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	French chess master
DATE OF BIRTH	1795 or 1797
PLACE OF BIRTH	island Reunion
DATE OF DEATH	December 13, 1840
Place of death	London

[1] Mémoires historiques de BF Mahé de la Bourdonnais, recueillis et publ. par son petit-fils . Paris 1827

[2] George Walker: Derniers Moments de Labourdonnais (translation into French from Bell's Life ), published in: Le Palamède 1842, pp. 11-14.

[3] .chessbase.com