Mahe de labourdonnais biography of george
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Louis-Charles Mahé de La Bourdonnais
French chess player (–)
Louis de La Bourdonnais | |
|---|---|
The only known likeness of La Bourdonnais | |
| Full&#;name | Louis-Charles Mahé de La Bourdonnais |
| Country | France |
| Born | Réunion |
| Died | 13 December () (aged&#;44–45) London, Great Britain |
Louis-Charles Mahé de La Bourdonnais ( – December ) was a French chess master, possibly the strongest player in the early 19th century.
Early life
[edit]La Bourdonnais was born on the island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean in He was the grandson of Bertrand-François Mahé de La Bourdonnais. He learned chess in and began to take the game seriously in , regularly playing at the Café de la Régence.[1] He took lessons from Jacques François Mouret, his first teacher,[2] and within two years he became one of the best players of the Café.
Chess career
[edit]La Bourdonnais was forced to earn his living as a professional chess player after squandering his fortune on ill
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Louis Charles Mahé de Labourdonnais
Edward Winter
See C.N. below.
An article by G.H. Diggle on pages of the July BCM marked the hundraårsdag of the La Bourdonnais v McDonnell matches; it was reprinted in part on pages of The Treasury of Chess Lore by F. Reinfeld (New York, ). In Newsflash in June and July Diggle wrote a further feature on the matches. Given on pages of volume two of Chess Characters (Geneva, ), the two parts are reproduced below.
June
‘This month marks the th Anniversary of a famous match series which (wrote R.N. Coles) “still bears comparison with that of any later age”, when, in the words of George Walker, “La Bourdonnais came to London with the roses of June” and encountered the great Irishman Alexander McDonnell in 85 games lasting all through the Summer (La B. 46, McD. 26, Drawn 13). These games were unevenly split between six matches, but the conditions of play were very loose – there were no seconds, there was no time-limit, the stak
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La Bourdonnais
Louis de La Bourdonnais The only known likeness of La Bourdonnais.
Full name Louis-Charles Mahé dem La Bourdonnais Country France Born
RéunionDied December () (aged&#;44–45)
London, Great BritainLouis-Charles Mahé de La Bourdonnais[1] (–) was probably the world's best chess player around [2] Born in Réunion, he followed Deschapelles as the top professional at the Café de la Régence, Paris.
La Bourdonnais beat the British player Alexander McDonnell, who was the son of a doctor in Dublin. At this time McDonnell was based in London, and had taken chess lessons from William Lewis, the top London professional at the time. The two matches between La Bourdonnais and McDonnell were played at the Café de la Régence in This series was a total of 85 games.
Both men died soon afterwards, La Bourdonnais of dropsy.
He died penniless in London in December [3] He was forced to sell his possessions, including h