Alexander MacDonnell

Alexander McDonnell (1798-1835) was a Master of failures Irish, which at the summer 1834 disputed a series of six matches against Louis-Charles Mahé of Bourdonnais, the best player of the world of the time.

It was the first match of this importance in the history of failures and today one always regards it as the Championship of the World of 1834. The parts were abundantly published and were annotated and discussed with enthusiasm in all Europe. During this meeting of Titans, the two players made several innovations, of which some meet still today. One could even say that the modern era of the failures started with the match of 1834 between McDonnell and Bourdonnais.

Biography

Initiation with the failures

Wire of a surgeon, Alexander McDonnell was born with Belfast in 1798. Was prepared it to become commercial and he worked some time with the the Western Indies. In 1820, it settled with London, where he became off secretary of Committee West Indian Merchants. This lucrative station made of him an easy man and much time left him that it could devote to his passion for the failures.

In 1825 he became the pupil of William Lewis, which was then the best player in Great Britain. But soon, it reached such a level that Lewis, fearing for her reputation, quite simply refused to play against him.

Meet with Bourdonnais

Players

The best player of the world of the time was a French aristocrat, Louis-Charles Mahé of Bourdonnais. Born in 1797 on the island of the Meeting, it earned its living as professional player of failures after being ruined in malavized land speculations.

In 1823, Bourdonnais overcame Lewis in a match in London and, in spring 1825, he had played against the best players than England could oppose to him and had beaten them. He however returned nine years later to London after one had published a challenge in the name of McDonnell.

Between June and October 1834, Bourdonnais and McDonnell played a series of six matches and a total of eighty-five parts, with the Club of failures of Westminster in London. The parts were recorded for the posterity by George Walker, the senior of the founders of the club, which remained at the sides of McDonnell throughout all match. The parts generally started about midday and some of them lasted more than seven hours. Neither Bourdonnais nor McDonnell knew a traitor word of the language of the other. It is said that the only word that they exchanged during their historical meeting was “Failure! ”

After each part, McDonnell returned in its room exhausted and spent the hours there to take the hundred step slowly, in prey with a nervous agitation. During this time Bourdonnais remained in bottom, satisfied with itself in front of the chess-board. It continued to play after midnight spent, while smoking of the cigars, by drinking a punch and by disputing other parts. One night, says one, it played forty parts before lying down, whereas it was to face McDonnell in the next morning.

McDonnell and Bourdonnais had both the same talent, but their styles of play were diametrically opposite. The French was famous for the speed with which he played, often answering in a few seconds the blows of its adversary, whereas the Irishman could take up to two hours for a blow of simplest.

But this considered side did not prevent McDonnell from being a bold player. Whereas the French preferred to be mistaken by excess in prudence, the Irishman could not prevent himself from launching violent and often unwise attacks, and it is something which served it during their meeting.

McDonnell was silent and imperturbable. Whether it gained or lost, it did not let appear any emotion with the table of play, practice which undoubtedly owed décontenancer its adversary with the explosive character.

Parts

In the first match of the series, the lack of experience of McDonnell as regards great match played against him and it was severely beaten by 16 defeats against 5 victories and 4 matches no one (+5-16 =4). But it was begun again well quickly and gained the second match by 5 parts against 4 (+5-4).

Although the championship of the World of failures did not exist until in 1886, the best players of the world at the former times are recognized today like semi-official world champions. One generally regards Bourdonnais as the champion of 1821 until his death in 1840 and one often adds that it overcame McDonnell in their titanic meeting in 1834. But the World Championship 1834 was not a match: it was a series of six matches, of which second was gained by McDonnell. One could support that McDonnell must be regarded as the semi-official world champion for the short interval between the second and third matches of its meeting with Bourdonnais. Netherlander max Euwe (which overcame Alexandre Alekhine in 1935 in a match where the world title was concerned, but lost the revenge of 1937) is regarded as world champion, although little claims seriously that he was better player than Alekhine.

Bourdonnais gained the third match, by a score of +6-5 =1. It gained also the fourth and fifth matches respectively by +8-3 and +7-4.

The last match was abandoned in obscure circumstances. It seems that Bourdonnais was constrained to return to France to deal with its creditors. McDonnell carried out +5-4 at that time; it seems that the players vaguely decided to give the match to a latter date.

End of reign

But McDonnell was not in the fine shape. He suffered from the disease of Bright, old name of the Néphrite. At the summer 1835 its state worsened and he died in London the September 15th before its match against Bourdonnais could begin again.

The French could never manage to restore his financial position. He died poor in London in 1840, after being forced to sell all that he had, and to its clothing, to satisfy its creditors. Completely by chance, it was buried with a stone jet of its old rival to the London cemetery of Kensal Green.

Remarkable parts

Louis-Charles Mahé of Bourdonnais against Alexander McDonnell, 04, London 1834, Gambit of the Lady accepted: Central variation. Defense McDonnell (D20), the 0-1 first immortal part of the history of the failures (Reuben Fine). A purely positional sacrifice of the lady against two minor parts.
Louis-Charles Mahé of Bourdonnais against Alexander McDonnell, London 1834, Opening of the insane one: alternative Lopez (C23), a 0-1 interesting mixture of successes and errors on the two sides, ending in a chechmate with two riders.

External bonds

Match Bourdonnais - McDonnell
One will find all here the matches between McDonnell and Bourdonnais.

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