89:, in skill, there breathes not the mortal more free from arrogance or vanity than our venerable professor. Attired in an old-fashioned frock-coat which sweeps the ground, with a vest of scarlet, or perchance grass-green, Boncourt placidly smoothes down his silver locks, as he drops mechanically into his seat before the chess-board. Eccentric in some of his habits, Boncourt in his old age keeps hours which render it difficult to secure him as an antagonist. He delights in dining at ten o'clock at night; and he'll then mate you till cock-crow. Having a comfortable pension as a retired government clerk, he takes the world as he finds it, and practices the true philosophy of resignation under every stroke of fate, whether in life or in chess. He receives beating better than any Frenchman of his day, shrugging up his shoulders and replacing the men, when defeated, with a nonchalance perfectly edifying. His favourite companion is a little dog; well known to the chess circle, and a frequent visitor at the RĂ©gence. Boncourt has never been in England, which, considering the present facilities of travelling, is remarkable; and evinces total disregard as to fame, whether present or posthumous.
115:«Quel est ce petit chien qui entre en jappant, et va s'installer tout droit sur la banquette du fond? C'est le précurseur et l'ami de Boncourt, le grand vizir de la Régence. Joueur lent, serré, correct, mais froid, absorbé dans ses élucubrations, M. Boncourt a devancé son temps d'un demi-siècle; il eût été parfait de nos jours. Véritable automate, il parlait peu, ne riait jamais, gagnait toujours, et se relirait à minuit, quittant l'échiquier sans la plus légère apparence de fatigue ou d'émotion, empochant son argent et son chien.»
341:"What's that little yapping dog who comes into and move straight on the back seat? It is the forerunner and friend of Boncourt the Grand Vizier of the Regency. Slow player, solid, precise, but cold, absorbed in his thoughts, Mr. Boncourt was ahead of his time half a century, he would have been perfect today. An automaton, he spoke little, never laughed, always won and concluded his games at midnight, leaving the scene without the slightest appearance of fatigue or emotion, collecting his money and his dog."
196:“Boncourt's style of play is the correct, rather than the brilliant. Comparatively weak in the mechanical openings and endings, from never having looked at a chess-book in his life, Boncourt has no superior in the capacity of piercing through the intricacies of positions of intense difficulty. "In the twenty-five years I have played chess," said La Bourdonnais to me, "never did I see Boncourt commit an error in a crowded situation." His favourite début is the
97:. At that time, he was not yet one of the best players in France. Furthermore, in the days when he was hidden inside the Automaton, he caught the flu and his performance was rather poor. While he was hiding inside the Turk, due to the flu, he was seized by coughing and the sound was perceived by the spectators, creating a certain embarrassment to
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One, ancient of days, walks quietly across the floor, and hats are raised in token of respect at the coming in of M. Boncourt, the Nestor of the camp. Seventy years and more have passed over him; but their weight has not bowed down his light and even spirit. To the simplicity of the dove, as regards
200:; in the early stages of which he almost invariably drives up his queen's knight's and queen's rook's pawn two squares. I must add that Boncourt has not the usual rapidity of the French school; but is to the full as slow in digesting his chess calculations as 'nous autres' in the London Chess Club.”
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He liked to play chess, which he considered essentially a hobby, but did not like studying theory; this fact was well known in
Parisian circles. For this reason, as the above Walker's quotation indicates, he did not excel in the most theoretical parts of the game: the opening and the endgame.
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He was a civil servant, and chess was mostly a hobby for him. He played until a late age and, actually, he obtained his best results after he was sixty years old, when, taking advantage of being retired he could devote his full time to chess. G. Walker in
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As already mentioned the reputation of
Boncourt consolidates after retirement when he could go more assiduously to the Café de la Regence. His little dog, who followed him everywhere, became as known as him among the chess players of the Café:
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1.a3 e5 2.e4 Bc5 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 c6 5.Nf3 d6 6.d3 0–0 7.Ne2 d5 8.exd5 cxd5 9.Ba2 Nc6 10.b4 Bd6 11.Bb2 Bg4 12.Qd2 e4 13.Nfd4 Re8 14.0–0 Be5 15.Nxc6 bxc6 16.Bxe5 Rxe5 17.d4 Rh5 18.Nf4 Rh6 19.c4 Qd6 20.h3 g5
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Although he was one of the leading players of his time, not much is known about his life. The date of his birth can only be estimated. Rod
Edwards gives 1765 as a reasonable birth date based on
101:(the Turk owner). For this reason, Mälzel, subsequently, added some noisy gears to the Turk, which had no other purpose but to cover any noise that could come from the operator.
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72:, Philidor's teacher, who played assiduously at the Café de la Régence almost until the year of his death in 1794. He traveled around Europe, but he never visited London.
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In the period 1834-1836 is part of the
Committee of the Paris Chess Club, who played the famous match by correspondence with the Westminster Chess Club. The others were
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52:, Boncourt never played with the French master, who had since emigrated to England, but was initiated to chess by some of Philidor's students and in particular
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directed by G. Walker, in 1838 published a sort of ranking of the best players of the period divided by nationality; Boncourt is second in France behind
33:(1765? – March 23, 1840) was a French chess player. He was one of the leading chess players in France in the years between 1820 and 1840.
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his dealings with the world, Boncourt unites, in chess, the veriest serpent guile. Inferior to none, save
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In the period between 1830 and 1840, Boncourt was one of the strongest players in Europe. The magazine
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G. Walker in Chess and chess-players (1850) describes
Boncourt's style of play in the following way:
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220:, which indicates that Black's attack after Kieseritzky's mistake on move 21 is almost flawless.
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S. Boden and C. Adams, A popular introduction to the study and practice of chess (1851) page 40
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G. Allen and T. von der Lasa, The life of
Philidor, musician and chess-player, (1865) page 150
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As an example of
Boncourt's play the following game played with Kieseritzky is reported.
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and the notes between square parenthesis come from analysis carried out with the
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The City of London chess magazine, ed. by W. N. Potter vol. 1 (1875) page 83.
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W. Fiske, The book of the first
American chess congress (1859) page 442
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21...Nxg4! 22.f3 e3 23.Qe1 gxf4 24.fxg4 f3 25.g3 f2+ 26.Rxf2 exf2+
45:'s assertion that in 1839 Boncourt was about seventy years old.
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Some of the games of
Hyacinthe Henri Boncourt can be found at
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Nouvelle régence, ed. by P. Journoud, Issues 1-4 (1863) page 4
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La Régence, ed. by Société d'amateurs, Volume 3 (1851) page 7.
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places him third in the world between 1839 and 1840 after
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Le Palamède edited by St. Amant, vol. 2 (1837) page 499.
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Le Palamède ed. by St. Amant, vol. 3 (1838) page 28.
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and of the same strength of St. Amant. The web-site
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In 1818, for a brief period, he was the operator of
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G. Walker, Chess and chess-players (1859) page 162.
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G. Walker, Chess and chess-players (1859) page 162.
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G. Walker, Chess and chess-players (1859) page 161.
428:The Philidorian, ed. by G. Walker (1838) page 159.
405:"Jeremy Spinrad's collected results for 1836-1863"
362:"Jeremy Spinrad's collected results for 1836-1863"
257:The Philidorian, ed. by G. Walker (1838) page 159.
394:B. Ewart, Chess - man vs. machine (1980) page 70.
239:27.Qxf2 Rh3 28.Kg2 Qh6 29.Qf5 Rh2+ 30.Kf3 Qd2 0–1
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491:Dominique Thimognier: Boncourt Hyacinthe Henri
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78:Chess and chess-players
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501:Categories
467:2010-06-09
415:2010-05-11
372:2010-05-11
139:McDonnell
131:St. Amant
127:Alexandre
37:Biography
493:(French)
233:21.hxg4?
95:the Turk
50:Philidor
58:Bernard
54:Carlier
147:Walker
105:Trivia
99:Mälzel
43:Walker
143:Lewis
62:Leger
179:and
154:Szén
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