Szen, J. – de la Bourdonnais, L.C.M. 1836




Results
 
Name   Edo    Dev.   Score  /  Games 
Szén, József    2493 (69) 13/25 
de la Bourdonnais, Louis    2666 (70) 12/25 
  de la Bourdonnais, Louis gave odds of pawn and two moves
 
Status: casual

Event table notes

Event data
Place: Paris
Start date: 1836
End date: 1836
 
Notes:
Feenstra Kuiper and Di Felice indicate that de la Bourdonnais gave odds of Pawn and Two Moves and lost 12-13. Golombek, La Grande Storia degli Scacchi, and Sarah agree with the score but says de la Bourdonnais gave only Pawn and Move odds. Spinrad also gives the same score and gives the odds as 'P + move (P+2?)'. Utterberg says it was a 21-game match at odds of Pawn and Two Moves. Hooper and Whyld say the odds were Pawn and Move or Pawn and Two Moves and say that although Szen won, it is not known by how much he won. Murray says that Szen won 13 games out of 25 when given Pawn and Two Moves (and this is cited by Metzner), but got an even score when given Pawn and Move. Le Palamède confirms that the odds were Pawn and Two Moves and (p.311) says that out of 21 games, Szén won one more, but then says (p.363) that 25 games were played and that Szén won one more than de la Bourdonnais. Walker in Bell's Life in London (25 Dec. 1836) says that Szen won 11 out of 21, and then in the 23 Apr. 1837 issue says that Szen is in Paris again playeing de la Bourdonnais at Pawn and Move odds. Thus, there seem to have been two matches, as indicated by Murray, and Szen's score of 13 out of 25 was played at Pawn and Two Moves, another series being played at Pawn and Move in 1837. Le Palamède (1837, p.44) says that this second match was also at Pawn and Two Moves and again with roughly balanced results; the Chess Player's Chronicle (1843, p.264) says this subsequent match was only at Pawn and Move odds. The score 13 out of 25 for Szèn does not agree with the score 11 out of 21 implied on p.311 of Le Palamède, but perhaps there were 4 drawn games, so I am taking the former score as correct. Winter cites Edge saying that the match took place in 1831. Murray and Metzner give the year as 1838. Feenstra Kuiper, Di Felice, Golombek, and Hooper and Whyld all give 1836, which is confirmed by Le Palamède. I do not know whether or not this was considered a formal match.
 
References
Books
   Barcza, Magyar Sakktörténet, Vol.1, page 73
   Di Felice, Chess Results, 1747-1900, page 3
   Feenstra Kuiper, 100 Jahre Schachzweikämpfe, page 12
   Golombek, Golombek's Encyclopedia, page 317
   Hooper and Whyld, Oxford Companion (1st ed.), page 47, 339
   Murray, History of Chess, page 885
   Winter, A Chess Omnibus, page 246
Periodicals
   [BLL], 25 Dec. 1836, page 3
   [BLL], 23 Apr. 1837, page 2
   [CMNY], vol. 4, no. 2, Feb. 1860, page 45
   [CPC], vol. 4, no. 9, Sep. 1843, page 264
   [Pal], vol. 1, no. 9, 15 Nov. 1836, page 311
   [Pal], vol. 1, no. 10, 15 Dec. 1836, page 363
Web
   Alberti, Marco A.  [Louis Charles De Labourdonnais]
   Metzner, Paul.  [Philidor and the Café de la Régence Chess Masters]
   Sarah.  [Joszef Szen]
   Sericano, C.  [I grandi matches fino al 1849]
   Spinrad, Jeremy P.  [Collected results, 1836-1863]
   Utterberg, Cary.  [Errata and Punishment], page 5
   Winter, Edward.  [Edge, Morphy and Staunton]

Match information updated: 6 May 2022