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Event table notes
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| Event data |
| Place: Paris |
| Start date: 1834 |
| End date: 1834 |
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| Notes: |
| In the 18 Jan. 1835 issue of Bell's Life in London, Walker says in answer to a query from a reader that 'the two played a match recently of twenty-five games, which the latter won with difficulty'. Since the preceding sentence mentions Boncourt and de Saint-Amant in that order, this suggests that de Saint-Amant won the match. The fact that it was 'recent' in Jan. 1835 suggests that it was played in 1834, and an 1834 match is mentioned by de Saint-Amant in the Palamède of 15 May 1843 (p.204). Le Palamède of Feb. 1838 (vol.2, p.521) gives a game played some years earlier ('il y a quelques années'), part of a match of 25 games, in which Boncourt had an advantage ('a obtenu l'avantage'), which I take to mean that the match was won by Boncourt, but perhaps not by much. The 9 Jun. 1839 issue of Bell's Life in London (p.3) gives the same game and says that it was from a match of 25 games, 'in which Boncourt had slightly the advantage'. It seems likely that these two reports refer to the 1834 match, except that here it is said in both sources that Boncourt won. Perhaps in the earlier report by Walker, the statement 'the latter won' should have been 'the former won'. In a report by Walker of his visit to Paris in the winter of 1838-1839, which appeard in Fraser's Magazine of Nov. 1840, Walker says that Boncourt and de Saint-Amant had played 'in all' about 35 games, Boncourt having a 3-game lead overall. The Illustrated London News of 28 Dec. 1844 and a quote from Delannoy by Diggle in the British Chess Magazine of Oct. 1933 (given in Winter's book Kings, Commoners, and Knaves) say that Boncourt was winning early on in this series, but that he acknowledged that de Saint-Amant was better towards the end. So, although we don't know the exact score of the 1834 match, it seems Boncourt won it, so I will guess at a score of 15-10 for Boncourt in 1834, and then another 4-6 for Boncourt over the years 1837-1839, to make up the total of 19-16 for Boncourt. |
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| References |
| Periodicals |
| [BLL], no. 643, 18 Jan. 1835, page 2 |
| [BLL], 9 June 1839, page 3 |
| [Pal], vol. 2, no. 12, 15 Feb. 1838, page 521 |
| [Pal], vol. 3, no. 5, 15 May 1843, page 204 |
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