de la Bourdonnais, Louis




Ratings

Year       Rank    Edo    Dev.   Games 
1816  2  2356 (125) 2
1817  2  2402 (121) 0
1818  2  2449 (117) 0
1819  2  2495 (112) 0
1820  3  2541 (106) 0
1821  2  2588 (99) 35
1822  2  2598 (100) 0
1823  2  2609 (100) 7
1824  2  2609 (102) 0
1825  2  2610 (103) 0
1826  2  2610 (104) 0
1827  2  2610 (104) 0
1828  2  2611 (103) 0
1829  2  2611 (101) 0
1830  2  2611 (98) 0
1831  2  2612 (95) 0
1832  2  2612 (90) 0
1833  2  2613 (84) 0
1834  2  2613 (76) 85
1835  1  2638 (74) 0
1836  1  2664 (70) 25
1837  1  2664 (74) 58
1838  1  2659 (77) 0
1839  1  2653 (77) 0
1840  1  2648 (75) 13

Rating table notes

Biographical data
Name: de la Bourdonnais, Louis Charles Mahé  
   Also known as: L.C.M. de Labourdonnais
Born: 25 May 1797
Died: 13 Dec. 1840
 
Notes:
Gaige has birth year 1797. Hooper and Whyld have birth year 1795. Staunton in the Chess Player's Chronicle (1841, v.1, p.267) says that he died at age 43, which implies a birth year of 1797 (or very late 1796), but in a footnote to a letter of William Harris (1842, vol.3, p.12), Staunton gives the birth year 1795, citing Le Palamède, and therefore age at death 45. Le Palamède (2nd series, v.1, p.16) gives birth year 1795. Bell's Life in London (13 Dec. 1840, p.4) says 'De la Bourdonnais was born in 1797: we have hitherto thought him older.' The Liverpool Mercury (25 Dec. 1840, p.422) says he died 'about 45 years of age'. All this confusion is resolved by Jean Olivier Leconte, who shows that he was almost certainly born on 25 May 1797 in Paris.
 
References
Books
   Bastian, Hoffmeister and Leconte, La France et son apport dans le jue d'échecs, page 133
   Cornil, Le Café de la Régence, page 14, 245
   Feenstra Kuiper, 100 Jahre Schachzweikämpfe, page 85
   Gaige, Chess Personalia, page 236
   Golombek, Golombek's Encyclopedia, page 170
   Hooper and Whyld, Oxford Companion (1st ed.), page 47
   Murray, History of Chess, page 878
   Sergeant, Century of British Chess, page 36, 44
   Utterberg, De la Bourdonnais versus McDonnell
   Walker, Chess and Chess Players, page 132, 366
   Walker, Chess Studies, page vii
Periodicals
   [BLL], 13 Dec. 1840, page 4
   [BLL], 20 Dec. 1840, page 4
   [CMNY], vol. 1, no. 1, Jan. 1857, page 28
   [CPC], vol. 1, no. 17, 21 Aug. 1841, page 267
   [CPC], vol. 3, no. 1, 7 May 1842, page 12
   [CPC], vol. 4, no. 12, Dec. 1843, page 370
   [CPC], vol. 2, no. 11, Nov. 1854, page 323
   [CPM], vol. 2, no. 6, June 1864, page 165
   [Era], vol. 33, no. 1697, 2 Apr. 1871, page 4
   [ILN], vol. 7, no. 182, 25 Oct. 1845, page 267
   [LiM], vol. 28, no. 1402, 16 Mar. 1838, page 83
   [LiM], vol. 30, no. 1546, 25 Dec. 1840, page 422
   [MaSZ], vol. 1, no. 11, June 1850, page 173
   [NR], vol. 5, no. 1, Jan. 1864, page 2
   [Pal], vol. 1, no. 1, 15 Dec. 1841, page 15
   [Phil], vol. 1, no. 3, Feb. 1838, page 118
   [RiS], vol. 1, no. 15, Aug. 1859, page 119
   [Sis], vol. 3, no. 2, Feb. 1849, page 40
   [SZ], vol. 2, no. 2, Feb. 1847, page 34
   [SZ], vol. 3, no. 4, Apr. 1848, page 163
   [SZ], vol. 4, no. 12, Dec. 1849, page 445
Web
   Leconte, Jean Olivier.  [6 prairial an 5 de la République, naissance de La Bourdonnais]
   Metzner, Paul.  [Philidor and the Café de la Régence Chess Masters]
   Sarah.  [Bourdonnais]
   Sarah.  [La Bourdonnais] (broken)
   Sericano, C.  [Maestri di scacchi dell'800]
   Spinrad, Jeremy P.  [Collected results, 1836-1863]
   Tomlinson, Charles.  [Simpson's Divan]
   Walker, George.  [Excerpt from 'The Café de la Régence']
   Winter, Edward.  [CN 4070. McDonnell and Labourdonnais]
Match data  (f=formal; c=casual; s=soft)

Wilson, H.S. - de la Bourdonnais, L.C.M. 1816         (s)     2   -   0      Wilson, H.S. gave odds of a knight
de la Bourdonnais, L.C.M. - Lewis, W. 1823         (f)     5   -   2
de la Bourdonnais, L.C.M. - McDonnell, A. 1834         (f)     51.5   -   33.5
Szen, J. - de la Bourdonnais, L.C.M. 1836         (c)     13   -   12      de la Bourdonnais, L.C.M. gave odds of pawn and two moves
de la Bourdonnais, L.C.M. - Church (1) 1837         (c)     51   -   6      de la Bourdonnais, L.C.M. gave odds of rook, pawn and move
de la Bourdonnais, L.C.M. - Fournier, A. 1837 (1)         (c)     1   -   0
de la Bourdonnais, L.C.M. - Fournier, A. 1837 (2)         (c)     1   -   0      de la Bourdonnais, L.C.M. gave odds of a rook
de la Bourdonnais, L.C.M. - Donaldson, Jo. 1837         (c)     1   -   0      de la Bourdonnais, L.C.M. gave odds of a rook
de la Bourdonnais, L.C.M. - Walker, G. (1) 1840         (c)     2   -   2      de la Bourdonnais, L.C.M. gave odds of pawn and move
de la Bourdonnais, L.C.M. - Perigal, G. 1840 (1)         (c)     2.5   -   2.5      de la Bourdonnais, L.C.M. gave odds of pawn and two moves
de la Bourdonnais, L.C.M. - Perigal, G. 1840 (2)         (c)     1   -   1      de la Bourdonnais, L.C.M. gave odds of pawn and move
de la Bourdonnais, L.C.M. - Kieseritzky, L.A.B.F. 1840         (c)     1   -   1      de la Bourdonnais, L.C.M. gave odds of a knight

Tournament data

Paris 1821     'Pools'     28  /  35      odds player in pawn and two moves class

Player information updated: 12 Apr. 2025