Hyacinthe Henri Boncourt facts for kids
Hyacinthe Henri Boncourt (born around 1765 – died March 23, 1840) was a very skilled French chess player. He was one of the best chess players in France between 1820 and 1840.
Boncourt's Life Story
Even though he was a top player, we don't know much about Boncourt's early life. We can only guess his birth year. Some historians believe he was born around 1765. This is based on notes from George Walker, another chess player. Walker said Boncourt was about 70 years old in 1839.
Boncourt lived at the same time as the famous French chess master Philidor. However, Boncourt never played against Philidor. Philidor had moved to England. Instead, Boncourt learned chess from Philidor's students. These students, like Carlier, Bernard, and Leger, often played at the famous Café de la Régence in Paris. Boncourt likely met Legall de Kermeur there too. Legall was Philidor's teacher and played chess at the Café until he died in 1794. Boncourt traveled around Europe but never visited London.
Chess was mostly a hobby for Boncourt. He had a regular job as a civil servant. He played chess even when he was quite old. In fact, he played his best games after he turned sixty. This was when he retired and could spend all his time on chess.
In 1818, Boncourt had a strange job for a short time. He was the secret operator inside the Turk. The Turk was a famous chess-playing machine. It looked like a robot, but a person was hidden inside. At this time, Boncourt was not yet one of France's best players. While he was inside the Turk, he caught the flu. This made his chess playing not very good. He even coughed while hidden inside the machine! Spectators heard him, which was embarrassing for Mälzel, the Turk's owner. Because of this, Mälzel later added noisy gears to the Turk. These gears had only one purpose: to cover up any sounds from the person inside.
Boncourt's Chess Career
Boncourt's reputation as a strong player grew after he retired. He could then visit the Café de la Régence more often.
Between 1834 and 1836, Boncourt was part of the Paris Chess Club Committee. This committee played a famous chess match by mail against the Westminster Chess Club in London. Boncourt's teammates included Alexandre, St. Amant, and Chamouillet. The British team included McDonnell, Lewis, and Walker.
In 1835, Boncourt played a match in Paris against Szén and it ended in a draw. In 1839, he won a short match against Walker, winning two games and losing one. In 1840, he first defeated St. Amant (19 wins to 16 losses). Then, he drew a match with Kieseritzky.
From 1830 to 1840, Boncourt was one of the strongest chess players in Europe. A chess magazine called The Philidoran published a ranking of the best players in 1838. Boncourt was listed as the second-best player in France. He was just behind De la Bourdonnais and was considered as strong as St. Amant. The website Edo Historical Chess Ratings places him third in the world between 1839 and 1840. He was only behind Deschapelles and de la Bourdonnais.
Boncourt's Style of Play
Boncourt loved playing chess, but he saw it mainly as a fun hobby. He did not enjoy studying chess theory very much. This was well known among chess players in Paris. Because of this, he wasn't the best at the very start or very end parts of a chess game. These parts, called the opening and the endgame, often require a lot of study.
One famous game Boncourt played was against Kieseritzky. Chess experts have analyzed this game using powerful computer chess engines. They found that Boncourt's attack in the game was almost perfect after a mistake by Kieseritzky.
