Chess in 1826
by Bill Wall

In 1826, Horace Hayman Wilson (1786-1860) wrote about the use of dice in chess in India.

In 1826, Captain William Evans defeated Alexander McDonnell, winning 3 games, but at knight odds.

In 1826, the Manchester Guardian sponsored a correspondence match between the Manchester Chess Club and the Liverpool Chess Club. This was the first time that a newspaper sponsored a correspondence match. Manchester won.

In 1826, the strongest chess players in the world were Louis de la Bourdonnais, Alexandre Deschapelles, William Lewis, Jacques Mouret, Hyacinthe Boncourt, Alexander McDonnell, Aaron Alexandre, John Cochrane, Pierre de Saint-Amant, Alexander Petrov, and William D. Evans.

On February 3, 1826, Johann Maelzel landed in New York from Havre with the Automaton called the Turk.

In 1826, Samuel H. Parker published An Analysis of the Games of Chess by Philidor in Boston.

On April 4, 1826, Samuel Boden was born in Hull. He was an English professional chess master. Morphy considered him strongest English player. He died in 1882.

On April 13, 1826, The Turk automaton was first exhibited in the US, in New York City. It was exhibited in the assembly room of the National Hotel, 112 Broadway. Admittance was 50 cents. The first operator was a Frenchwoman. There were about 300 spectators on the first day. (source: The Wilmingtonian and Delaware Advertiser, April 20, 1826)

In May 1826, John Maelzel, the owner of the Automaton Chess-Player, held a New York charity exhibition with The Turk and raised $128.50. The money was given to the Association for the Relief of Respectable Indigent Females. (source: New York Evening Post, May 31, 1826)

On May 30, 1826, Armand Blackmar was born in Bennington, VT. He originated the Blackmar Gambit in 1881.

In June 1826, several members of Congress accused President John Quincy Adams (1767-1848) of buying gambling devices for the White House after Adams purchased a billiards table for $50 and a chess set for $23.50. (source: North Carolina Star, June 9, 1826)

In July 1826, Edinburgh won the first correspondence chess match against London. It started in 1824.

On September 13, 1826, The Turk was first exhibited in Boston. It only played endgames.

On September 15, 1826, the Edinburgh Chess Club resigned the 4th game of their correspondence match with the London Chess Club.

On October 1, 1826, Wilhelm (William) Schlumberger arrived in Boston to operate the Turk. Sometime in October he played a 1 game match with Samuel Dexter in Boston and won.

On October 6, 1826, the 5th game of the correspondence chess match between the Edinburgh Chess Club and the London Chess Club began.

On December 22, 1826, The Turk arrived in Philadelphia.

Cochrane,John - NN [C41]
England simul, 1826
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.dxe5 fxe4 5.Ng5 d5 6.e6 Nh6 7.Qh5+ g6 8.Qh3 Bg7 9.c4 0-0 10.cxd5 Qxd5 11.Nc3 Qf5 12.Qh4 Nc6 13.Bc4 Kh8 14.0-0 Qc5 15.Bb3 b6 16.Be3 Qe5 17.Ncxe4 Nd4 18.Bxd4 Qxd4 19.e7 Re8 20.Nf7+ Nxf7 21.Bxf7 Bf5 22.Bxe8 Rxe8 23.Rad1 Qxe4 24.Rd8 Qc6 25.Rxe8+ Qxe8 26.Rd1 Bd7 27.Qe4 Bf6 28.Rxd7 Kg7 29.Qe6 c5 30.Rd6 1-0

Cochrane,John - NN [C33]
England simul, 1826
1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 Qh4+ 4.Kf1 g5 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Nb5 Kd8 7.Bxf7 a6 8.Nc3 Bc5 9.Qe1 Qxe1+ 10.Kxe1 Nd4 11.Kd1 Nf6 12.Nf3 h6 13.d3 Rf8 14.Bc4 d6 15.h3 Nh5 16.Nxd4 Bxd4 17.Ne2 Ng3 18.Nxg3 fxg3 19.c3 Be5 20.Be3 Bf4 21.Bxf4 Rxf4 22.Ke1 Ke7 23.Rf1 Be6 24.Rxf4 gxf4 25.Bxe6 Kxe6 26.Ke2 Rf8 27.Kf3 c6 28.Re1 h5 29.c4 Rf7 30.e5 d5 31.b3 Kf5 32.cxd5 cxd5 33.e6 Re7 34.d4 1-0

NN - Cochrane,John [C02]
England simul, 1826
1.e4 e6 2.Nf3 d5 3.e5 c5 4.d4 Nc6 5.Bb5 Qb6 6.Bxc6+ bxc6 7.Be3 Qxb2 8.Nbd2 Ba6 9.dxc5 Qb7 10.Nb3 Ne7 11.Nbd4 Qc7 12.Ne2 Nf5 13.Qd2 Be7 14.0-0 0-0 15.Rfe1 Nxe3 16.Qxe3 Qa5 17.Qc3 Qxc3 18.Nxc3 Bxc5 19.Na4 Bb6 20.Rab1 Rab8 21.Nxb6 Rxb6 22.Rxb6 axb6 23.Rb1 b5 24.Nd4 Rc8 25.f4 Kf8 26.g4 Ke7 27.h4 g6 28.Kf2 Kd7 29.Ke3 Rb8 30.Nb3 Kc7 31.Nc5 Bc8 32.c3 Ra8 33.Rb2 Ra3 34.Kd4 b4 35.cxb4 Rf3 36.Nd3 Ba6 37.Nc5 Bc4 38.f5 gxf5 39.gxf5 Rf4+ 40.Ke3 Rxf5 41.a4 Rxe5+ 42.Kd4 Rf5 43.Rg2 e5+ 44.Ke3 Rf1 45.Rg7 d4+ 46.Kd2 Kd6 47.Rxh7 Kd5 48.a5 e4 49.Rh5+ f5 50.Rh7 e3+ 51.Kc2 d3+ 52.Kb2 Rf2+ 53.Kb1 Kd4 54.Rd7+ Kc3 0-1

Evans,William Davies - McDonnell,Alexander [C52]
London, 1826
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.0-0 d6 5.b4 Bxb4 6.c3 Ba5 7.d4 Bg4 8.Qb3 Qd7 9.Ng5 Nd8 10.dxe5 dxe5 11.Ba3 Nh6 12.f3 Bb6+ 13.Kh1 Bh5 14.Rd1 Qc8 15.Rxd8+ Qxd8 16.Nxf7 Qh4 17.Qb5+ c6 18.Qxe5+ Kd7 19.Qe6+ Kc7 20.Bd6# 1-0



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