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Louis Charles Mahe de La Bourdonnais vs Alexander McDonnell
La Bourdonnais - McDonnell 1st Casual Match (1834), London ENG, rd 8
Queen's Gambit Accepted: General (D20)  ·  1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

Annotations by Paul Morphy.      [30 more games annotated by Morphy]

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Kibitzer's Corner
Oct-27-04  Knight13: 25. Rxe6+ Kxe6 26. Qf7# is better, wich Morphy found it out too.

24. Qxc6 is my suggestion. If something is wrong with it, let me know.

This is the most interesting game of Bourdonnais ever played! And I can't believe nobody has kibitzed yet!

Oct-27-04  Saruman: <Knight13>After 24.-Qxc6 25.Qe7+! Kxg6 26.Rxe6+ Kh5 27.Qh7+ Kg4 28.Qh3+ Kf4 29.Qg3# is the point.
Oct-27-04  Knight13: <Saruman> 28... Kf4 is not possible to move. 28... Kg4 29. Qh3+ Kf4 30. Qf3# should be followed. Great suggestion, though.
Oct-27-04  Saruman: <Knight13> My line is completly correct even after double checked it. I suggest you check yours :P
Oct-27-04  Knight13: <Saruman> He he... That happens too often! Okay. You win. I hate making mistakes. :=(
Oct-27-04
Premium Chessgames Member
  Chessical: <Knight13> You are mistaken <Saruman's> line is perfectly sound.

<24...Qxc6?>, however, loses even more quickly to: 25.Rxe6+ Kxe6 26.Qe7+ Kd5 27.Qe5#

Oct-30-04  Saruman: hmmm guess I didnt find the quickest way to mate <chessical>as I thought I had...
Oct-30-04  molinov: What a harsh critic Morphy was!.
Jul-02-05  mynameisrandy: Geez, what did MacDonnell not show up to Morphy's birthday party or something? He had a bad game, man. Cripes, Morphy, you act like he peed in your pool.
Jul-02-05
Premium Chessgames Member
  offramp: I think Morphy's notes are very good. They remind me a lot of Capablanca's; both seem to have some difficulty explaining moves because it is all so obvious to them - what is there to explain?
Feb-06-06  Boomie: Morphy's mate starting with 25. Qf7+ is wonderful.
Feb-15-06  sfm: What a difference heritage makes! Today you do not see opening play like McaDonnell's on any level over beginner.
Mar-08-09  just a kid: Mcdonnell played like a patzer in this game.La Bourdonnais blew him off the board.
Mar-20-11  CambridgeSprings1904: Silman uses this game in the 4th edition of How to Reassess Your Chess (pg. 399) to illustrate opening imbalances. It is amazing how, in chess, things can go wrong so quickly.
Mar-20-11  Jim Bartle: "All this is deplorably weak. M'Donnell's conduct of this game would have been unworthy of a player to whom he could have given the odds of a piece."

Tell us what you really think, Mr. Morphy.

Feb-01-12  Knight13: Black's play in this game is inexcusable even with the standards of 1834. I can feel Morphy's disappointment.
Aug-03-13  Oliveira: 20. ♕e7 (or ♕e3) would have finished McDonnell off instantly. But I understand La Bourdonnais. When one is such an impulsive player, it is hard to pass over a good old check.
Jan-12-16  ColdSong: McDonnell plays strangely weakly here if one considers his level in the games played before this one.At least,La Bourdonnais finds with correctness enough,and so elegance, the/a winning line.
May-22-16  thegoodanarchist: Old McDonnell bought the farm.
Dec-02-22  tastywalrus02: McDonnell seems he didnt know how to respond to 1. d4, this was a very poor game
Jan-16-23  generror: This is the worst "defense" I've ever seen to a Queen's Gambit. I know McDonnell, being completely oblivious to his own king's safety, loved pushing his f-pawn (he does it in virtually every opening of this match), but <3...f5>? Come on, man!

And I don't find McDonnell's weak play here overly strange. As the other games show of this match show, he's only really good at attacking the opponent's king; in everything else he's about my level :)

Jan-16-23
Premium Chessgames Member
  moronovich: <generror: This is the worst "defense" I've ever seen to a Queen's Gambit>

Completely agree. It hurts the eye ;)

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