Alexandre Deschapelles (March 7, 1780 in

Ville-d'Avray Ville-d'Avray () is a Communes of France, commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre zero, centre of Paris. The commune is part of the arrondissement of Boulogne-Billancourt in the Hauts-de-Seine Department ...

near

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, ...

October 27, 1847 in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

) was a French

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

player who, between the death of

François-André Danican Philidor François-André Danican Philidor (7 September 1726 – 31 August 1795), often referred to as André Danican Philidor during his lifetime, was a French composer and chess player. He contributed to the early development of the ''opéra comique''. ...

and the rise of

Louis-Charles Mahé de La Bourdonnais Louis-Charles Mahé de La Bourdonnais (1795 – December 1840) was a French chess master, possibly the strongest player in the early 19th century. Early life La Bourdonnais was born on the island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean in 1795. He w ...

, was probably the strongest player in the world.

Family background

His parents were Louis Gatien Le Breton Comte des Chapelles, born in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is bord ...

in 1741, and Marie Françoise Geneviève d'Hémeric des Cartouzières from

Béziers Béziers (; oc, Besièrs) is a subprefecture of the Hérault department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. Every August Béziers hosts the famous ''Feria de Béziers'', which is centred on bullfighting. A million visitors are attra ...

in the south of France. Louis Gatien served as an officer in a dragoon regiment and later, through the influence of his close friend, the future admiral Louis-René Levassor de Latouche Tréville, became an officer in the royal household (Maison du Roi) with a number of rooms near the king's chambers in the château of Versailles.

Military career

Deschapelles was sent to the renowned military academy at

Brienne The County of Brienne was a medieval county in France centered on Brienne-le-Château. Counts of Brienne * Engelbert I * Engelbert II * Engelbert III * Engelbert IV * Walter I (? – c. 1090) * Erard I (c. 1090 – c. 1120?) * Walter ...

with a view to a military career. When the influence of Louis Gatien's patron Latouche-Tréville ceased in 1791 and with the

Reign of Terror The Reign of Terror (french: link=no, la Terreur) was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the First French Republic, First Republic, a series of massacres and numerous public Capital punishment, executions took pl ...

looming, Louis Gatien decided to emigrate to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

with his wife and two sisters. Soon after his father's emigration, Alexandre had to leave Brienne to join the French Republican army. A soldier in

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

's army, Deschapelles lost his right hand in battle and was thereafter nicknamed "Manchot" (one-armed). He also received a massive sabre wound down the entire length of his face, which caused the

Phrenology Phrenology () is a pseudoscience which involves the measurement of bumps on the skull to predict mental traits.Wihe, J. V. (2002). "Science and Pseudoscience: A Primer in Critical Thinking." In ''Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience'', pp. 195–203. C ...

enthusiasts of his era to suggest "cranial sabre-wounds" were responsible for his amazing chess skill.

Career as a player of chess and other games

Deschapelles had an incredible aptitude for games. Three months after learning the moves of Polish Draughts, he defeated the French champion of that game, and he claimed to have learned all of his chess knowledge in just four days. He was the teacher of

Jacques François Mouret Jacques François Mouret (1780–1837) was a French chess master of the early 19th century who became chess tutor of the future Louis Philippe I and was one of the most successfulThe Oxford Companion to Chess - David Hooper and Kenneth Whyld (1992 ...

and later, , he accepted

as a student. After defeating John Cochrane and William Lewis two years later, Deschapelles switched to playing

Whist Whist is a classic English trick-taking card game which was widely played in the 18th and 19th centuries. Although the rules are simple, there is scope for strategic play. History Whist is a descendant of the 16th-century game of ''trump' ...

(the Deschapelles coup in

Contract bridge Contract bridge, or simply bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard 52-card deck. In its basic format, it is played by four players in two competing partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each other around a table. Millions ...

is named after him). Returning to chess competition in the mid-1830s, Deschapelles continued his trademark of always giving his opponents "

odds Odds provide a measure of the likelihood of a particular outcome. They are calculated as the ratio of the number of events that produce that outcome to the number that do not. Odds are commonly used in gambling and statistics. Odds also have ...

". Deschapelles reportedly once asked an opponent if they would play a game for stakes, to which they stated "My religion forbids me to play for money." Deschapelles replied "Mine forbids me to be absurd!"

Notable chess matches

* 1821 John Cochrane, 6-1, with Cochrane having odds of a pawn and two moves * 1821 William Lewis, 1-2, with Lewis having odds of a pawn and a move * 1836 Pierre de Saint-Amant, 1½-1½ * 1842 Pierre de Saint-Amant, 3-2

Coat of arms

Given to his grandfather Louis Cézaire Le Breton des Chapelles in 1760 by the French ''juge d'armes'': "A silver shield with three green palms posed two and one. The shield is stamped with the profile of a helmet adorned with silver and green mantling."Robert Czoelner, op. cit., p. 33. "Un écu d'argent à trois palmes de sinople posées, deux et un. Cet écu timbré d'un casque de profil orné de ses lambrequins d'argent et de sinople."

Sources

* Baudrier (Pierre).- Insurgés et forces de l'ordre en 1832. Alexandre Deschapelles..., Bulletin de l'Association d'Histoire et d'Archéologie du XXe arrqondissesment de Paris, N° 50, 4ème trimestre 2011, pp. 7–27.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Deschapelles, Alexandre 1780 births 1847 deaths People from Ville-d'Avray French chess players Sportspeople from Hauts-de-Seine