Notable Games
- 1834 McDonnell, Alexander vsDe Labourdonnais, Louis Charles Mahe 0-1 King's Gambit Accepted: Bishop's Gambit, Cozio Variation 20 moves Match Labourdonnais-McDonnell(1)+15-6=4 First match, London 1834 — McDonnell throws everything at the king with 7.Bxf7+ and collects the rook on a8, and La Bourdonnais never so much as pauses: the f-pawn runs to f2 while his pieces close in, and by move twenty the white king is on c1 with both rooks gone, 20…Qxh1+.
- 1834 McDonnell, Alexander vsDe Labourdonnais, Louis Charles Mahe 0-1 King's Gambit Accepted: Bishop's Gambit, Lopez Variation 30 moves Match Labourdonnais-McDonnell(1)+15-6=4 First match, London 1834 — another King's Gambit brawl. McDonnell has the black king stranded on e8 and a queen raking the board, but La Bourdonnais keeps finding the one defence, and the f-pawn that reaches e2 turns defence into a won game.
- 1834 De Labourdonnais, Louis Charles Mahe vsMcDonnell, Alexander 1-0 Queen's Gambit Accepted: Old Variation 29 moves Match Labourdonnais-McDonnell(1)+15-6=4 First match, London 1834 — La Bourdonnais gives up the exchange on f1 and then simply demolishes the kingside: 22.Bxg6 hxg6 23.Nxg6 strips the last defenders, and the black king is driven from f7 to f5 to be mated by a pawn, 29.g4#.
- 1834.07 De Labourdonnais, Louis Charles Mahe vsMcDonnell, Alexander 1-0 Italian Game: Classical Variation, La Bourdonnais Variation 31 moves Match Labourdonnais-McDonnell(1)+15-6=4 First match, London 1834 — the Italian Game line that carries La Bourdonnais's name. Queens come off on move thirteen, and he wins the endgame by force of pawns, the g-pawn queening the position open before 31.Bb5# ends it.
- 1834.07 De Labourdonnais, Louis Charles Mahe vsMcDonnell, Alexander 1-0 Queen's Gambit Accepted: Old Variation 26 moves Match Labourdonnais-McDonnell(2) +4-5=0 Second match, London 1834 — the only match of the six that McDonnell won, and this is La Bourdonnais at his most economical inside it: 14.Bxf4 Rxf4 15.Qxe7 trades into a rook ending a piece up, and it is over by move twenty-six.
- 1834 De Labourdonnais, Louis Charles Mahe vsMcDonnell, Alexander 1-0 Queen's Gambit Accepted: Old Variation 29 moves Match Labourdonnais-McDonnell(3) +6-5=1 Third match, London 1834 — a queenside knight sacrifice, 17.Nxc6 bxc6, opens the file to the black king's shelter, and the attack rolls straight through to 28.Rh5+ Bxh5 29.Qg5#.
- 1834 De Labourdonnais, Louis Charles Mahe vsMcDonnell, Alexander 1-0 Queen's Gambit Accepted: Old Variation 36 moves Match Labourdonnais-McDonnell(3) +6-5=1 Third match, London 1834 — the f-pawn is the whole story: it reaches f6 on move thirty, and after 34.f7+ Rxe5 35.f8=Q+ Rxf8 the recapture is mate, 36.Rxf8#.
- 1834.08 McDonnell, Alexander vsDe Labourdonnais, Louis Charles Mahe 0-1 Sicilian Defense: Löwenthal Variation 37 moves Match Labourdonnais-McDonnell(4) +8-3=7 Fourth match, game 16, London 1834 — the most famous game of the whole series and one of the most famous of the century. La Bourdonnais gives up the exchange, then the queen itself with 36…Qxd1, to leave three connected passed pawns on the second rank: promotion and mate are unstoppable and McDonnell resigned after 37…e2.
- 1836 Jouy vsDe Labourdonnais, Louis Charles Mahe 0-1 King's Gambit Accepted: Salvio Gambit, Cochrane Gambit 17 moves Paris Paris, 1836 — a Salvio Gambit in which La Bourdonnais lets White capture the rook on h8 and simply keeps attacking: 12…g3, 13…fxg2+ and 14…Bh3+ tear the king's cover apart, and the finish is a smothered mate, 17…Ne2#.
- 1837 De Labourdonnais, Louis Charles Mahe vsJouantho 1-0 King's Gambit Accepted: Ghulam-Kassim Gambit 23 moves Cafe de la Regence Casual Games Café de la Régence, Paris, 1837 — the Parisian café where La Bourdonnais held court. A King's Gambit that turns into a king hunt across the entire board: the black king is chased from d8 to b6 to a3, and 23.Rb1# mates it on b2.