Hyacinthe Henri Boncourt

Hyacinthe Henri Boncourt (1765? – March 23, 1840) was one of the leading chess players in France in the years between 1820 and 1840.The Philidorian, ed. by G. Walker (1838) page 159.

 Biography 
Not much is known about his life. The date of his birth, 1765, is based on a comment by an English chess player, George Walker, that in 1839 Boncourt was about 70 years old.G. Walker, Chess and chess-players (1859) page 161.

Boncourt learned how to play chess from students of the great François-André Danican Philidor, including Carlier, Bernard and Leger who often played at the Café de la Régence.Le Palamède edited by St. Amant, vol. 2 (1837) page 499. 

He was a civil servant, and chess was mostly a hobby for him.  He got his best results after he was 60 years old when after retiring from work, he could spend all his time playing chess.

In 1818, for a brief period, he was one of the players hidden inside the chess machine, the Turk. At one time he was sick, and he did not play very well.La Régence, ed. by Société d'amateurs, Volume 3 (1851) page 7. While he was hiding inside the Turk, he could not stop coughing and he could be heard by people watching. After this, the owner of the Turk, Mälzel, added some noisy gears. This was simply to cover any noise coming from the person inside.W. Fiske, The book of the first American chess congress (1859) page 442

 References and notes 

 Other websites 

 Some of the games of Hyacinthe Henri Boncourt can be found at chessgames.com
 Dominique Thimognier: Boncourt Hyacinthe Henri (French)

Category:1840 deaths
Category:French chess players
Category:1760s births