In July of that year the Hanging-in-Chains Abolition Act went into effect’ it did just that...it abolished the practice of hanging in chains upon a gibbet after execution.
Hanging in chains, also known as gibbeting, was a common law punishment in England where the body of an executed criminal was displayed in chains after death. The practice was intended to deter others from committing similar crimes, and was often used for murderers, robbers, traitors, highwaymen, and pirates.
The Murder Act of 1752 made gibbeting a legal punishment for murderers. The gibbets were often placed near public highways or waterways, such as crossroads and the body could remain on display for days, weeks, months, years, or even decades! Needless to say, some found the sight and smell disgusting.
In August slavery was abolished in most of the British Empire and the Poor Law Amendment Act states the able-bodied could not receive assistance unless they enter a workhouse/ It also declared that poor-law authorities should no longer attempt to identify the fathers of illegitimate children to recover support from them.
In the chess world the first match of any importance pitting La Bourdonnais against McDonnell was played. Bourdonnais won +16 -5 =4. In all he won a series of 6 matches against McDonnell.
The Frenchman Louis Charles Mahe de la Bourdonnais (1797-1840), considered the world’s strongest player, and the Irishman Alexander McDonnell (1798-1835), considered Great Britain’s strongest player,played their matches in London. There was no time limit, no seconds and very little stakes. With no time limit McDonnell sometimes took over an hour and a half to make a move.
Alexander McDonnell held the post of Secretary of the West India Committee of Merchants. In the 1830s he was the best player in England. He died September 14, 1835 of Bright's disease in London at the age of 37.
Bright's disease is described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. It was characterized by swelling and the presence of albumin in the urine and was frequently accompanied by high blood pressure and heart disease.
There's no proven way to prevent it, but adopting a healthy lifestyle can help. Also, treating the underlying cause, such as infection, eating less protein and salt, cortisone and diuretic use, reducing blood pressure and kidney dialysis can help. Finally, if possible, a kidney transplant.
Bourdonnais was born on the French Island La Reunion in 1797 and died on December 13, 1840 in London. He learned chess in 1814 and took lessons from Deschapelles.
He came from a noble family and heir to an old estate, but lost his fortune in a building speculation and turned to chess to earn his living.
In November, 1840, he was diagnosed with dropsy which refers to swelling under the skin and is generally known today as edema. It’s a condition in which the area under the skin fills with fluid. The swelling varies in severity, but it is uncomfortable and can be extremely painful.
It is a symptom of a number of diseases. It is likely that some of those whose cause of death was recorded as dropsy were actually killed by the condition that caused the swelling, rather than the swelling itself. Today it’s treated with a diuretic, blood thinners and reducing salt intake.
The poor fellow also had a scrotal hernia, a bulge or lump that can appear in the groin or scrotum. They are caused by a weakness in the abdominal wall that allows part of the intestine or fat to protrude into the scrotum. Large or painful ones can be repaired surgically. He died at the age of 43 and was buried next to McDonnell.
Alexander McDonnell–Louis De La Bourdonnais0–1C204th Casual Matcj, LondonLondon ENG1834Dragon by Komodo
C23: Bishop's Opening 1.e4 e5 2.c4 There is very little theory on this
ancient opening. c5 3.c3 e7 3...h4 Rather pointless. 4.e2 f6 5.d3 d6 6.f3 h5 and Pavlicek,P (2036)-Matejovsky,O (2085) Ricany 2009 agreed to
a draw in a few more moves. 4.f3 4.b4 b6 5.a4 a5 6.a3 f6 7.d3 d6 8.f3 equals. Nehlert,P-Jendryssek,J Kehl 1989 4...d6 5.0-0 b6 6.d4 f6 7.a3 g4 8.c2 bd7 9.d3 d5 This P sacrifice is of doubtful soundness, but
it leads to interesting play. Both 9...exd4 or 9...O-O were solid replies. 10.exd5 There is little reason to allow his B to be exchanges by capturing 10.
Bxd5 e4 11.d2 Now black should probably play 11...O-O. Instead... exf3 12.e1 White has a decisive advantage. However, as is sometimes the case, that
does not mean he is going to win! e4 13.f4 f5 14.gxf3 g5 Forceful play
typical of Bourdonnais, but white still has a decisive advantage,
theoretically at least. 15.e3 Not bad, but both players have missed a
clever, winning tactic at white's disposal. That's theoretically speaking.
Practically white's move is reasonable. 15.xg4 fxg4 16.xe4 xe4 17.fxe4 White has a B+2Ps vs a R, but his positional superiority that engines
consider decisive. White scored 5-0 in Shootous, but given the length (40-50
additional moves) and complexity of the game white's win is not a foregone
conclusion. 15...e5 16.b5+ 16.fxg4 has better winning chances. xc4 17.e2 f7 18.xc4 with the better gane. 16...c6 17.fxg4 All of
white's advantage has evaporated. 17.e2 cxd5 18.fxg4 f4 19.h3 0-0-0 20.f3 with only a slight advantage. 17...xg4 17...cxb5 would have been a
howler... 18.gxf5 d6 19.h3 0-0-0 20.dxe5 c4 21.f6+ d7 22.xd7+ xd7 23.b3 a5 24.e6 xd5 25.e7 e8 26.f7 18.e2 It's quite natural to move
the attacked Q. 18.dxc6 is a clever try though. xe3 19.cxb7+ f7 20.bxa8 xa8 21.xe3 with an interesting material imbalance. Shootouts
resulted in 5 draws. 18...cxb5 19.f3 gf6 20.fxe4 xe4 21.xb5+ d7 22.xd7+ xd7 23.c4 The exchange of Qs has increased the tension because the
play with the passed Ps promises plenty of excitement. Technically black is a
smidgen better; his pieces are actively placed. ae8 24.c5 d8 25.d6 f4
26.b4 hf8 27.f1 h5 27...f3 was even stronger. 28.e3 g4 29.c4 f6 30.e3 c3 31.h1 e4 32.fe1 fe8 33.f2 xd4 Black is
winning. 28.a3 Heading for e5, but keeping the N where it is
and playing more directly with 28.b5 was a better plan. f6 29.b2 g4
With his Ps rilling black now has a decisive advantage for real. But, the
blunders aren't over! 30.c4 f3 31.e5+ This only worsens white's position
because it allows the removal of black's B which facilitates the advance of
black's Ps/. More logical, but still insufficient, would have been b5 with a
bit of counterplay. xe5 32.dxe5 h4 33.ad1 f2+ 34.h1 h3 35.d3 g8 This loses almost all of the advantage and puts the win in doubt. 35...f4 Potentially threatening the b-Pawn. White is completely ties up and
black will slowly penetrate his defenses. 36.c1 f7 37.b2 f5 38.a3 ef8 White has a bad B and he has no constructive moves. 39.e6+ 39.dd1 f3 40.d4 40.c1 d2 40...g3 41.hxg3 xg3+ wins 39...xe6 40.e3 d5 41.g7 8f7 42.d3+ c6 43.d4 d5 Black is clearly winning. 36.b5
Obviously McDonnell is hoping to use his Ps to create some play, in doing so
he missed a chance to nearly equalize. 36.e3 g3 36...g5 37.e2 gf8 38.exf2 xf2 39.xf2 f3 Black has his work cut out in order to score the
point. 37.hxg3 xg3+ The reason for jis 36th move. 38.xg3 xg3 39.xf2 eg8 40.f7+ c6 41.f1 and white has a fighting chance. 36...g3 37.hxg3 Unlike the position after 36.Re3 in the previous note it makes a huge
difference that the N is not attacked. xg3 38.d4 38.c6+ falls short... bxc6 39.bxc6+ xc6 40.d7 d8 41.c1+ b7 42.dd1 g2 43.d3 g3+ 44.xg3 xg3 45.f1 xd7 46.c1 g1+ 47.xg1 fxg1+ 48.xg1 d1+ 38...eg8
This is a major blunder throwing away the game, or should have! 38...h2
wraps it up. 39.e6+ delays the inevitable. 39.xe4 g1+ mates in 2 39.e6+ The winning move. d8 Where the K retreats doesn't
matter; black loses. 40.dd1 White has totally mis judged this position. 40.xe4 was the only winning move. g1+ 41.h2 xf1 42.f6+ c8 43.d7+ c7 44.f4 d1 45.xf2 e1 46.d2 xe6 47.d8+ xd8 48.xd8+ with a won
ending. 40...h2 To quate a famous Englishman, "The rest is silence." 41.e7+ d7 42.c6+ bxc6 43.bxc6+ xc6 44.e8+ xe8 45.xh2 e6 46.c1+ b5 47.a4+ b4 48.c3+ xc3 49.xc3 xc3 50.d7 d6 51.g2 xd7 52.c1+ d3 53.f1 e3 White resigned. It's mate in 7. A far from perfent game,
yet an exciting one. 53...e3 54.a1 d2+ 55.g2 f1+ 56.xf1 xf1 57.a5 g7+ 58.h3 f4 59.a6 g1 60.h4 h1# 0–1
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