Napoleon Bonaparte: A great strategist on the battlefield and on the chessboard
Brilliant people are meteors destined to burn out to illuminate their century. –
Napoleon Bonaparte
Bonjour, chers lecteurs!
If the translation is not obvious, then: Hello, dear readers
I'm very glad that you are reading this blog. You already know very well that I do not particularly like to write long greetings to steal your precious time and attention. Then I will be considered a real swindler. In any case, let's get down to business!
I wanted to dedicate my blog today to a person everyone knows from school, from history lessons. I know that this person could be remembere d from school years, like a long paragraph in a textbook, but nevertheless this person is one of the most recognizable, important and interesting. We are talking about Napoleon Bonaparte.
Napoleon Bonaparte is one of the greatest military leaders and politicians in the history of Europe, who left an indelible mark on world culture. His strategic genius, determination and unconventional thinking made him a symbol of the era. However, in addition to military campaigns and political reforms, Napoleon also showed interest in chess. Often called “military strategy in miniature,” the game was popular among the aristocracy and intellectuals of the 19th century.
Historians and chess players still debate how great a player Bonaparte was. Some sources claim he was a mediocre player, while others claim he used the chessboard to develop strategic decisions on the battlefield. Well, it’s not for me to judge Napoleon’s level of play, but you can when you finish reading my blog.
Napoleon's Life in Exile
After his defeat at Waterloo in 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled to the remote island of Saint Helena. This place, far from civilization, symbolized his fall from grace from the heights of European politics. Accustomed to constant activity, Napoleon found himself surrounded by monotonous landscapes and a limited social circle. Despite the drastic change in his lifestyle, he did not lose the habit of occupying his mind with intellectual pursuits. One of his favorite pastimes was chess.
Despite the modest conditions, he was afforded a certain comfort. The emperor's baggage, sent with him into exile, included a chessboard. In the years that followed, he received several more sets of chessmen, including a Chinese set given to him by a British officer.
Chess as part of Napoleon's life
Although Napoleon showed an interest in chess, his level of play remained rather mediocre. Count Las Cases, one of the Emperor's closest companions in exile, wrote that Napoleon played often, but his success left much to be desired. He made impulsive moves, neglecting deep strategy, and did not like long games.
Madame de Montholon, one of the women who accompanied him in exile, noted that Napoleon did not always adhere to the rules of chess. For example, the rule "touch - move" applied only to his opponents, while he himself allowed himself to change his decisions if he found the position unfavorable. If someone tried to point this out, the Emperor simply laughed it off.
Touch-move rule, but it was only for his opponent. For him [Napoleon] it was different and he always had a good reason why it didn’t matter, if anyone notices it, he would laugh.–
Madame de Montholon
However, despite his hot temper and unwillingness to follow strict rules, Napoleon enjoyed the process of playing. Chess allowed him to escape, at least for a while, from the harsh reality of exile.
A Gift from China: A Unique Chess Set
In 1817, a cargo from China arrived on the island of Saint Helena, among which was a luxurious chess set. This set was a gift from John Elphinstone, a representative of the East India Company. He presented it to Napoleon as a token of gratitude for saving his relative, a Scottish aristocrat, who was captured during the military campaign of 1815.
The figures were made of ivory and covered with red varnish. The "tower", which was presented in the form of a massive elephant, was especially eye-catching. Upon seeing it, Napoleon remarked with a smile: "To move such a tower, I would need a crane!"
This gift irritated the British governor of the island, Hudson Lowe, who was suspicious of all Napoleon's contacts with the outside world. Nevertheless, the chess set was given to the former emperor.
Historical parties of Napoleon
Bonaparte also played chess, but very rarely, and this because he was only a third force and he did not like to be beaten at this game. He liked to play with me because, although a little stronger than him, I was not strong enough to win him always. As soon as a game was his he would quit the game to rest on his laurels. –
Louis Antoine Fauvelet de Bourrienne, Mémoires
The Emperor did not skillfully start a game of chess. From the start, he often lost pieces and pawns, disadvantages his opponents dared not take advantage of. It wasn’t until the middle of the game that the right inspiration came. The melee of the pieces illuminated his intelligence, he saw beyond three to four moves and implemented beautiful and learned combinations. –
Hugues-Bernard Maret, Duke of Bassano
Bonaparte played with many: with professional chess players, whom he always lost, and with his friends, and with his entourage in the form of assistants, secretaries, and so on.
In my opinion, there is no point in presenting all of Napoleon's games. Many of them were very simple and uninteresting. But there is one game that caught my attention.
In 1809, a chess game was played in Schönbrunn Palace between Napoleon Bonaparte and the "Turk" - the famous chess "automaton" created by Wolfgang von Kempelen. At that time, the device belonged to Johann Nepomuk Maelzel, a German mechanic and pianist. Inside the "Turk" was an experienced chess player, Johann Baptist Allgaier, who was hidden thanks to an ingenious system of mirrors and partitions. Information about the opponent's move was transmitted using magnets and balls that responded to the movement of the pieces. Outwardly, the "automaton" looked like a complex mechanism, but in fact it was controlled by a person. After every twelve moves, the machine was wound up with a key, giving Allgaier time to think about the game. Napoleon made an unsuccessful attack, which led to his defeat.
There is also a version according to which, when Napoleon realized his losing position, he began to make moves that violated the rules. The "Turk" corrected the emperor's mistakes twice, and after the third violation, he swept the piece off the table. Napoleon considered this a sign that the machine was out of balance. However, the veracity of this story is questionable, since it was first described by Napoleon's valet Louis-Constant Very, and his memoirs are considered more of a work of fiction than a historical source. This episode is also mentioned in the notes of Count Czernin von und zu Hudenitz, published in the early 20th century.
How to defeat Napoleon Bonaparte?
Imagine: you live in the times of Napoleon Bonaparte and you need to defeat him, you need to think as strategically as he did, but with one caveat - to beat him not only on the battlefield, but also at the chessboard.
Imagine that you, an outstanding strategist and chess genius, are summoned to court to play a game with the emperor himself. You understand: this is not just a game. This is a symbolic battle, where the course of history depends on your victory. How to defeat the emperor?
Play like Napoleon Bonaparte
โ1 It was supposedly composed during the monarch's captivity on the island of St. Helena. It contains a brilliant strategy that is worth revealing.
