Constant Ferdinand Burille

Burille in 1897

Constant Ferdinand Burille (born 30 August 1866 – died October 1914, Boston) was an American chess master.[1]

He was a Bostonian born in Paris (according to another source - born in Boston),[2] Burille was a member of a group of Boston chess players and theoreticians who formed a loose chess association they called the Mandarins of the Yellow Buttons.[3] He took 15th at New York City 1889 (the 6th American Chess Congress won by Mikhail Chigorin and Max Weiss). He beat F.K. Young (13.5–1.5) in a match in 1888, and lost to Harry Nelson Pillsbury (3–7) in 1892 (Burille gave odds of pawn and move).[4] He also played in cable chess matches New York vs. London in 1896 (won a game against Henry Edward Bird) and 1897 (lost a game to Henry Ernest Atkins).[5]

The "Burille variation" is a recognized variation in the Grünfeld defense.[6] Burille was one of the operators of the Ajeeb, a chess-playing "automaton".[7][8][9]

  1. ^ The Illustrated American. Illustrated American Publishing Company. 1896. p. 414.
  2. ^ Chess Notes by Edward Winter :: Mate every minute
  3. ^ Sarah's Chess Journal :: Mandarins of the Yellow Buttons Archived 2007-07-04 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Edo Historical Chess Ratings :: Burille, Constant
  5. ^ Chessgames.com :: Constant Ferdinand Burille
  6. ^ "Gruenfeld Defense: Three Variation Knights, Variation Burille - Otwory - Chess.com". Archived from the original on 2014-10-31. Retrieved 2014-10-30.
  7. ^ Chessville :: History :: Constant Ferdinand Burille Archived 2010-09-19 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ Chess Automatons Archived October 8, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ ChessBase :: Spotlights :: Der Schachtürke Archived March 12, 2009, at the Wayback Machine