< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 2 OF 2 · Later Kibitzing> Dec-29-06 FHBradley : Plus several hundred other games between the two gentlemen. I don't know whether Mohishunder Bannerjee and Mahescandra are one and the same person. Oct-06-07

Benzol : Is Mahescandra the same player? Oct-06-07

Benzol : And is Moheschunder also the same player? If this is so is his name Brahmin Moheshunder Bonnerjee ( or Bannerjee )? And a note from the introduction to Ray Keene and George Botterill's book on the Modern Defence "Moreover, there exist records of a game Cochrane - Moheshunder Bonnerjee, Calcuta 1847, which commenced: 1.P-K4 P-Q3 2.P-Q4 N-KB3 3.B-Q3 P-KN3, although this quickly transposed into a rudimentary form of the King's Indian Defence." The mystery deepens! May-25-08 Karpova : More on him:

<The following appeared on pages 68-69 of A Century of British Chess by P.W. Sergeant (London, 1934): ‘Cochrane had gone back to India, and in 1848 we hear of him, as president of the Calcutta Chess Club (in the foundation of which he was largely instrumental), still seeking for opponents out East capable of testing the skill which he had so worthily proved in the West. One was at last found. A member of the club in the autumn of 1848 heard of a Brahman in the Mofussil – up country, as we might say – who had never been beaten at chess. He found an opportunity of meeting him, played him, and lost. It was stated that the man, “Moheschunder Bonnerjee, a Brahmin”, of about 50, hardly knew the European rules of chess; yet his play was presumably under European rules. Delighted with his find, the Calcutta member took him back with him, and passed him on to Cochrane as an opponent. Cochrane beat him, but was sufficiently impressed with his skill to have him engaged as “a paid attaché” of the Chess Club, where he improved wonderfully. In the [Chess Player’s Chronicle] for 1851 are published some games between Cochrane and Moheschunder; and “the Brahmin” figures as a player in various collections of games. The Indian Defences by P-KKt3 coupled with P-Q3, or P-QKt3 coupled with P-K3, were largely taught to European players by the example of Moheschunder and other Indians, to whom the fianchetto developments were a natural legacy from their own game. The fondness for them of the present Indian champion of British chess, Mir Sultan Khan, is well known. But they are now so widely popular that Dr S.G. Tartakower was able to declare, some years ago, that “today fianchettos are trumps”. A sequel hardly to have been anticipated from the discovery of Moheschunder in the Mofussil.’ Sergeant’s information was largely based on a letter from a member of the Calcutta Chess Club on pages 318-319 of the 1850 Chess Player’s Chronicle, which included the following: ‘The only player here who has any chance whatever with Mr Cochrane, upon even terms, is a Brahmin of the name of Moheschunder Bonnerjee. Of this worthy, Mr Cochrane has himself remarked that he possesses as great a natural talent for chess as any player he ever met with, without one single exception.’> http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/... (C. N. 5590) <Benzol>

Edward Winter also mentions these different spellings (Mahescandra, Moheschunder and Mohishunder) seeking further information. May-26-08

Benzol : <Karpova> Thanks.

:) Dec-06-09

JonathanJ : that is a lot of old games right now. <chessgames.com> where are they from? Jan-08-12

gezafan : The term "Indian" in openings such as the Queen's Indian and the King's Indian comes from Indian chess in which the pawns can only move one square on their first move. So when players open by moving their pawns one square they are playing opening moves that are common in Indian chess. Hence the term "Indian." Examples are g6 in the King's Indian and b6 in the Queen's Indian. Feb-29-12

Penguincw : The only player he played was Bonnerjee Mohishunder! 448 games! Not even Kasparov-Karpov can match (currently trailing by 247 games)! Apr-13-12 King Sacrificer : Only one page of kibitzing? I wish we had more information about this man. The story about Cochrane and Mohishunder is charming. Cochrane must have been very surprised when he saw the opening. Jun-15-12 waustad : It is interesting how other chess-like games have influenced western chess. I think it was Alexander Morozevich who talked about how much he learned when training with Wang Yue, since the Chinese way of thinking about chess has been influenced so much by Chinese chess. I think I have the players right. My source may be Ian Rogers commentary, I'm not sure. There is so much chess on, it is hard to keep track. Aug-01-12 BadKnight : Surprising that I never heard of this guy before. I accidentally stumbled into this page while I was digging deep into the Cochrane gambit. Mahesh Chandra Banerjee is likely to be the right name of any person originated in Calcutta/Kolkata. Banerjee is a common surname, it is the british adaptation of the native surname Bandyopadhyay [don't try to pronounce it unless you are a native speaker]. There are many other similar adaptations:

Bandyopadhyay = Banerjee

Chattopadhyay = Chatterjee

Mukhopadhyay = Mukherjee

etc.

Bonnerjee does not seem to be exactly right. Its most likely a mispronunciation from a non native speaker, or just a simple spelling mistake. Middle name: Chandra/Chandur = Chandra sounds native, so i would pick Chandra. In some other Indian provinces it might be pronounced as Chander, but in Calcutta its always Chandra. Mahesh is a common name, so no confusion there.

And by the way, Calcutta is british ataptation of the native term Kolkata. Aug-01-12 BadKnight : One more thing, instead of Mahesh Chandra, Mohishundar could be the first name, but Mohisundar is quite different from Mahesh Chandra. A native speaker from calcutta would not confuse Mohisundar for Mahesh Chandra. Sep-30-13 Conrad93 : He played the first King's Indian and Nimzo Indian.

He contributed more to chess than most World Champions. Oct-01-13

offramp : < <BadKnight: ...Mahesh Chandra Banerjee is likely to be the right name of any person originated in Calcutta/Kolkata. Banerjee is a common surname, it is the british adaptation of the native surname Bandyopadhyay [don't try to pronounce it unless you are a native speaker]. There are many other similar adaptations:

Bandyopadhyay = Banerjee

Chattopadhyay = Chatterjee

Mukhopadhyay = Mukherjee...

Bonnerjee does not seem to be exactly right. Its most likely a mispronunciation from a non native speaker, or just a simple spelling mistake. Middle name: Chandra/Chandur = Chandra sounds native, so i would pick Chandra. Mahesh is a common name, so no confusion there.> BadKnight: One more thing, instead of Mahesh Chandra, Mohishundar could be the first name, but Mohisundar is quite different from Mahesh Chandra. A native speaker from calcutta would not confuse Mohisundar for Mahesh Chandra.> These two posts, from a native speaker (I assume!) and therefore an expert, are very enlightening. His opinion is that

<Mahesh Chandra Banerjee> is most likely this player's name, but he adds that <Mohisundar Bannerjee> is also possible. Occam's razor would suggest the latter. After all, British Indians like Cochrane were not totally ignorant of Indian culture and we can assume that Cochrane was <close> to the Indian's real name. Jun-05-14 Chessinfinite : < Cochrane were not totally ignorant of Indian culture and we can assume that Cochrane was <close> to the Indian's real name. > Cochrane would not know anything about the origins of Indian names. It looks like <Mahesh Chandra Bandopadhay> was the real name of the player. Rest all are derived from people who couldd not spell he real name. Jun-05-14 NeoIndian : <Mahesh Chandra Bandopadhay> (Bandopadhyay)is correct. I confirm as a fellow Bengali. As for Indian systems in the days of old, as you probably know, pawns did not have the option of moving two squares from the starting row and pawns would promote to the piece of the square reached. Also Indian chess rules did not have castling, but an unchecked king could execute a knight's move once during a game. But at the start of the game, both players had the option of playing *two* legal moves, but not move the same pawn two squares. So can you guess the overwhelmingly popular way to open a game? g3 followed by Bg2! Less popular were any of the central pawn moves followed by bringing the Knights out. Games were slow and maneuvering, and conflicts arose only in the latter stages. Also, they did not like to keep their king in the centre, and so carried out a complicated series of moves (move the bishop, move the knight, move the rook, move the king) to bring the king to g1 or h1. Curiously, queenside castling was not known. The most interesting thing is that these arcane rules are still followed in the remotest regions of my country, far away from the cities and towns, where internet and television are not so pervasive. I myself have played in this way in my childhood (that would be early 1990s); before learning the rules of modern chess. Jun-05-14 NeoIndian : Amusingly, Mohishunder, or Mohisundar, as it will probably be spelled by a Bengali, is also a perfectly acceptable Bengali first name, and not just a distortion of another name. This may also have caused some confusion. Jun-28-14

offramp : <Chessinfinite: <...a native speaker (I assume!) and therefore an expert, are very enlightening. His opinion is that <Mahesh Chandra Banerjee> is most likely this player's name, but he adds that <Mohisundar Bannerjee> is also possible. Cochrane was not totally ignorant of Indian culture and we can assume that he was <close> to the Indian's real name. > Cochrane would not know anything about the origins of Indian names.> I am surprised at that. Cochrane was a barrister who spent 45 years in India, so his total ignorance is baffling. Apr-04-16 waustad : If a player should be the person involved in a GOTD called "Indian Defense" it most certainly be he. His games are the reason they are called Indian Defenses. Feb-04-17 The Kings Domain : Interesting player, so it's from him and his fellow Indian boardsmiths that the Indian openings hail from. Sultan Khan certainly had a predecessor. Feb-04-17 ughaibu : <at the start of the game, both players had the option of playing *two* legal moves, but not move the same pawn two squares> Bangkok taxi drivers have this rule for makruk, too. Feb-11-17

offramp : <The Kings Domain: Interesting player, so it's from him and his fellow Indian boardsmiths that the Indian openings hail.> Was he really a boardsmith? I would like to see some of his work. I tried it myself for a short while but it was very difficult. Sep-05-17

Domdaniel : < British Indians like Cochrane were not totally ignorant of Indian culture and we can assume that Cochrane was <close> to the Indian's real name.> My knowledge of Indian onomastics is limited, but I'm familiar with the hash that the British made when anglicizing native Irish place and personal names. And that was in 7 or 8 centuries of close contact. One can't imagine that, after barely 100 years, they did much better with Bengali names. And that's allowing for the quote from William Jones at the end of the 18th century, that Sanskrit was "more perfect than the Greek, more copious than the Latin" - which gave rise to Indo-European Philology. Jun-08-18

takchess : https://tartajubow.blogspot.com/201... Jun-29-18 The Kings Domain : Fascinating figure in the history of Chess. Sultan Khan definitely wasn't the first. search thread:

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