Conel Hugh O'Donel Alexander

Conel Hugh O'Donel Alexander (19 April 1909 – 15 February 1974), known as Hugh Alexander and C. H. O'D. Alexander, was an Irish-born British cryptanalyst, chess player, and chess writer. He worked on the German Enigma machine at Bletchley Park during the Second World War, and was later the head of the cryptanalysis division at GCHQ for 25 years. He was twice British chess champion and earned the title of International Master.

Early life Hugh Alexander was born into an Anglo-Irish family on 19 April 1909 in Cork, Ireland, the eldest child of Conel William Long Alexander, an engineering professor at University College, Cork (UCC), and Hilda Barbara Bennett. His father died in 1920 (during the Irish War of Independence), and the family moved to Birmingham, England, where he attended King Edward's School. Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1955 New Year Honours and Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in the 1970 New Year Honours.

MI5's Peter Wright, in his 1987 best-selling book Spycatcher: The Candid Autobiography of a Senior Intelligence Officer, wrote about Alexander's assistance to MI5 in the ongoing Venona project, as well as other important mutual cooperation between the two organizations, which broke down previous barriers to progress. "Any help is gratefully received in this department", Alexander told Wright, and that proved the case from then on. Wright also lauded Alexander's professionalism, and opined that the exceptional mental demands of his cryptanalytical career and chess hobby likely contributed to Alexander's early death at age 64, despite his healthy lifestyle.

Chess career

Alexander represented Cambridge University in the Varsity chess matches of 1929, 1930, 1931 and 1932 (he studied at King's College, Cambridge). He was twice a winner of the British Chess Championship, in 1938 and 1956. Alexander represented England in the Chess Olympiad six times, in 1933, 1935, 1937, 1939, 1954 and 1958. At the 1939 Olympiad in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Alexander had to leave part-way through the event, along with the rest of the English team, because of the declaration of World War II, since he was required at home for codebreaking duties. He was also the non-playing captain of England from 1964 to 1970. Alexander was awarded the International Master title in 1950 and the International Master for Correspondence Chess title in 1970. He won Hastings 1946/47 with the score 7½/9, a point ahead of Savielly Tartakower. Alexander's best tournament result may have been first equal (with David Bronstein) at Hastings 1953/54, where he went undefeated and beat Soviet grandmasters David Bronstein and Alexander Tolush in individual games. Alexander's opportunities to appear abroad were limited as he was not allowed to play chess in the Soviet bloc because of his secret work in cryptography. He was also the chess columnist of The Sunday Times in the 1960s and 1970s.

Many knowledgeable chess people believe that Alexander had Grandmaster potential, had he been able to develop his chess abilities further. Many top players peak in their late twenties and early thirties, but for Alexander this stretch coincided with World War II, when high-level competitive opportunities were unavailable. After this, his professional responsibilities as a senior cryptanalyst limited his top-class appearances. He defeated Mikhail Botvinnik in one game of a team radio match against the Soviet Union in 1946, at a time when Botvinnik was probably the world's top player. Alexander made important theoretical contributions to the Dutch Defence and Petroff Defence.

In popular culture

Alexander is portrayed by actor Matthew Goode in the 2014 film The Imitation Game, which depicts the British attempts to crack the Enigma machine at Bletchley Park.

Books C. H. O'D. Alexander (1972). Fischer v. Spassky. Vintage. . C. H. O'D. Alexander (1972). Fischer v. Spassky - Reykjavik 1972. Penguin. . C. H. O'D. Alexander (1973). The Penguin Book of Chess Positions. Penguin. . C. H. O'D. Alexander, Derek Birdsall (Editor) (1973). A Book of Chess. Hutchinson. . C. H. O'D. Alexander (1974). Alexander on Chess. Pittman. . Learn Chess: A New Way For All. Volume One: First Principles by C. H. O'D. Alexander and T. J. Beach. (RNIB, 1963). In One Volume. Learn Chess: A New Way For All. Volume Two: Winning Methods by C. H. O'D. Alexander and T. J. Beach. (RNIB, 1973). In One Volume. Alekhine's Best Games of Chess : 1938–1945 by Alexander, Conel Hugh O'Donel London: G. Bell and Sons, 1966 Learn chess : a new way for all by Alexander, C. H. O'D. (Conel Hugh O'Donel) Oxford : Pergamon Press, 1963– A Book of Chess , Harper & Row