Conel Hugh O'Donel Alexander (19 April 1909 – 15 February 1974), known as Hugh Alexander and C. H. O'D. Alexander, was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

-born

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

cryptanalyst Cryptanalysis (from the Greek ''kryptós'', "hidden", and ''analýein'', "to analyze") refers to the process of analyzing information systems in order to understand hidden aspects of the systems. Cryptanalysis is used to breach cryptographic sec ...

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

player, and chess writer. He worked on the German Enigma machine at

Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes ( Buckinghamshire) that became the principal centre of Allied code-breaking during the Second World War. The mansion was constructed during the years following ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and was later the head of the

cryptanalysis Cryptanalysis (from the Greek ''kryptós'', "hidden", and ''analýein'', "to analyze") refers to the process of analyzing information systems in order to understand hidden aspects of the systems. Cryptanalysis is used to breach cryptographic sec ...

division at

GCHQ Government Communications Headquarters, commonly known as GCHQ, is an intelligence and security organisation responsible for providing signals intelligence (SIGINT) and information assurance (IA) to the government and armed forces of the Unit ...

for 25 years. He was twice

British chess champion The British Chess Championships are organised by the English Chess Federation. The main tournament incorporates the British Championship, the English Chess Championships and the British Women's Chess Championship so it is possible, although it has ...

and earned the title of

International Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

Early life

Hugh Alexander was born into an

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...

family on 19 April 1909 in

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, the eldest child of Conel William Long Alexander, an

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

professor at

University College, Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of ...

(UCC), and Hilda Barbara Bennett.Harry Golombek, revised by Ralph Erskine, "Alexander, (Conel) Hugh O'Donel (1909-1974), chess player and cryptanalyst" in the

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

, 2004 His father died in 1920 (during the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-mil ...

), and the family moved to

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, where he attended King Edward's School. Alexander won a scholarship to study

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...

, in 1928, graduating with a first in 1931. He represented

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

in chess. From 1932, Alexander taught mathematics at

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

, and married Enid Constance Crichton Neate (1900–1982) on 22 December 1934. Their elder son was Sir Michael O'Donel Bjarne Alexander (1936–2002), a diplomat. The Alexanders' other son was Patrick Macgillicuddy Alexander (20 March 1940 – 21 September 2005), a poet who settled in Australia in 1960. In 1938, Hugh Alexander left teaching and became head of research at the

John Lewis Partnership The John Lewis Partnership plc (JLP) is a British company which operates John Lewis & Partners department stores, Waitrose & Partners supermarkets, its banking and financial services, and other retail-related activities. The privately-held publ ...

. World War II began while Alexander was competing in the

8th Chess Olympiad The 8th Chess Olympiad ( es, La 8a Olimpíada de ajedrez, link=no), organised by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE), comprised an open tournament, as well as a Women's World Championship contest. The main team event took place betwe ...

in Buenos Aires, Argentina, prompting him and the rest of the English team to abandon the competition and return to the UK.

Bletchley Park and GCHQ

In February 1940, Alexander arrived at

, the British codebreaking centre during the

. He joined

Hut 6 Hut 6 was a wartime section of the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire, Britain, tasked with the solution of German Army and Air Force Enigma machine cyphers. Hut 8, by contrast, attacked Naval Enigma. ...

, the section tasked with breaking

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

and

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

Enigma Enigma may refer to: *Riddle, someone or something that is mysterious or puzzling Biology *ENIGMA, a class of gene in the LIM domain Computing and technology * Enigma (company), a New York-based data-technology startup * Enigma machine, a family ...

messages. In 1941, Alexander transferred to

Hut 8 Hut 8 was a section in the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park (the British World War II codebreaking station, located in Buckinghamshire) tasked with solving German naval (Kriegsmarine) Enigma messages. The section was l ...

, the corresponding hut working on Naval Enigma. He became deputy head of Hut 8 under

Alan Turing Alan Mathison Turing (; 23 June 1912 – 7 June 1954) was an English mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher, and theoretical biologist. Turing was highly influential in the development of theoretical com ...

. Alexander was more involved with the day-to-day operations of the hut than Turing, and, while Turing was visiting the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, Alexander formally became the head of Hut 8 ''circa'' November 1942. Other senior colleagues included

Stuart Milner-Barry Sir Philip Stuart Milner-Barry (20 September 1906 – 25 March 1995) was a British chess player, chess writer, World War II codebreaker and civil servant. He represented England in chess both before and after World War II. He worked at Bletch ...

Gordon Welchman William Gordon Welchman (15 June 1906 – 8 October 1985) was a British mathematician. During World War II, he worked at Britain's secret codebreaking centre, "Station X" at Bletchley Park, where he was one of the most important contributors. A ...

, and

Harry Golombek Harry Golombek OBE (1 March 1911 – 7 January 1995) was a British chess player, chess author, and wartime codebreaker. He was three times British chess champion, in 1947, 1949, and 1955 and finished second in 1948. He was born in Lambeth t ...

. In October 1944, Alexander was transferred to work on the

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese

JN-25 The vulnerability of Japanese naval codes and ciphers was crucial to the conduct of World War II, and had an important influence on foreign relations between Japan and the west in the years leading up to the war as well. Every Japanese code was e ...

code. In mid-1946, Alexander joined

(under the control of the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

), which was the post-war successor organisation to the

Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) Government Communications Headquarters, commonly known as GCHQ, is an intelligence agency, intelligence and security agency, security organisation responsible for providing signals intelligence (SIGINT) and information assurance (IA) to the G ...

at Bletchley Park. By 1949, he had been promoted to the head of "Section H" (

), a post he retained until his retirement in 1971.

MI5 The Security Service, also known as MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Go ...

'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 The Venona project was a United States counterintelligence program initiated during World War II by the United States Army's Signal Intelligence Service (later absorbed by the National Security Agency), which ran from February 1, 1943, until Octob ...

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 , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

in the Varsity chess matches of 1929, 1930, 1931 and 1932 (he studied at

). He was twice a winner of the

British Chess Championship The British Chess Championships are organised by the English Chess Federation. The main tournament incorporates the British Championship, the English Chess Championships and the British Women's Chess Championship so it is possible, although it has ...

, in 1938 and 1956. Alexander represented England in the

Chess Olympiad The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations of the world compete. FIDE organises the tournament and selects the host nation. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, FIDE held an Online Chess Olympiad in 2020 and ...

six times, in 1933, 1935, 1937, 1939, 1954 and 1958. At the 1939 Olympiad in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, 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 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, 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

title in 1950 and the International Master for

Correspondence Chess Correspondence chess is chess played by various forms of long-distance correspondence, traditionally through the postal system. Today it is usually played through a correspondence chess server, a public internet chess forum, or email. Less common ...

title in 1970. He won

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

1946/47 with the score 7½/9, a point ahead of

Savielly Tartakower Savielly Tartakower (also known as ''Xavier'' or ''Ksawery'' ''Tartakower'', less often ''Tartacover'' or ''Tartakover''; 21 February 1887 – 4 February 1956) was a Polish and French chess player. He was awarded the title of International Grand ...

. Alexander's best tournament result may have been first equal (with

David Bronstein David Ionovich Bronstein (russian: Дави́д Ио́нович Бронште́йн; February 19, 1924 – December 5, 2006) was a Soviet and Ukrainian chess player. Awarded the title of International Grandmaster by FIDE in 1950, he narr ...

) at Hastings 1953/54, where he went undefeated and beat Soviet grandmasters

and

Alexander Tolush Alexander Kazimirovich Tolush (1 May 1910 – 3 March 1969) was a Soviet chess grandmaster. He was one of Boris Spassky's mentors. Tolush was born and died in Saint Petersburg (in 1969 called Leningrad). He earned the title of International Mast ...

in individual games. Alexander's opportunities to appear abroad were limited as he was not allowed to play chess in the

Soviet bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...

because of his secret work in cryptography. He was also the chess columnist of ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'' 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 Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik, ( – May 5, 1995) was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster. The sixth World Chess Champion, he also worked as an electrical engineer and computer scientist and was a pioneer in computer chess. Botvinnik ...

in one game of a team radio match against the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

in 1946, at a time when Botvinnik was probably the world's top player. Alexander made important theoretical contributions to the

Dutch Defence The Dutch Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves: :1. d4 f5 Black's 1...f5 stakes a claim to the e4-square and envisions an attack in the middlegame on White's ; however, it also weakens Black's kingside to an extent (especia ...

and

Petroff Defence Petrov's Defence or the Petrov Defence (also called Petroff Defence, Petrov's Game, Russian Defence, or Russian Game – russian: Русская партия) is a chess opening characterised by the following moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. Nf3 Nf6 Th ...

In popular culture

Alexander is portrayed by actor

Matthew Goode Matthew William Goode (born 3 April 1978) is a British actor. Goode made his screen debut in 2002 with American Broadcasting Company, ABC's TV film feature ''Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister#Adaptation, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister''. His ...

in the 2014 film ''

The Imitation Game ''The Imitation Game'' is a 2014 American historical drama film directed by Morten Tyldum and written by Graham Moore, based on the 1983 biography '' Alan Turing: The Enigma'' by Andrew Hodges. The film's title quotes the name of the game cry ...

'', 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

References

External links

Conel Hugh O'Donel Alexander at ChessGames.com

Documents written by Conel Hugh O'Donel Alexander while working as a cryptanalyst at Bletchley Park.

Sources

and

William Hartston William Roland Hartston (born 12 August 1947) is an English journalist who wrote the Beachcomber column in the '' Daily Express''. He is also a chess player who played competitively from 1962 to 1987 and earned a highest Elo rating of 2485. He ...

, ''The Best Games of C. H. O'D. Alexander'' (1976). * Sir

,
A Tribute to Hugh Alexander
, in Harry Golombek and William Hartston, ''The Best Games of C H O'D Alexander'' (1976), pp. 1–9 * * ''

British Chess Magazine ''British Chess Magazine'' is the world's oldest chess journal in continuous publication. First published in January 1881, it has appeared at monthly intervals ever since. It is frequently known in the chess world as ''BCM''. The founder and ...

'', April 1974, p. 117 & June 1974, p. 202 (obituary and tribute) *

Ken Whyld Kenneth Whyld (6 March 1926 – 11 July 2003) was a British chess author and researcher, best known as the co-author (with David Hooper) of ''The Oxford Companion to Chess'', a single-volume chess reference work in English. Whyld was a str ...

, ''Chess: The Records'' (Guinness Books, 1986) * Obituary in

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

, 16 February 1974
In Memoriam: Conel Hugh O'Donel Alexander
NSA.gov {{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Conel Hugh Odonel 1909 births People educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham 1974 deaths Bletchley Park people GCHQ cryptographers People from County Cork Irish mathematicians Irish chess players British chess players Chess International Masters Chess Olympiad competitors 20th-century British mathematicians Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Commanders of the Order of the British Empire British chess writers Foreign Office personnel of World War II 20th-century chess players