Constant Ferdinand Burille

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

Burille in 1897

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]