Conel Hugh O'Donel Alexander

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(Conel) Hugh O'Donel Alexander (19 April 1909, Cork – 15 February 1974, Cheltenham) was a British cryptanalyst and chess player. He worked on the German Enigma machine at Bletchley Park during World War II, and was later the head of the cryptanalysis division at GCHQ for over 20 years.

1 Codebreaking at Bletchley Park
2 Career at GCHQ
3 Chess Career
4 Books
5 References

[edit] Codebreaking at Bletchley Park

In February 1940 Alexander arrived at Bletchley Park, the British codebreaking centre during World War II. He joined Hut 6, the section tasked with breaking German Army and Air Force Enigma messages. In 1941, he transferred to Hut 8, the corresponding hut working on Naval Enigma. He became deputy head of Hut 8 under Alan Turing. Alexander was more involved with the day-to-day operations of the hut than Turing, and, while Turing was visiting the United States, Alexander formally became the head of Hut 8 around November 1942.

In October 1944, Alexander was transferred to work on the Japanese JN-25 code.

[edit] Career at GCHQ

In mid-1946, Alexander joined GCHQ, which was the post-war successor organisation to the Government Code and Cypher School (GCCS) at Bletchley Park. By 1949, he had been promoted to the head of Section H (cryptanalysis), a post he retained until his retirement in 1971.

[edit] Chess Career

Represented Cambridge University in the Varsity chess matches of 1929, 1930, 1931 and 1932 (was at King's College, Cambridge).
Won the British Chess Championship in 1938 and 1956.
Represented England in the Chess Olympiad six times: 1933, 1935, 1937, 1939, 1954, 1958.
Non-playing captain of England 1964-70
Awarded the International Master title (1950).
Awarded the International Master for Correspondence Chess title (1970)
Best tournament result: first equal (with David Bronstein), Hastings Premier 1953/54, defeating Soviet grandmasters Bronstein and Alexander Tolush in individual games.
Chess columnist, The Sunday Times, 1960s & 1970s.

[edit] Books

C. H. O'D. Alexander (1972). Fischer v. Spassky. Vintage. ISBN 0-394-71830-5.

[edit] References

Harry Golombek and William Hartston, The Best Games of C. H. O'D. Alexander (1976).
Stuart Milner-Barry, A Tribute to Hugh Alexander, in Harry Golombek and William Hartston, The Best Games of C H O'D Alexander (1976), 1–9 [1](PDF).
Biography by Harry Golombek, revised by Ralph Erskine, in Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford, 2004).
O'Connor, John J., and Edmund F. Robertson. "Conel Hugh O'Donel Alexander". MacTutor History of Mathematics archive.
British Chess Magazine, April 1974, p117 & June 1974, p202 (obituary and tribute)
Ken Whyld, Chess: The Records (Guinness Books, 1986)