When he was nineteen, He joined the British army and served in the King's Royal Rifle Corps.
He was stationed primarily in Ireland but became involved in the failed Sepoy Rebellion in India of 1857-1859. He sold his army commission in 1861 to persue a life of chess in London. The very next year, Mackenzie won a handicap tournament in London in which he beat out Adolph Anderssen.

In 1863 - during the middle of the American Civil War - Mackenzie moved to the United States.

Once in America he enlisted in the Union Army where, after serving fifteen weeks as a private, he earned the rank of captain in charge of a Black regiment but was discharged a few months later for impressment and desertion.

Not long after, in 1864, he re-joined the army, and, though he fought with honor in three battles, was arrested on the previous desertion charges and imprisoned. He was released in May, 1865 and took up residence in New York.

Mackenzie suffered a similar fate by being overshadowed by Morphy's memory. What else could explain the seeming indifference to a man who won every American tournament he entered. Of the thirteen tournaments and seven matches in which he participated in the United States, he won every single one with the exception of a single drawn match.

His international scores was less impressive, but still quite good. He had a lifetime plus score against Henry Bird, Joseph Blackburne, Johannes Zukertort and Siegbert Tarrasch. He came in first in Frankfurt-1887 and Glasgow-1888, second in Bradford-1888 and tied for third in Manchester-1890. He took fourth place in Hereford-1885 and tied for fourth in both Paris-1878 and in Vienna-1882. He could only muster seventh place in Hamburg-1885 and a tie for seventh in London-1886.

There was some controversy concerning his death. Steinitz reported that his death was from an intentional overdose of morphine and this rumor has managed to survive until the present. Mackenzie suffered from both tuberculosis and a chronic heart problem. According to an article in the New York Times on April 30, 1891: "It was established [through a coroner's inquiry ] that the rumor of suicide was started by a physician who refused to sign a certificate for an insurance policy because he had not been paid a fee."

Like many great chess players, Mackienzie died a pauper.

In his obituary in the April 15, 1891 edition of the New York Times it said: "Captain Mackenzie was a tall, well-built, and handsome man, of a retiring disposition, but very affable with friends. Like many other chess players he was a great smoker, giving preference to the pipe over the cigar. He was a cool, deliberate player."

Steinitz eulogized: "In his character Captain Mackenzie combined uprightness with good temper and suavity of disposition and manners, which made him a great favorite wherever he was known."

Along with Gisela Gresser and Arnold Denker, Captain George Henry Mackenzie was inducted into the US Hall of Fame in 1992

A completely annotated account of the 1867 Mackenzie-Reichhelm match [ from the book, Chess in Philadelphia ] for the US Championship can be found at Chess Archeology

Another picture of Captain Mackenzie can be seen HERE

Download 60 of Max Judd's games HERE

Some other sources:

Gustavus Charles Reichhelm

Walter Penn Shipley

John S. Hilbert's mini-biography of Mackenzie

from The American Chess Journal, March 1878, pp.20-21

Mason, Benzinger, De Vaux vs. Mackenzie, Delmar, Teed
Cafe International, New York, 1877 (or possibly early 1878)
[C30]

1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Bc5 3.f4
(3.Nf3 is a safer and perhaps a stronger move; but as, in all probability, it would have brought about a slow and stereotyped sort of game, the more venturesome 3.f4 was preferred.)

3...d6 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Bc4 Nc6 6.d3 a6
(To preserve the King's bishop, which White threatened to get rid of by Na4, etc. 6...Ng4 would not advance their prospects, as White could reply with 7.Qe2, followed by Kd1 in case the bishop checked.)

7.Qe2 Bg4 8.Be3 Nd4
(We should have hesitated between this and 8...exf4 --indeed, the latter looks far the more troublesome of the two.)

9.Bxd4 Bxd4 10.h3 Bxf3 11.Qxf3 c6 12.fxe5 dxe5 13.Ne2
(Black cannot take the exposed pawn without rendering more than an equivalent.)

13...b5 14.Nxd4 Qxd4 15.c3 Qd6 16.Bb3 Rd8 17. 0-0-0 c5 18.g4 0-0
(At this stage the contest appears to be slightly in favor of White.)

19.g5 Ne8 20.h4 Nc7 21.h5 Ne6 22.Rhg1
(Nearly half an hour was spent in discussing the situation here. Mr. Mason suggested h6 as promising, but it was at once tabooed on the ground that Black might capture both pawns and still establish a successful defense. He then proposed g6 [feeling sure that the pushing of either pawn was essential to the maintenance of the attack] but Mr. De Vaux, after a careful examination, pronounced against it, Mr. Benzinger was neutral, and the discussion went on. Finally, admonished by the lapse of time that something had to be done, Rhg1 was indicated, underwent a close scrutiny of full thirty seconds duration, was thought "safe," approved and made. The result shows it did not sustain the expectations formed of it. The subjoined analysis for which we are indebted to Mr. I.E. Or-chard, proves that one of the moves above referred to, viz. 22.h6, should have been adopted instead [readers will find that letter and accompanying analysis at p.21­-JSH]; and the following likely continuation shows the other, g6, to be not inferior: 22.g6 fxg6 23.Qh3 Rf6 24.hxg6 hxg6 25.Bd5 and though Black have a pawn plus their position is not enviable.)

22...Kh8 23.Bc2
(On a par with its predecessor. The bishop should have been left at b3.)

23...b4 24.h6 Nf4
(The game is now decidedly in favor of Black and it re-mains so to the end.)

25.hxg7+ Kxg7 26.cxb4 cxb4 27.d4
(Precipitating the catastrophe; but if they had acted wholly on the defensive they would have sacrificed whatever chance of escape such a move affords. It is better to die in the field than starve in a fortress.)

27...exd4 28.Rdf1 d3 29.Qxf4
(The final mistake! Even now 29.Bd1 might have led to a draw.)

29...Qxf4+ 30.Rxf4 Rc8 31.Rg2 Rfe8 32.Rd2 Rxc2+ 33.Rxc2 dxc2 34.Kxc2 Re5 35.Kb3 a5 36.a3 bxa3 37.bxa3 Rxg5 38.Kc4 h5 39.Kd4 Kg6 40.a4 f6 41.Rf3 h4 42.Ke3 Rg4 43.Rf1 h3 44.Kf3 Kg5 45.Rh1 Kh4 46.Rh2 Rg3+
0­1