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Gary Gifford  wrote [2008-04-19] 
'Hi Rich... Thanks for the update, I stand corrected.'

No, you do not. In their first match in London in 1834, De Labourdonnais defeated McDonnell, scoring 16 wins, 5 losses and 4 draws. The players alternated colors after each decisive game. De Labourdonnais played with the White pieces in the first four games, because games 1,2,3 were draws.

But in Kieseritzky-Horwitz, London 1846 they alternated colors in the 'modern' way, unaffected by the drawn game (number 11). Final score was 7.5-4.5 The fact that a variety of systems have been used in international tournaments from 1851 to 1866, would not change my opinion on the question before us, even if I knew what that question was.