U.S. Chess Mates - Paul Morphy
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| Famous Players |
Full name Paul Charles Morphy
Country United States
Born June 22, 1837
New Orleans, United States
Died July 10, 1884
New Orleans, United States
Paul Charles Morphy (June 22, 1837 - July 10, 1884), "The Pride and Sorrow of Chess," was an American chess player. He is
considered to have been the greatest chess master of his era, one of the greatest of all time and an unofficial World Chess
Champion.[1] He was also one of the first chess prodigies in the modern rules of chess era.
Biography
Early life
Morphy was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, to a wealthy and distinguished family. His father, Alonzo Michael Morphy, a lawyer,
served as a Louisiana state legislator, attorney general, and Supreme Court Justice. Alonzo was of Portuguese, Irish, and
Spanish ancestry. Morphy's mother, Louise Thérèse Félicité Thelcide Le Carpentier, was the musically-talented daughter of a
prominent French Creole family. Morphy grew up in an atmosphere of genteel civility and culture where chess and music were
the typical highlights of a Sunday home gathering.
According to his uncle, Ernest Morphy, no one formally taught Morphy how to play chess; rather, Morphy learned on his own as a
young child simply from watching others play. After watching a lengthy game between Ernest and Alonzo, young Paul surprised
them by stating that Ernest should have won. Father and uncle had not realized that Paul even knew the moves, let alone any
chess strategy. They were even more surprised when Paul proved his claim by resetting the pieces and demonstrating the win
his uncle had missed. Later, a similar story was told about the Cuban chess prodigy José Raúl Capablanca.
Childhood victories
After that incident Morphy's family recognized him as a precocious talent and encouraged him to play at family gatherings and
local chess milieus. By the age of nine, he was considered one of the best players in New Orleans. In 1846, General Winfield
Scott visited the city, and let his hosts know that he desired an evening of chess with a strong local player. Chess was an
infrequent pastime of Scott's, but he enjoyed the game and considered himself a formidable player. After dinner, the chess
pieces were set up and Scott's opponent was brought in: diminutive, nine-year-old Morphy. Scott was at first offended, thinking he
was being made fun of, but he consented to play after being assured that his wishes had been scrupulously obeyed and that the
boy was a "chess prodigy" who would tax his skill. Morphy beat him easily not once, but twice, the second time announcing a
forced checkmate after only six moves. As two losses against a small boy was all General Scott's ego could stand, he declined
further games and retired for the night, never to play Morphy again.
In 1850, when Morphy was twelve, the strong professional Hungarian chess master Johann Löwenthal visited New Orleans.
Löwenthal, who had often played and defeated talented youngsters, considered the informal match a waste of time but accepted
the offer as a courtesy to the well-to-do judge. When Löwenthal met Morphy, he patted him on the head in a patronizing manner.
By about the twelfth move in the first game, Löwenthal realized he was up against something formidable. Each time Morphy
made a good move, Löwenthal's eyebrows shot up in a manner described by Ernest Morphy as "comique". Löwenthal played
three games with Morphy during his New Orleans stay, losing all three.
Schooling and the First American Chess Congress
After 1850, Morphy did not play much chess for a long time. Studying diligently, he graduated from Spring Hill College in Mobile,
Alabama, in 1854. He then stayed on an extra year, studying mathematics and philosophy. He was awarded an A.M. degree with
the highest honors.
He next was accepted to the University of Louisiana to study law. He received an L.L.B. degree on April 7, 1857, in preparation for
which he is said to have memorized the complete Louisiana book of codes and laws.
Not yet of legal age to begin the practice of law, Morphy found himself with free time. He received an invitation to participate in the
First American Chess Congress, to be held in New York in the fall of 1857. At first he declined, but at the urging of his uncle he
eventually decided to play. He defeated each of his rivals, including the strong German master Louis Paulsen in the final round.
Morphy was hailed as the chess champion of the United States, but he appeared unaffected by his sudden fame. According to
the December 1857 issue of Chess Monthly, "his genial disposition, his unaffected modesty and gentlemanly courtesy have
endeared him to all his acquaintances."
Morphy goes to Europe
Soon after returning to New Orleans he was invited to attend an international chess tournament to be held in Birmingham,
England in the summer of 1858. Still too young to start his law career, he accepted the challenge and traveled to England.
Instead of playing in the tournament, however, he ended up playing and easily winning a series of chess matches against all the
leading English masters except the veteran Howard Staunton, who was well past his prime, and who initially promised a match
but eventually declined after witnessing Morphy's play.
Staunton was later criticised for avoiding a match with Morphy. Staunton is known to have been working on his edition of the
complete works of Shakespeare at the time, but he also competed in a chess tournament during Morphy's visit. Staunton later
blamed Morphy for the failure to have a match, suggesting among other things that Morphy lacked the funds required for match
stakes—a most unlikely charge given Morphy's popularity.
Seeking new opponents, Morphy crossed the English Channel to France. At the Café de la Regence in Paris, the center of chess
in France, he played a match against Daniel Harrwitz, the resident chess professional, soundly defeating him.
In Paris Morphy suffered from a bout of intestinal influenza. In accordance with the medical wisdom of the time, he was treated
with leeches, resulting in his losing a significant amount of blood. Although too weak to stand up unaided, Morphy insisted on
going ahead with a match against the visiting German master Adolf Anderssen, considered by many to be Europe's leading
player. Despite his illness Morphy triumphed easily, winning seven while losing two, with two draws. When asked about his
defeat, Anderssen claimed to be out of practice, but also admitted that Morphy was in any event the stronger player and that he
was fairly beaten. Anderssen also attested that in his opinion, Morphy was the strongest player ever to play the game, even
stronger than the famous French champion La Bourdonnais.
Both in England and France, Morphy gave numerous simultaneous exhibitions, including displays of blindfold chess in which he
regularly played and defeated eight opponents at a time. Morphy played a well-known casual game against the Duke of
Brunswick and Count Isouard at the Italian Opera House in Paris.
Morphy is hailed as World Champion
Still only twenty-one, Morphy was now quite famous. While in Paris, he was sitting in his hotel room one evening, chatting with
his companion Frederick Edge, when they had an unexpected visitor. "I am Prince Galitzine; I wish to see Mr. Morphy," the visitor
said, according to Edge. Morphy identified himself to the visitor. "No, it is not possible!" the prince exclaimed, "You are too young!"
Prince Galitzine then explained that he was in the frontiers of Siberia when he had first heard of Morphy's "wonderful deeds." He
explained, "One of my suite had a copy of the chess paper published in Berlin, the Schachzeitung, and ever since that time I have
been wanting to see you." He then told Morphy that he must go to St. Petersburg, Russia, because the chess club in the Imperial
Palace would receive him with enthusiasm.
In Europe Morphy was generally hailed as world chess champion. In Paris, at a banquet held in his honor on April 4, 1859, a
laurel wreath was placed over the head of a bust of Morphy, carved by the sculptor Eugene Lequesne. At a similar gathering in
London, where he returned in the spring of 1859, Morphy was again proclaimed "the Champion of the World". He was also
invited to a private audience with Queen Victoria. So dominant was Morphy that even masters could not seriously challenge him
in play without some kind of handicap. At a simultaneous match against five masters (Jules Arnous de Rivière, Samuel Boden,
Thomas Barnes, Johann Löwenthal, and Henry Bird), Morphy won two games, drew two games, and lost one.
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
The Boston Banquet to Paul Morphy
Upon his return to America, the accolades continued as Morphy toured the major cities on his way home. At the University of the
City of New York, on May 29, 1859, John Van Buren, son of President Martin Van Buren, ended a testimonial presentation by
proclaiming, "Paul Morphy, Chess Champion of the World". In Boston, at a banquet attended by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow,
Louis Agassiz, the mayor of Boston, the President of Harvard, and other luminaries, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes toasted "Paul
Morphy, the World Chess Champion". In short, Morphy was a celebrity. Manufacturers sought his endorsements, newspapers
asked him to write chess columns, and a baseball club was named after him.
[edit] Morphy abandons chess
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Paul Morphy: His Later Life
Having vanquished virtually all serious opposition, Morphy reportedly declared that he would play no more matches without
giving odds of pawn and move.[4] After returning home he declared himself retired from the game and, with a few exceptions,
gave up public competition for good. Unfortunately, Morphy's embryonic law career was disrupted in 1861 by the outbreak of the
American Civil War. Opposed to secession, Morphy did not serve in the Confederate Army. During the war he lived partly in New
Orleans and partly abroad, spending time in Paris and Havana, Cuba.
Possibly because of his antiwar stance, Morphy was unable to successfully build a law practice even after the war ended. His
attempts to open a law office failed; when he had visitors, they invariably wanted to talk about chess, not their legal affairs.
Financially secure thanks to his family fortune, Morphy essentially spent the rest of his life in idleness. Asked by admirers to
return to chess competition, he refused.
In accord with the prevailing sentiment of the time, Morphy esteemed chess only as an amateur activity, considering the game
unworthy of pursuit as a serious occupation. Chess professionals were viewed in the same light as professional gamblers. It
was not until decades later that the age of the professional chess player arrived.
Morphy's chess play
Today many amateurs think of Morphy as a dazzling combinative player, who excelled in sacrificing his Queen and checkmating
his opponent a few brilliant moves later. One reason for this impression is that chess books like to reprint his flashy games.
There are games where he did do this, but it was not the basis of his chess style. In fact, the masters of his day considered his
style to be on the conservative side compared to some of the flashy older masters like La Bourdonnais and even Anderssen.
Morphy can be considered the first modern player. Some of his games do not look modern because he did not need the sort of
slow positional systems that modern grandmasters use, or that Staunton, Paulsen, and later Steinitz developed. His opponents
had not yet mastered the open game, so he played it against them and he preferred open positions because they brought quick
success. He played open games almost to perfection, but he also could handle any sort of position, having a complete grasp of
chess that was years ahead of his time. Morphy was a player who intuitively knew what was best, and in this regard he has been
likened to Capablanca. He was, like Capablanca, a child prodigy; he played fast and he was hard to beat. Löwenthal and
Anderssen both later remarked that he was indeed hard to beat since he knew how to defend and would draw or even win
games despite getting into bad positions. At the same time, he was deadly when given a promising position. Anderssen
especially commented on this, saying that after one bad move against Morphy one may as well resign. "I win my games in
seventy moves but Mr. Morphy wins his in twenty, but that is only natural..." Anderssen said, explaining his poor results against
Morphy.
Of Morphy's 59 "serious" games — those played in matches and the 1857 New York tournament — he won 42, drew 9, and lost
8.
Some chess grandmasters consider Morphy to have been the greatest chess player who ever lived.Others have disagreed with
the more extreme claims.
Country United States
Born June 22, 1837
New Orleans, United States
Died July 10, 1884
New Orleans, United States
Paul Charles Morphy (June 22, 1837 - July 10, 1884), "The Pride and Sorrow of Chess," was an American chess player. He is
considered to have been the greatest chess master of his era, one of the greatest of all time and an unofficial World Chess
Champion.[1] He was also one of the first chess prodigies in the modern rules of chess era.
Biography
Early life
Morphy was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, to a wealthy and distinguished family. His father, Alonzo Michael Morphy, a lawyer,
served as a Louisiana state legislator, attorney general, and Supreme Court Justice. Alonzo was of Portuguese, Irish, and
Spanish ancestry. Morphy's mother, Louise Thérèse Félicité Thelcide Le Carpentier, was the musically-talented daughter of a
prominent French Creole family. Morphy grew up in an atmosphere of genteel civility and culture where chess and music were
the typical highlights of a Sunday home gathering.
According to his uncle, Ernest Morphy, no one formally taught Morphy how to play chess; rather, Morphy learned on his own as a
young child simply from watching others play. After watching a lengthy game between Ernest and Alonzo, young Paul surprised
them by stating that Ernest should have won. Father and uncle had not realized that Paul even knew the moves, let alone any
chess strategy. They were even more surprised when Paul proved his claim by resetting the pieces and demonstrating the win
his uncle had missed. Later, a similar story was told about the Cuban chess prodigy José Raúl Capablanca.
Childhood victories
After that incident Morphy's family recognized him as a precocious talent and encouraged him to play at family gatherings and
local chess milieus. By the age of nine, he was considered one of the best players in New Orleans. In 1846, General Winfield
Scott visited the city, and let his hosts know that he desired an evening of chess with a strong local player. Chess was an
infrequent pastime of Scott's, but he enjoyed the game and considered himself a formidable player. After dinner, the chess
pieces were set up and Scott's opponent was brought in: diminutive, nine-year-old Morphy. Scott was at first offended, thinking he
was being made fun of, but he consented to play after being assured that his wishes had been scrupulously obeyed and that the
boy was a "chess prodigy" who would tax his skill. Morphy beat him easily not once, but twice, the second time announcing a
forced checkmate after only six moves. As two losses against a small boy was all General Scott's ego could stand, he declined
further games and retired for the night, never to play Morphy again.
In 1850, when Morphy was twelve, the strong professional Hungarian chess master Johann Löwenthal visited New Orleans.
Löwenthal, who had often played and defeated talented youngsters, considered the informal match a waste of time but accepted
the offer as a courtesy to the well-to-do judge. When Löwenthal met Morphy, he patted him on the head in a patronizing manner.
By about the twelfth move in the first game, Löwenthal realized he was up against something formidable. Each time Morphy
made a good move, Löwenthal's eyebrows shot up in a manner described by Ernest Morphy as "comique". Löwenthal played
three games with Morphy during his New Orleans stay, losing all three.
Schooling and the First American Chess Congress
After 1850, Morphy did not play much chess for a long time. Studying diligently, he graduated from Spring Hill College in Mobile,
Alabama, in 1854. He then stayed on an extra year, studying mathematics and philosophy. He was awarded an A.M. degree with
the highest honors.
He next was accepted to the University of Louisiana to study law. He received an L.L.B. degree on April 7, 1857, in preparation for
which he is said to have memorized the complete Louisiana book of codes and laws.
Not yet of legal age to begin the practice of law, Morphy found himself with free time. He received an invitation to participate in the
First American Chess Congress, to be held in New York in the fall of 1857. At first he declined, but at the urging of his uncle he
eventually decided to play. He defeated each of his rivals, including the strong German master Louis Paulsen in the final round.
Morphy was hailed as the chess champion of the United States, but he appeared unaffected by his sudden fame. According to
the December 1857 issue of Chess Monthly, "his genial disposition, his unaffected modesty and gentlemanly courtesy have
endeared him to all his acquaintances."
Morphy goes to Europe
Soon after returning to New Orleans he was invited to attend an international chess tournament to be held in Birmingham,
England in the summer of 1858. Still too young to start his law career, he accepted the challenge and traveled to England.
Instead of playing in the tournament, however, he ended up playing and easily winning a series of chess matches against all the
leading English masters except the veteran Howard Staunton, who was well past his prime, and who initially promised a match
but eventually declined after witnessing Morphy's play.
Staunton was later criticised for avoiding a match with Morphy. Staunton is known to have been working on his edition of the
complete works of Shakespeare at the time, but he also competed in a chess tournament during Morphy's visit. Staunton later
blamed Morphy for the failure to have a match, suggesting among other things that Morphy lacked the funds required for match
stakes—a most unlikely charge given Morphy's popularity.
Seeking new opponents, Morphy crossed the English Channel to France. At the Café de la Regence in Paris, the center of chess
in France, he played a match against Daniel Harrwitz, the resident chess professional, soundly defeating him.
In Paris Morphy suffered from a bout of intestinal influenza. In accordance with the medical wisdom of the time, he was treated
with leeches, resulting in his losing a significant amount of blood. Although too weak to stand up unaided, Morphy insisted on
going ahead with a match against the visiting German master Adolf Anderssen, considered by many to be Europe's leading
player. Despite his illness Morphy triumphed easily, winning seven while losing two, with two draws. When asked about his
defeat, Anderssen claimed to be out of practice, but also admitted that Morphy was in any event the stronger player and that he
was fairly beaten. Anderssen also attested that in his opinion, Morphy was the strongest player ever to play the game, even
stronger than the famous French champion La Bourdonnais.
Both in England and France, Morphy gave numerous simultaneous exhibitions, including displays of blindfold chess in which he
regularly played and defeated eight opponents at a time. Morphy played a well-known casual game against the Duke of
Brunswick and Count Isouard at the Italian Opera House in Paris.
Morphy is hailed as World Champion
Still only twenty-one, Morphy was now quite famous. While in Paris, he was sitting in his hotel room one evening, chatting with
his companion Frederick Edge, when they had an unexpected visitor. "I am Prince Galitzine; I wish to see Mr. Morphy," the visitor
said, according to Edge. Morphy identified himself to the visitor. "No, it is not possible!" the prince exclaimed, "You are too young!"
Prince Galitzine then explained that he was in the frontiers of Siberia when he had first heard of Morphy's "wonderful deeds." He
explained, "One of my suite had a copy of the chess paper published in Berlin, the Schachzeitung, and ever since that time I have
been wanting to see you." He then told Morphy that he must go to St. Petersburg, Russia, because the chess club in the Imperial
Palace would receive him with enthusiasm.
In Europe Morphy was generally hailed as world chess champion. In Paris, at a banquet held in his honor on April 4, 1859, a
laurel wreath was placed over the head of a bust of Morphy, carved by the sculptor Eugene Lequesne. At a similar gathering in
London, where he returned in the spring of 1859, Morphy was again proclaimed "the Champion of the World". He was also
invited to a private audience with Queen Victoria. So dominant was Morphy that even masters could not seriously challenge him
in play without some kind of handicap. At a simultaneous match against five masters (Jules Arnous de Rivière, Samuel Boden,
Thomas Barnes, Johann Löwenthal, and Henry Bird), Morphy won two games, drew two games, and lost one.
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
The Boston Banquet to Paul Morphy
Upon his return to America, the accolades continued as Morphy toured the major cities on his way home. At the University of the
City of New York, on May 29, 1859, John Van Buren, son of President Martin Van Buren, ended a testimonial presentation by
proclaiming, "Paul Morphy, Chess Champion of the World". In Boston, at a banquet attended by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow,
Louis Agassiz, the mayor of Boston, the President of Harvard, and other luminaries, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes toasted "Paul
Morphy, the World Chess Champion". In short, Morphy was a celebrity. Manufacturers sought his endorsements, newspapers
asked him to write chess columns, and a baseball club was named after him.
[edit] Morphy abandons chess
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Paul Morphy: His Later Life
Having vanquished virtually all serious opposition, Morphy reportedly declared that he would play no more matches without
giving odds of pawn and move.[4] After returning home he declared himself retired from the game and, with a few exceptions,
gave up public competition for good. Unfortunately, Morphy's embryonic law career was disrupted in 1861 by the outbreak of the
American Civil War. Opposed to secession, Morphy did not serve in the Confederate Army. During the war he lived partly in New
Orleans and partly abroad, spending time in Paris and Havana, Cuba.
Possibly because of his antiwar stance, Morphy was unable to successfully build a law practice even after the war ended. His
attempts to open a law office failed; when he had visitors, they invariably wanted to talk about chess, not their legal affairs.
Financially secure thanks to his family fortune, Morphy essentially spent the rest of his life in idleness. Asked by admirers to
return to chess competition, he refused.
In accord with the prevailing sentiment of the time, Morphy esteemed chess only as an amateur activity, considering the game
unworthy of pursuit as a serious occupation. Chess professionals were viewed in the same light as professional gamblers. It
was not until decades later that the age of the professional chess player arrived.
Morphy's chess play
Today many amateurs think of Morphy as a dazzling combinative player, who excelled in sacrificing his Queen and checkmating
his opponent a few brilliant moves later. One reason for this impression is that chess books like to reprint his flashy games.
There are games where he did do this, but it was not the basis of his chess style. In fact, the masters of his day considered his
style to be on the conservative side compared to some of the flashy older masters like La Bourdonnais and even Anderssen.
Morphy can be considered the first modern player. Some of his games do not look modern because he did not need the sort of
slow positional systems that modern grandmasters use, or that Staunton, Paulsen, and later Steinitz developed. His opponents
had not yet mastered the open game, so he played it against them and he preferred open positions because they brought quick
success. He played open games almost to perfection, but he also could handle any sort of position, having a complete grasp of
chess that was years ahead of his time. Morphy was a player who intuitively knew what was best, and in this regard he has been
likened to Capablanca. He was, like Capablanca, a child prodigy; he played fast and he was hard to beat. Löwenthal and
Anderssen both later remarked that he was indeed hard to beat since he knew how to defend and would draw or even win
games despite getting into bad positions. At the same time, he was deadly when given a promising position. Anderssen
especially commented on this, saying that after one bad move against Morphy one may as well resign. "I win my games in
seventy moves but Mr. Morphy wins his in twenty, but that is only natural..." Anderssen said, explaining his poor results against
Morphy.
Of Morphy's 59 "serious" games — those played in matches and the 1857 New York tournament — he won 42, drew 9, and lost
8.
Some chess grandmasters consider Morphy to have been the greatest chess player who ever lived.Others have disagreed with
the more extreme claims.