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 time, and was unofficial World Chess Champion. [1] He was also the first chess prodigy after the creation of the modern rules of chess.
Biography
Early life
Morphy was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, to a wealthy and distinguished family. His father, Alonzo Michael Morphy, was a lawyer, state legislator, state attorney general, and state Supreme Court Justice of Louisiana. 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. Ernest wrote that as a young child, Morphy learned on his own from simply watching the game played. His uncle recounted how Morphy, after watching one game for several hours between his father and him, told him afterwards that he should have won the game. Father and uncle were surprised, as they didn’t think that young Paul 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 Morphy was recognized by his family as a precocious talent. Taken to local chess activities and allowed to play once a week at family gatherings on Sundays, Morphy demonstrated his ability in contests with relatives and local players. By the age of nine, he was already 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 chess player. After dinner, the chess pieces were set up and Scott’s opponent was brought in: diminutive, nine-year-old Morphy. Seeing the small boy, Scott was at first offended, thinking he was being made fun of; but when assured that his wishes had been scrupulously obeyed, and that the boy was a “chess prodigy” who would tax his skill, Scott consented to play. Morphy beat him easily not once, but twice. The second time Morphy announced a forced checkmate after only six moves. Two losses against a small boy was all General Scott’s ego could stand, and he declined further games and retired for the night, never to play Morphy again.
In 1850, the strong professional Hungarian chess master Johann Löwenthal visited New Orleans, and could do no better than the amateur General Scott could. Morphy was 12 when he encountered Löwenthal. Löwenthal, who had played talented young players before and expected to easily overcome Morphy, considered the informal match a waste of time but accepted the offer as a courtesy to the well-to-do judge. When Löwenthal met him, he patted him on the head in a patronizing manner. He expected no more from Morphy than the usual talented young players he had played before.
When the first game began, Löwenthal got to about move 12 and realized he was up against something formidable. He slowed down his play greatly, and each time Morphy made a good move Löwenthal’s eyebrows shot up in a manner described by Ernest Morphy as “comique”. He was shocked at the power he was up against. Löwenthal played three games with Morphy during his New Orleans stay, losing all three. (Note: One of the games was incorrectly given as a draw in Löwenthal’s book Morphy’s Games of Chess and subsequently copied by sources since then. David Lawson, in his biography of Paul Morphy, listed in “Further Reading” at the bottom of this page, corrected this error, provided the moves that were actually played, and urged that game records be corrected.)
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 learned the entire Louisiana Civil Code by heart.
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, who was quite proud of Morphy’s chess skill, he eventually decided to play. After securing parental permission, Morphy made the long trip to New York via steamboat up the Mississippi River and overland by railroad to New York. There, he defeated each of his rivals, including the strong German master Louis Paulsen in the final round. Morphy was now hailed as the chess champion of the United States, and such was his strength of play that many urged him to test his skill in Europe.
Morphy goes to Europe
Still too young to start his law career, 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. He accepted the challenge and traveled to England but ended up not playing in the tournament, playing a series of chess matches against the leading English masters instead and defeating them all except English chess master Howard Staunton who promised to play but eventually declined. At times, Staunton was physically present in the same room where Morphy easily beat the English masters. He had every opportunity to measure Morphy’s talent, and he decided not to play a single game against Morphy. During the few months he stayed in England, most of his time was spent playing blindfold games with eight people simultaneously. He won every time he played.
Staunton was later criticised for failing to play 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 conducted a newspaper campaign to make it seem that it was Morphy’s fault they did not play, suggesting among other things that Morphy did not have the funds to serve as match stakes when in fact he was so popular that numerous wealthy people and groups were willing to stake him for any amount of money.
Seeking new opponents, Morphy crossed the English Channel and visited France. There he went to the Café de la Regence in Paris, which was the center of chess in France. He played a match against Daniel Harrwitz, the resident chess professional, and soundly defeated him.
In Paris he suffered from a bout of intestinal influenza and came down with a high fever. In accordance with the medical wisdom of the time, he was treated with leeches, resulting in his losing a significant amount of blood. Despite the fact that he was now too weak to stand up unaided, Morphy insisted on going ahead with a match against the visiting German champion Adolf Anderssen, who was considered by many to be Europe’s leading player, and who had come to Paris all the way from his native Breslau, Germany, solely to play against the now famous American chess wonder. Despite his illness Morphy triumphed easily, winning seven while losing two, with two draws in 1858. 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 Bourdonnais.
In France, as he had before in England and America, Morphy played many exhibition matches against the public. He would take on eight players at once while playing without sight of the board, a feat known as blindfold chess, the moves of his opponents and his replies being communicated verbally. It was while he was in Paris in 1858 that Morphy played a well-known game at the Italian Opera House in Paris, against the Duke of Brunswick and Count Isouard.
Morphy is hailed as World Champion
During his travels, Morphy was highly regarded. The December 1857 issue of Chess Monthly wrote that “his genial disposition, his unaffected modesty and gentlemanly courtesy have endeared him to all his acquaintances.”
Still only twenty-one, he was now 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.
Morphy biographer David Lawson writes that Morphy was the first to be universally hailed “The World Chess Champion”. However most chess historians place the first official world chess championship in 1886, and so regard Morphy as having been unofficial world champion.
In Paris, on April 4,1859, a banquet was held in his honor, where a laurel wreath was placed over the head of a bust of Morphy, carved by the sculptor Eugene Lequesne.
Returning to England in the spring of 1859, Morphy was lionized by the English. In London, at a gathering in his honor, he was again proclaimed “The Champion of the World”. His fame was such he was asked to a private audience with Queen Victoria. His chess supremacy was universally acknowledged and no longer did it seem fit to have him play even masters without giving him some sort of handicap. A match therefore was set up where he was pitted against five masters (Jules Arnous de Rivière, Samuel Boden, Thomas Barnes, Johann Löwenthal, and Henry Bird) simultaneously. Morphy won two games, drew two games, and lost one.
Shortly after, Morphy started the long trip home, taking a ship back to New York. At the University of the City of New York, on May 29, 1859, John Van Buren, son of President Van Buren, ended a testimonial presentation by proclaiming, “Paul Morphy, Chess Champion of the World”.
Morphy travelled home slowly, stopping in all of the major cities. In Boston, a banquet was held that was attended by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Louis Agassiz, the mayor of Boston, the President of Harvard, and other educators, poets, and scientists. At the banquet, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes proposed a toast to “the health of Paul Morphy, The World Chess Champion”.
Morphy was a celebrity. Manufacturers sought his endorsements, newspapers asked him to write chess columns, and a baseball club was named after him.
Morphy abandons chess
Morphy reportedly declared that he would play no more matches with anyone unless he was giving odds of pawn and move (in a match between two evenly matched Masters, a pawn advantage is considered a winning advantage). After returning to his home, he declared himself retired from the game, and with a few exceptions, he gave up the public playing of the game for good. He then began to think of beginning his law career. Unfortunately, he was unable to, as in 1861 the American Civil War broke out, disrupting life in New Orleans. Opposed to secession, Morphy did not serve in the Confederate Army but remained for a while in New Orleans, then left the city for Paris. He lived for a time in Paris to avoid the war, returning to New Orleans afterwards. He also lived in Havana, Cuba, for a time during the war.
His principled stance against the war was unpopular in his native South, and he was unable to begin practice of the law after the war. Attempts to open a law office failed due to a lack of clients; if anyone came to his office, it was invariably in regard to chess. Financially secure thanks to his family fortune, Morphy had effectively no profession and he spent the rest of his life in idleness. Asked by admirers to play chess again, he refused, considering chess not worthy of being treated as a serious occupation. Chess in Morphy’s day was not a respectable occupation for a gentleman, but was admired only as an amateur activity. Chess professionals in the 1860s were looked upon as akin to professional gamblers and other disreputable types. It was not until decades later that the age of the professional chess player arrived with the coming of Wilhelm Steinitz, who barely made a living and died broke, and Emanuel Lasker who, thanks to his demands for high fees, managed a good living and greatly advanced the reputation of chess as a professional endeavor.
Tragedy and twilight
Morphy’s final years were tragic. Depressed, he spent his last years wandering around the French Quarter of New Orleans, talking to people no one else could see, and having feelings of persecution.
Morphy passed away at the age of forty-seven on the afternoon of July 10, 1884. He was found dead in his bathtub by his mother. The doctor said Morphy had suffered congestion of the brain (stroke), brought on by entering cold water after being very warm from his long midday walk. In 1891, the family sold the mansion, which is today the site of Brennan’s restaurant.
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 chessplayer who ever lived. Others have disagreed with the more extreme claims.
Source page: Wikipedia under Wikipedia license
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Charles_Morphy
