Evg. Zagoryansky
The legendary tragic figure of Paul Morphy has occupied my imagination for many years. Back in the mid-thirties, I began to select material for a future story. I started writing the first version of it in 1938. There was little material, it was fragmentary and unreliable, sources often contradicted each other.
In the first version of the story, I had to fantasize extremely widely, because there was no living fabric of the hero’s life, I had to invent it ... In essence, there was nothing but chronological dates, and confusion reigned in them.
Immediately after the war, in 1945, I returned to the story of Paul Morphy.
Readers who remember the first part of the story, published in 1946 in the magazine Chess in the USSR, will probably be surprised to read this book. They will find that the differences are quite significant. This is explained very simply.
I returned to Paul Morphy for the third time in 1959. The courtesy of Ilya Lvovich Maizelis, a well-known collector and connoisseur of chess literature, gave me the opportunity to supplement the sources, in particular, to attach to them two unique books from the collection of Ilya Lvovich.
The first of these books is a memoir monograph by Paul Morphy's niece. The pamphlet appeared in New Orleans in 1926 and is titled in its entirety, "The Life of Paul Morphy in the Vieux Carré Quarter of New Orleans and Abroad, Recorded by Mrs. Regina Morphy-Voitier."
The second book is even more rare, it is a real treasure for the researcher and bibliophile.
It is signed anonymously - "Englishman" ("Englishman"), but in fact it was written by Frederick Edge, an English journalist who was Paul Morphy's secretary during his trip to Europe. The book was published in London in 1859 by William Ley, King William Street, Strand. Circulation not specified.
The full title of the book is “Paul Morphy, Chess Champion. An account of his career in America and Europe combined with the history of chess and chess clubs, as well as anecdotes about famous maestros.
In addition to these two sources, I used the relevant sections from the books of Johann Leventhal, Max Lange, Philip Sergent (in two editions), Geza Maroczi and others. It must be said that even today chess historiography has not yet established much for sure.
For example, even such a major competition as the 1858 London match between Morphy and Leventhal is covered in different ways by different authors. Fred Edge and Mrs. Regina Morphy-Vuatier unanimously point out that the score of effective games was 9:3 in favor of Morphy and the match ended there.
However, Geza Maroczi (who worked mainly on German sources) gives the score of scoring games 10:4 and repeats this twice. The German Max Lange also talks about the score 9:3. Where did G. Maroczi get his data from? Apparently, some more games were played that didn't make it into the standings. Some authors recognize them, while others do not.
A hundred years is not such a long time, but I preferred to trust contemporaries and eyewitnesses, since it is almost impossible to establish the truth.
In the score, Maroczy does not diverge from Edge anywhere else, but he changes the sequence of games and the dating of them in many places. In all cases, I stuck to Edge's data, although it does not matter much for a purely fictional thing.
The first two of the above books were the basis of this story, and armed with them, I rewrote my "Paul Morphy" almost anew, retaining only small pieces of the first version. There are a lot of them in the first part, much less in the second.
Evgeny Zagoryansky
FROM sea, a damp wind blew. The striped awnings over the windows of the shops inflated and flapped like sails. It seemed that the blessed city of New Orleans, like a ship, would break off the pier and sail into the blue haze of the warm seas.
On the deserted embankment, a well-groomed, thoroughbred mare snorted and dug the ground with her front foot. The curly-haired Negro held her by the bridle, muttering affectionately. The horse flattened its ears, shook its narrow, angry muzzle, and clouds of dust rose from under its impatient foot. The negro looked back at the high stone porch with a blue sign:
JEREMY HORN Cotton Broker
"Go to hell," Allison said calmly. His face, youthful for fifty years, was sullen. A chestnut mustache that hung at the corners of her mouth only emphasized the rigidity of her outline. He slowly descended the stone steps, followed by the owner of the office, a fat man with a lean Quaker face, tumbled down behind him.
“Damn it, Horne! repeated Allison without turning around. - You want to step on my throat ... Hey, horse!
Mr Allison! the broker said. “You’ve known Joe Horn for days, sir… By all saints, no New Orleans broker will offer you a better contract, you can check with anyone! ..
Rat eyes dug into Allison's back as he put on a wide-brimmed white hat.
“Things are very bad, Mr. Allison! the broker continued. - If nothing changes, in five years we will all be beggars, sir ... Yesterday I said so at the cotton exchange ...
“Old songs, Horne…
- No, sir, these are not old, these are new songs ... The damned Yankees have set up new ships in their North. They bring cotton from Egypt and sell it cheaper than ours, sir! .. This is robbery, this is piracy! ..
- Come on, Horne! The planter's eyes flickered disdainfully over the fat man's sweaty bald head. “Don't try to fool me, old man. I know very well that, in addition to cotton, you have loan offices where the pants of the whole city are pawned! ..
A rustic smile spread across Horn's face.
- What to do, Mr. Allison ... Each of God's servants earns his living according to his own understanding ... Not everyone is born a gentleman and a planter, like you, sir!
“In a word, Horne, your price does not suit me. Apparently, I'll have to go to Smiles.
- The word of the merchant, sir! Horn said sympathetically. “Honest to a merchant, Smiles won’t offer you a cent more!”
Allison silently walked towards the horse, but Horn caught up with him in the middle of the street.
Paul Morphy (1837-1884)
Paul Charles Morphy (Eng. Paul Charles Morphy, June 22, 1837, New Orleans - July 10, 1884, ibid) - American chess player; the strongest in the world in the middle of the XIX century. Many chess fans believe that the most brilliant chess player in the United States is Bobby Fischer, but judging by the words of Fischer himself (see below), he thought differently. Fisher gave the palm to Paul Morphy.
Morphy graduated from the University of Louisiana. Descendant of Irish Jacobite emigrants who were in the Spanish service. Many in the family played chess: for example, an uncle - Ernesto Morphy - was one of the first teachers of Paul Charles. Some games of E. Morphy are known, including his victory over the then US champion C. Stanley. Alonso Morfi's father, Jose Carpentier's maternal grandfather and Charles Carpentier's uncle also played chess. In 1987, the magazine "64-Chess Review" published several "intra-family games" Morphy and Carpentier.
I got acquainted with chess at the age of 10; at 12 - won a game against E. Russo - a participant in the first match in US history for the national championship. In 1850 he won the light parts of I. Loewenthal (1.5:0.5), who was on tour in the USA. He achieved outstanding success at the First American Chess Congress (New York, 1857), where 16 participants played short matches up to three (up to five in the final) wins. Easily defeating all opponents - J. Thompson, A. Mick (with the same score: +3, -0, =0), T. Lichtengein (+3, -1, =0) and in the final L. Paulsen (+5, −1, =0), 20-year-old Morphy became the leader of the US chess players.
In addition to the congress, Morphy played more than 250 games in New York, including more than 150 for the “dacha forward” (see Handicap). Out of 100 equal games, he lost only 5; among the losers were the leading US chess players Paulsen (+1, −10, =3), C. Stanley, J. Schulten, and others. Conscious of his superiority, Morphy offered a pawn and a move forward to any member of the New York Chess Club. Stanley accepted the challenge: with a score of +0, -4, =1 (played up to 7 wins), Stanley passed the match. Morphy offered the same handicap to any US chess player. In 1858, Morphy challenged H. Staunton to a match, who, having accepted the challenge, avoided the match under various pretexts. Attempts by Morphy, who came to England, to organize a match, failed. Morphy managed (together with T. Barnes) to play only consulting games against Staunton and J. Owen: +2, -0, =0. He also had a number of matches with the leading English masters and achieved convincing victories: over Barnes (+19, -7, =1), S. Boden (+5, -1, =3), G. Bird (+10, -1 , =1), E. Loewe (+6, −0, =0), J. Medley (+3, −0, =0), Owen (+4, −1, =0). The most stubborn of Morphy's English rivals was Lowenthal (+9, -3, =2).
Sensational for contemporaries was a session of simultaneous blindfold Morphy in Birmingham (+6, −1, =1). In Paris, Morphy won a match against D. Harwitz (+5, -2, =1), had a blindfold session (+6, -0, =2) and played a number of easy games with the leading masters - P.Sh. Saint-Amand, J. A. de Rivière, J. Preti, P. Journe, and others, who claimed that Morphy could successfully give the f7-pawn forward to any of his contemporaries. In December 1858, A. Andersen arrived in Paris to meet with Morphy. The match between them, which ended with Morphy's confident victory (+7, -2, =2; see Morphy - Andersen match), actually decided the question of the world's strongest chess player of that time. The last match in Paris Morphy played with O. Mongredien (+7, -0, =1). Before leaving for the USA, Morphy held a number of blindfold sessions in England against chess players from the London (+2, -0, =8) and St. George's (+5, -0, =3) clubs; as well as a session at the St. James Club against the masters (Barnes, Boden, Bird, Loewenthal, Riviere): +2, -1, =2.
In 1858, Morphy played an occasional role, which became widely known, against Karl of Brunswick and Count Isoire at the Italian Opera in Paris.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Bg4 (This is a weak move already.--Fischer) 4.dxe5 Bxf3 5.Qxf3 dxe5 6.Bc4 Nf6 7.Qb3 Qe7 8.Nc3 c6 9.Bg5 (Black is in what"s like a zugzwang position here. He can"t develop the knight because the pawn is hanging, the bishop is blocked because of the Queen.--Fischer) b5 10.Nxb5 cxb5 11.Bxb5+ Nbd7 12.OOO Rd8 13 .Rxd7 Rxd7 14.Rd1 Qe6 15.Bxd7+ Nxd7 16.Qb8+ Nxb8 17.Rd8# 1-0
In the US, Morphy was met with an enthusiastic welcome. Declaring his readiness to give a pawn and a move forward to any chess player in the world, Morphy refused serious performances: he rejected the challenges of Paulsen (1859 and 1860) and I. Kolisch (1861 and 1863), limiting himself to easy games and playing for a handicap. Visiting Paris in 1863, Morphy played a number of easy games with Montgredien and Riviere (he also analyzed a number of positions with him for a jointly conceived opening guide). Since the mid 1860s. and until the end of his life Morphy suffered from severe mental illness.
Contemporaries attributed Morphy's phenomenal successes to his exceptional combination talent. However, the games of the match Morphy - Andersen - the strongest chess players of that time - testify that Morphy's superiority manifested itself mainly in strategy. In the combination game, Andersen was not inferior to Morphy. Morphy considered the mobilization of forces and the achievement of superiority in development to be the primary task. To avoid losing momentum or creating difficulties in the development of the opponent's forces, Morphy resorted to sacrifices. The subtle loss of pace that the opponents allowed during exchanges was clearly used by Morphy. Playing with White, he already in the opening created the prerequisites for an attack, and with Black he tried to seize the initiative. Morphy attached great importance to the pawn center. Having an advantage in development and space, he undertook a pawn breakthrough, usually associated with the sacrifice of 1-2 pawns. Based mainly on general considerations, Morphy's sacrifices were of a pronounced positional nature. As a result of the breakthrough, Morphy opened the lines. His pieces, concentrated on the opened verticals and diagonals, acquired great strength: Morphy had a significant advantage in the direction of the main attack. Many of Morphy's games ended with a direct attack on the position of the opponent's king and a combination blow. However, the attack was not an end in itself for Morphy: if it was profitable, he willingly simplified the position, exchanged queens, preferring positional advantage in the endgame to unclear complications in the middlegame. At the same time, he demonstrated high technical skill. Morphy's strength lay in "deeply thought-out positional play of a predominantly aggressive nature" (A. Alekhine).
Leaving no literary chess heritage, Morphy, with his chess creativity, put forward the principles of the strategy of open positions.
Many of the strongest chess players of different times spoke admiringly about the work of Morphy: Andersen, Alekhine, Euwe, Botvinnik, Smyslov, Fischer and others.
“Playing with Morphy must give up all hope of trapping him in some subtle trap. Let him know that Morphy sees everything quite clearly and that there can be no question of an erroneous move on his part. On the contrary, if it seems that Morphy has made a move that at first glance can be used to advantage, it is necessary to weigh this move more precisely, and, in the end, it will always turn out that not only is it completely correct, but every imaginary opportunity to use it leads to to my own detriment… I can best convey the impression that Morphy made on me if I say that he treats chess with the seriousness and conscientiousness of an artist… For him, a chess game is a sacred duty…”
“Then, in the 60s and 70s of the last century, in London and mainly in Paris, where the traditions of Philidor were alive, where the immortal creations of Labourdonnet and McDonnel were still in memory, at that time, finally, when he lived , beauty alone could hardly surprise anyone. The strength, the invincible strength of Morphy - this is the reason for his success and the guarantee of immortality.
Alexander Alekhin
“Morphy is commonly referred to as the greatest chess genius of all time… If the hallmark of a genius is that he is far ahead of his time, then Morphy was a chess genius at its most perfect…”
Max Euwe
“To this day, Morphy is a consummate master of open games. How great its significance is is evident from the fact that nothing essentially new was created in this area after Morphy. Every chess player - from a beginner to a master - should in his practice again and again return to the work of the brilliant American.
Mikhail Botvinnik
“For more than a century, the glory of Paul Morphy has not faded. At one time, he aroused admiration not only for brilliant victories, but also for his indomitable imagination, the swiftness of his attacks, and the fire of combinations. However, nowadays the most surprising thing is the harmony of his playing. Morphy was always ready to attack the king, but if the position required other actions, then he did not refuse to fight in a strict positional style and move to the endgame.
Morphy's constant striving for the initiative, the relentless search for the best move, the game of high intensity make a deep impression.
The real revelation for his contemporaries was Paul Morphy's treatment of openings. He strove for open positions and subordinated everything to the fastest development of pieces. His style is characterized by fighting all over the board. In figure wrestling, he undoubtedly surpassed all his rivals. Morphy also played the endgame perfectly, skillfully introducing combinational motifs into seemingly simple endings.There is no doubt that chess was an art for Morphy, and Morphy for chess was a great artist. His game captivates with the freshness of thought, inexhaustible energy. He played with inspiration, without any desire to penetrate into the opponent's psychology, he played, so to speak, "pure chess".
Sometimes chess fans ask a question when meeting with a grandmaster: “How would Morphy play in the current competitions?” Of course, it is easier to evade the answer by saying that the question is invalid. However, it can be argued that Morphy's harmonious understanding of the position and the depth of Morphy's intuition would make him the most dangerous partner for chess players of our day.
Morphy's games are classics of chess creativity. It is useful and pleasant to study them for a chess player of any qualification, from a beginner to a master.
Many games are being played now, where the opponents pursue modest goals - weakening some point, excessive defense of some pawn - being carried away by the technical means of struggle. Morphy never for one moment forgot about the attack on the king. Such a huge talent, which Morphy possessed, does not fit into the framework of his time. Some examples of his work remain unsurpassed to this day. This is the secret of interest in his unfading works.”
Vasily Smyslov
Morphy was the most erudite chess player of his time. It is known for certain, for example, that he was familiar with such books as Bilger's "Handbuch" (400 pages of this work, first published in 1843, were completely filled with opening analyzes in tabular form) and "The Chess Handbook" by Staunton ... These books are better modern; The theory of open principles has not advanced much since then. And Morphy's natural talent would have been more than enough to bring him victory over the best chess players of the 20th century.
In terms of accuracy, Morphy probably surpassed all chess players who ever lived. He had absolute vision of the board and never made a mistake, despite the fact that he played very quickly, only rarely spending more than five minutes thinking about a move. (His opponents often took hours to do this; chess clocks did not yet exist at that time).
I have replayed several hundred of Morphy's games and have always been amazed and admired by his ingenuity. Sometimes it took me twenty minutes to find the correct answer to Morphy's moves. Morphy never lost his presence of mind in difficult positions and found winning opportunities in positions that seemed hopeless. In addition, he had excellent technique in endings. Perhaps his only weakness - most evident in the match with Andersen - was playing closed openings, such as the Dutch Defense. But even in these cases, Morphy's resourcefulness allowed him to emerge victorious from the struggle.
It is well known that in 1859 Morphy left chess. His frustrations were more with chess players than with chess itself.”
Robert Fisher
Video Compilation
King's Gambit - Paul Morphy Forever
Video analysis of the game Morphy - Rousseau.
Morphy - Rousseau
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Bb4+ 5.c3 dxc3 6.OO cxb2 7.Bxb2 Bf8 8.e5 d6 9.Re1 dxe5 10.Nxe5 Qxd1 11.Bxf7+ Ke7 12.Ng6+ Kxf7 13. Nxh8# 1-0
Schulten - Morphy
1. e4 e5 2. f4 d5 3. exd5 e4 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. d3 Bb4 6. Bd2 e3 7. Bxe3 OO 8. Bd2 Bxc3 9. bxc3 Re8+ 10. Be2 Bg4 11. c4 c6 12. dxc6 Nxc6 13. Kf1 Rxe2 14. Nxe2 Nd4 15. Qb1 Bxe2+ 16. Kf2 Ng4+ 17. Kg1 Nf3+ 18. gxf3 Qd4+ 19. Kg2 Qf2+ 20. Kh3 Qxf3+ 21. Kh4 Nh6 22. Qg1 Nf5+ 23. Kg5 Qh5# 0-1
Paulsen - Morphy
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Bc5 5. OO OO 6. Nxe5 Re8 7. Nxc6 dxc6 8. Bc4 b5 9. Be2 Nxe4 10. Nxe4 Rxe4 11. Bf3 Re6 12. c3 Qd3 13. b4 Bb6 14. a4 bxa4 15. Qxa4 Bd7 16. Ra2 Rae8 17. Qa6 (Morphy took twelve minutes over his next move, probably to assure himself that the combination was sound and that he had a forced win in every variation. -- Chernev ) Qxf3 (! 18. gxf3 Rg6+ 19. Kh1 Bh3 20. Rd1 {Not 20 Rg1 Rxg1+ 21 Kxg1 Re1+} Bg2+ 21. Kg1 Bxf3+ 22. Kf1 Bg2+ {The "quiet" 22...Rg2! would have won more quickly. Zukertort gives: 23.Qd3 Rxf2+ 24.Kg1 Rg2+ 25.Kh1 Rg1. } 23. Kg1 Bh3+ 24. Kh1 Bxf2 25. Qf1 {Absolutely forced.} Bxf1 26. Rxf1 Re2 27. Ra1 Rh6 28. d4 Be3 0-1 !}
Marach — Morphy
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 6. d4 exd4 7. e5 d5 8. exd6 Qxd6 9. OO Nge7 10. Ng5 OO 11. Bd3 Bf5 12. Bxf5 Nxf5 13. Ba3 Qg6 14. Bxf8 Qxg5 15. Ba3 dxc3 16. Bc1 Qg6 17. Bf4 Rd8 18. Qc2 Ncd4 19. Qe4 Ng3 20. Qxg6 Nde2# 0-1
Morphy — Andersen
1.e4 (Notes by Lowenthal) c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.Nxd4 e6 5.Nb5 d6 (This is better than ...a6; but even now the King's Bishop is shut in, and the Queen "s Pawn rendered weak.) 6.Bf4 (Correctly played, compelling the advance of the e-Pawn, which leaves the Queen"s Pawn weak and unsupported.) e5 7.Be3 f5 (...a6 would have been sounder play , but even then the game would have been in favor of the first player.) 8.N1c3 (A fine conception.) f4 (Had Black played ...a6, White's reply would still have been Nd5, with a winning game .) 9.Nd5 fxe3 10.Nbc7+ Kf7 11.Qf3+ Nf6 12.Bc4 (The attack is now irresistable.) Nd4 13.Nxf6+ d5 (If the Bishop had been interposed, White would have taken it, checking; and on Knight retaking have played Nd5 discovering check, and won without difficulty.) 14.Bxd5+ Kg6 (Had the Queen captured the Bishop, White would have taken with Knight, discovering check, and have eventually remained with a Pawn ahead and a winning position.) 15. Qh5+ Kxf6 16.fxe3 (Ne8+, seemingly ag ood move, is only in appearance, as Black might have taken it when placed there; and on White taking Queen, have answered with ...Bb4+, obtaining a winning game.) Nxc2+ 17.Ke2 1-0
Barnes - Morphy
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.dxe5 fxe4 5.Ng5 d5 6.e6 Bc5 7.Nf7 Qf6 8.Be3 d4 9.Bg5 Qf5 10.Nxh8 Qxg5 11.Bc4 Nc6 12.Nf7 Qxg2 13. Rf1 Nf6 14.f3 Nb4 15.Na3 Bxe6 16.Bxe6 Nd3+ 17.Qxd3 exd3 18.OOO Bxa3 19.Bb3 d2+ 20.Kb1 Bc5 21.Ne5 Kf8 22.Nd3 Re8 23.Nxc5 Qxf1 24.Ne6+ Rxe6 0-1
Andersen - Morphy
Paris, 1858
King's Gambit Accepted
1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.h4 g4 5.Ne5 Nf6 6.Nxg4 d5 7.Nxf6+ Qxf6 8.Nc3 Qg6 9.Qf3 Bd6 10.Bd3 Bg4 11.Qf2 Nd7 12.exd5 f5 13. Bb5 a6 14.Bxd7+ Kxd7 15.d3 Rae8+ 16.Kf1 Rhg8 17.Rh2 f3 18.g3 Bh5 19.Bg5 h6 20.Qa7 hxg5 21.Na4 gxh4 22.Qxb7 hxg3 23.Nb6+ Ke7 24.Re1+ Kf7 0-1
Morphy — Potier
1. e4 (Notes by J. Lowenthal) e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bc4 (Should White play Nc3, Black would answer with ...Bb4. The game is then usually continued as follows: 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 Nxe5 Bxc3 5 dxc3 d6 6 Nf3 Nxe4 7 Bd3 Nf6 (best if ...d5 7 c4 with the better game) 8 OO OO and neither party can be said to have the slightest advantage.) Nxe4 (This move leads to an even game, as does also ...d5, which Lichtenhein played against morphy; but there is also ...Nxc3 from which spring several interesting positions. Black's game is cramped thereby, and must remain so for a considerable time; but, in opposition to several very in proof of this we submit the following variation: 4...Nxc3 5 dxc3 f6 6 Nh4 (6 OO Qe7 7 Na4 g6 followed by ...c6 with a good game) Qe7 7 Qh5+ Kd8 8 Ng6 Qe8 9 Bd3 Be7 winning a piece.) 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. Nxe5 d5 6. Bb3 Be7 7. d4 c6 8. OO Nbd7 9. f4 (Playing h is favorite move early in the gamr.) Nb6 10. Qf3 h5 11. f5 (The queen's bishop of the second player is now completely hemmed in and time must be lost in extricating it.) Qc7 12. Bf4 Bd6 13. Rae1 Kf8 14. Qg3 h4 (If Black had taken pawn with bishop, White would have checked with the kite on g6 and gained an evident advantage.) 15. Ng6+ (A most able move, frustating at once all of the combinations of his opponent. ) Kg8 16. Bxd6 hxg3 17. Bxc7 fxg6 18. fxg6 gxh2+ 19. Kh1 Bg4 20. Re7 Nbd7 21. Be5 Kf8 22. Rf7+ Kg8 23. Nxd5 (One of those brilliant combinations in which Mr. Morphy has made himself so famous, and which occur with equal frequecy in his blindfold games as in those that he has conducted with board and men before him.) cxd5 24. Bxd5 Nb6 25. Bb3 1-0
Barnes - Morphy
Paris, 1858
Spanish party
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bb4 6.Nd5 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.OO Bg4 9.c3 Ba5 10.d4 exd4 11.Nxf6+ Qxf6+ 12.Bd5 Ne5 13. Bxa8 Nxf3+ 14.gxf3 Bxf3 15.Qd2 dxc3 16.Qg5 cxb2 17.Bc6+ Ke7 18.Qxf6+ gxf6 19.Bf4 Rg8+ 20.Bg3 bxa1=Q 21.Rxa1 f5 22.a4 Bb6 23.axb5 f4 24.bxa5 fxa5 hxg3 Rxg3+ 26.Kh2 Rg6 27.Rf1 Bd4 28.Kh3 Be5 29.Kh4 Bf4 30.a7 Rh6# 0-1
Morphy - Arnoux de Riviere
Paris, 1963
Italian party
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Qe7 5. d4 Bb6 6. OO d6 7. h3 Nf6 8. Re1 h6 9. a4 a5 10. Na3 Nd8 11. Nc2 Be6 12. Ne3 Bxc4 13. Nxc4 Nd7 14. Ne3 g6 15. Nd5 Qe6 16. Bxh6 f6 17. Bg7 Rh5 18. g4 Rxh3 19. Nxf6+ Nxf6 20. Ng5 Qd7 21. Bxf6 Rh4 22. f3 exd4 23. cxd4 Rh6 24. Kg2 Nf7 25. Rh1 Nxg5 26. Rxh6 Nh7 27. Qh1 Nxf6 28. Rh8+ Ke7 29. Rxa8 Bxd4 30. Qh6 Qc6 31. Rc1 Qb6 32. Rxc7+ Ke6 33. Re8+ Nxe8 34. Qxg6+ Ke5 35. Qf5# 1-0
Paul Charles Morphy 06/22/1837 - 07/10/1884) - American chess player; the strongest in the world in the middle of the 19th century. Education: University of Louisiana.Morphy Born in New Orleans (Louisiana) in a wealthy family who had a good position in society. His father, Alonzo Michael Morphy, was of Portuguese, Irish and Spanish descent. Mother, Louise Le Carpentier, came from a well-known French family. Paul Morphy owes his acquaintance with chess to the family tradition of gathering on Sundays to play music and play chess. In the house of Alonzo Morfi, all the men played chess: his father, Paul's older brother (Eduard) and Paul himself. He loved chess and his maternal grandfather, and his uncle was considered one of the strongest chess players in New Orleans.
From childhood, Paul had an amazing memory, impressing local lawyers with a thorough knowledge of the Louisiana civil code. In addition to his native (French) language, the young man was fluent in English, Spanish and German.
According to his uncle, Enrest Morphy, no one specifically taught little Morphy the rules of the game. The boy learned to play on his own by watching adults. Ernest recalled that once Paul watched his uncle and father play for several hours, and after the end of the game he told his uncle that he could win this game, and in support of his words, restored the position on the board and showed how it could be won. The adults were quite surprised, because they did not suspect that the boy even knew the rules of the game, let alone any chess strategy. After this incident, Paul Morphy began to regularly play chess on Sundays, competing with local and visiting chess players.
At the age of 10, he was already considered one of the best players in New Orleans. And at the age of 12 he won a game against E. Russo - a participant in the first match in the history of the United States for the national championship. The game of the young chess player was distinguished not only by inventiveness and good calculation - qualities inherent in many young talents. Attention should be paid to the sequence with which Morphy carried out his plans, strategically much more mature than the plans of the masters - his contemporaries.
The first international tournament in London aroused great interest and attempts by American chess players to organize a representative national competition. The right to host the First American Chess Congress was contested by several cities: Philadelphia, New Orleans, Chicago, Washington, and New York; The choice fell on New York.
The congress took place in the autumn of 1857 and brought together the best chess players in the United States. There were 16 participants in total. Stanley, Louis Paulsen and Theodor Lichtenhein were named among the favorites. But it turned out differently: The First American Chess Congress marked the beginning of Paul Morphy's outstanding chess career.
Easily defeating all rivals - J. Thompson (+3-0=0), A. Mik (+3-0=0), T. Lichtengein (+3-0=1) and in the final L. Paulsen (+5- 1=2), 20-year-old Morphy became the leader of the US chess players. There was no time limit for reflection. In the final, Morphy played fast, and Paulsen pondered over each move for a long time (the second game lasted 15 hours, where Morphy had 3 hours, and Paulsen's 12).
In addition to the Congress, Morphy played more than 250 games in New York, including more than 150 with a handicap (usually a pawn). Out of 100 equal games, he lost only 5; among those who lost to him were the leading US chess players Paulsen, C. Stanley, J. Schulten, and others. Conscious of his superiority, Morphy offered a pawn and a move forward to any member of the New York Chess Club. Stanley accepted the challenge: with a score of +0-4=1 (played up to 7 points), Stanley passed the match. Morphy offered the same handicap to any US chess player.
In 1858, Morphy challenged Howard Staunton to a match, who, having accepted the challenge, avoided the match on various pretexts. Attempts by Morphy, who came to England, to organize a match, failed. The authority of Staunton, according to Morphy, was completely undeserved. There is no doubt how Staunton's match with Morphy would have ended had it taken place. And Staunton, who was already about 50 years old, understood this very well, and therefore avoided the match in every possible way.
Morphy managed (together with T. Burns) to play against Staunton and J. Owen only two consulting games (+2-0=0). He also played a number of matches with the leading English masters and achieved convincing victories: over Burns (+19-7=1), S. Boden (+5-1=3), G. Byrd (+10-1=1), E .Leve (+6-0=0), J.Medley (+3-0, =0), Owen (+4-1=0), Leventhal (+9-3=2).
Thus, already at the age of 21, he became the universally recognized greatest world player.
Sensational for contemporaries was a session of simultaneous blindfold Morphy in Birmingham (+6-1=1). In Paris, Morphy won a match against Daniel Harwitz, had a blind session (+6-0=2) and played a number of easy games with the leading masters - P.Sh. Saint-Aman, J.A. de Riviere, J. Preti, P. Zhurnou and others.
In December 1858, Adolf Anderssen arrived in Paris to meet with Morphy. The match between them, which ended with a confident victory for Morphy (+7-2=2), actually decided the question of the strongest chess player in the world at that time. The German master calmly endured the blow. He publicly declared that the young American was stronger than all the masters known to him. In a letter to Laza in December 1859, Andersen wrote: “Playing with Morphy must give up all hope of trapping him in any subtle trap. Let him know that Morphy sees everything quite clearly and that there can be no question of an erroneous move with his slonony ... The impression that he made on me Morphy, I’ll best convey it if I say that he treats chess with the seriousness and conscientiousness of an artist... For him, a chess game is a sacred duty...”
The first Russian master A.D. Petrov drew attention to the fact that "what extraordinary strength in the ability to lead and deploy the game Morphy has. Consider carefully his games. Most of them are distinguished by thoroughness, fidelity in calculation and extraordinary far-sightedness in considerations".
The last match in Paris Morphy played with the president of the London Chess Club O. Montgredien (+7-0=1).
In the US, Morphy was met with an enthusiastic welcome. Receptions, banquets and greetings were an endless stream. Morphy was congratulated by prominent figures of American science and culture. For the first time, a victory over a chessboard was evaluated as an event of a national scale.
Alas, the matches with Andersen and Mongredien turned out to be Morphy's last serious performances. Declaring his readiness to give ahead a pawn and a move to any chess player in the world, Morphy refused serious performances: he rejected the challenges of Paulsen and Kolisch, limiting himself to easy games and playing for a handicap. Having visited Paris in 1863, Morphy played a number of easy games with Montgredien and Riviere (he also analyzed a number of positions with him for a jointly conceived opening guide).
Morphy's impressive victories convinced the chess world that the American master had no worthy rivals. "Morphy owns the secret of invincibility," the newspapers of the mid-19th century wrote, commenting on the results of matches with Leventhal, Harrwitz, Andersen. Morphy's win rate against strong opponents was exceptionally high. Such superiority over contemporaries was not found in future champions.
If we draw an analogy with the modern ranking of players according to the Elo system, then the list of the strongest players of that time looked like this (in descending order of game strength): 1. Morphy. 2. Andersen. 3. L. Paulsen. 4. Steinitz. 5. Kolish.
Morphy was endowed with an amazing gift: where his opponents, in search of the right path, went through countless options in their minds, Morphy, with the help of his sense of position, immediately discarded the excess, focused on the main thing and found the best move.
From the mid-1860s, Morphy suffered from severe mental illness, which essentially ended his chess career.
Contemporaries attributed Morphy's phenomenal successes to his exceptional combination talent. However, the games of the Morphy-Andersen match (the strongest chess players of that time) testify that Morphy's superiority manifested itself mainly in strategy. In the combination game, Andersen was not inferior to Morphy.
Morphy considered the mobilization of forces and the achievement of superiority in development to be the primary task. To avoid losing momentum or creating difficulties in the development of the opponent's forces, Morphy resorted to sacrifices. The subtle loss of pace that the opponents allowed during exchanges was clearly used by Morphy. Playing with White, he already in the opening created the preconditions for an attack, and with Black he tried to seize the initiative. Morphy attached great importance to the pawn center. Having an advantage in development and space, he undertook a pawn breakthrough, usually associated with the sacrifice of 1-2 pawns. Based mainly on general considerations, Morphy's sacrifices were of a pronounced positional nature. As a result of the breakthrough, Morphy opened the lines. His pieces, concentrated on the opened verticals and diagonals, acquired great strength: Morphy had a significant advantage in the direction of the main attack. Many of Morphy's games ended with a direct attack on the position of the opponent's king and a combination blow. However, the attack was not an end in itself for Morphy: if it was profitable, he willingly simplified the position, exchanged queens, preferring positional advantage in the endgame to unclear complications in the middlegame. At the same time, he demonstrated high technical skill. Morphy's strength was "deeply thought-out positional play of a predominantly aggressive nature"(Alexander Alekhine).
Leaving no literary chess heritage, Morphy, with his chess creativity, put forward the principles of the strategy of open positions. "Until now, Morphy is an unsurpassed master of open games. How great his importance is seen from the fact that nothing essentially new has been created in this area after Morphy. Every chess player - from beginner to master - must return to creativity again and again in his practice brilliant American"(Mikhail Botvinnik).
Although Morphy was far ahead of his contemporaries in the field of opening strategy, his own opening innovations were insignificant. Morphy was convinced that the ideas of rapid development could be implemented in a variety of ways.
With White, Morphy often used the Evans Gambit. After 1. e4 e5. 2. Nf3 Nc6. 3. Cc4 Cc5. 4. b4 Bxb4. 5. c3 Ca5. 6.d4ed. 7. 0-0 d6. 8 cd Bb6 he, in contrast to Andersen, who played 9. d5, preferred the move 9. Kc3, leading to an open piece fight.
Very often Morphy also used the popular opening of the past - the King's Gambit in all its variants. And he preferred open openings with black (1. e4 e5).
Morphy did not study chess composition, but sometimes he pleased his friends with amusing tasks, for example:
Morphy did not leave behind a single book, not a single analytical article. However, his games still appear on the pages of chess textbooks.
Paul Morphy was way ahead of his time. M. Euwe: "Morphy it is customary to call the greatest chess genius of all time… If the hallmark of a genius is that he goes far ahead of his era, then Morphy was a chess genius in the most perfect expression… Under all circumstances, even transferred to a much later era, he retained his reputation as a chess genius" (1937).
There was such a fuss that Garrwitz had to disappear from the Parisian chess horizon for a while.
All Parisian newspapers - from the serious "Monitor" to the humorous "Sharivari" - wrote about Paul Morphy from the day he appeared in Paris without interruption. He became a favorite character, moving from room to room.
One cartoon showed Britain receiving checks from India and asking Mr. Paul Morphy to help her in the game.
On another, a certain man refused to enter the Café de la Régence with his wife on the grounds that the American sitting there would take away his queen.
In all the illustrated newspapers, dozens of portraits of Paul were printed, but among them there were not even two like him.
In the autumn of 1858, Paul Morphy, the "little American", was one of the main attractions in Paris. Everyone knew and everyone loved him.
Saint-Amant wrote that Paul was able to satisfy a need that had long tormented Paris - the need for a hero.
The sculptor Lekan asked Paul to pose for him for a bust, and Paul dutifully sat in the workshop for long hours until the light metal bust was ready.
The bust was exhibited on the Champs Elysees, all of Paris ran to watch it and admire both the magnificent talent of the sculptor and the noble face of the original.
News of Paul penetrated high-society salons, invitations poured in from inaccessible mansions in the suburbs of Saint-Honoré and Saint-Germain, Paul made friends and admirers in the highest spheres.
Paul and the ubiquitous Edge were frequent visitors to the ducal box at the Italian Opera.
Once they gave the "Norm" to Bellini. During the intermission, Paul was forced to play against the Duke of Brunswick and Count Isoire, who were conferring. Paul sat with his back to the stage. The game developed in an interesting way, and the partners completely forgot that the second act was about to begin.
Paul, who grew up in a musical family, felt disgusting. He loved music, appreciated and respected the work of actors, but the duke and count did not literally let him go by force.
The prima donna, Madame Panko, who sang the part of the Druid priestess, threw contemptuous glances at the duke. The choristers, representing the druids, sang about "blood and fire" with particular expressiveness, often glancing at the ill-fated box.
Finally, Paul got angry and mated the duke and count, creating one of the eternal, undying parties.
Perhaps the most pleasant hours in Paris, Paul spent in the house of a baroness, famous as a patron of the arts.
The baroness was Creole by blood, she grabbed little Paul with an iron grip, led him by the arm through her mansion and introduced to everyone and everyone:
- Here, look! I finally found a real Creole in Paris! A purebred Creole, as lazy and careless as myself!
The Baroness loved chess. When she played with Paul, Lecane and Saint-Aman sat down beside her and did not allow her to make blunders. Naturally, almost all games ended in a draw. At the same time, all four commented on the parties in such a way that the audience died with laughter.
The Honorable Mr. Mason, Ambassador of the United States in Paris, frequented this house. He was very proud of Paul and showered him with signs of attention.
“Do you play chess yourself, Mr. Mason?” Paul asked him naively.
“My young friend! Mr Mason replied.
How can I not play chess? That would be an insult to the memory of Benjamin Franklin, in whose house I live!
The Hotel Maris soon bored Paul, and they moved to the Hotel Breteuil, on the corner of Rue Dauphin and Rue Rivoli. It was a stone's throw from the best parts of the city and from the Café de la Regence.
These rooms were formerly occupied by Saint-Amand. By the window stood an old office of rare work. Edge sat down for him every morning and cursed, not knowing where to put his long legs.
Paul Morphy was very lazy at writing. It seemed that it was not he who in his youth filled up a huge number of notebooks with lectures and notes, it was not he who worked out for himself a small pearl cursive that surprised calligraphers.
Now it was almost impossible to get him to write. Edge even wrote letters to his family for him, conscientiously listing successes, cities and dates. Paul was so used to trusting Edge that he didn't even read what he had written. He knew that everything would be set out neatly and conscientiously, he took a pen and wrote from below: “Kisses to everyone. Floor". And the letter went on a long journey.
Shortly after the move to the Hotel Breteuil, a middle-aged man came to see Paul one morning, with slow movements and dull gray-blue eyes.
The vigilant Edge asked him dryly:
“What do you want from Mr. Morphy, monsieur?”
“I don't want anything, I just wanted to look at Mr. Morphy. The thing is, you see, I am the direct and only grandson of François Philidor...
Paul ran out of the next room where he had been listening to the conversation.
- How? Are you the grandson of the great Philidor, monsieur? What is your name?
- Also Francois-Andre-Danican ... In our family, this is a family name.
- Do you play chess too?
- No, Monsieur Morphy, I sell cloth.
- But why?
- Bearing the name and surname of the great Philidor, Monsieur Morphy, playing mediocre is blasphemy! I tried to play, I have no chess skills, alas ... Good evening, Monsieur Morphy!
And the strange visitor left without even saying goodbye to Edge. Obviously, he saw everything he wanted to see.
At the end of October, a letter arrived from Breslau from Adolf Andersen. Andersen wrote that the Department of Mathematics at the Breslau State Gymnasium had no way of giving him a vacation in the middle of the academic year.
The only thing he will try to do is come to Paris for the Christmas holidays, come specifically to see the famous young American.
- It's a pity! Paul said disappointed. - By Christmas I will be on my way home... It's a shame that I didn't have to play with Adolf Andersen, I appreciate his amazing game!
- You will not leave, Mr. Morphy, but you will play with Andersen for Christmas! Edge suddenly said rudely.
"Are you going to stop me from leaving?" Paul asked him mockingly.
- No, not me. You yourself will not allow this. Without a victory over Andersen, the list of your European victories will be incomplete. Andersen is playing much stronger than Staunton now, and you know it very well. Europe won't let you leave!
"So I'll have to re-stubborn Europe!"
– Bravo! Edge said. - I wish you success!
And Edge immediately sat down to work, which he kept a secret. Without saying a word to anyone, he sent letters to all the leading clubs in England and the continent. He asked the clubs to intervene and not let such a rare opportunity disappear as the possibility of the Morphy-Andersen match.
"Paul Morphy's meeting with Adolf Andersen should fabulously enrich the chess treasury!" Edge wrote.
And the clubs supported him. A week later, the response letters rained down. They wrote Amsterdam and Leipzig, Brussels and Rome, Breslau and Berlin, Stockholm and St. Petersburg.
From London's St. George's Club, a petition arrived, signed by many people.
Edge had one more "medical trump card" in reserve: the doctor who treated Paul believed that his state of health was not such as to cross the Atlantic in winter. The doctor wrote a certificate, and Edge carefully sent it to New Orleans.
The deed was done. Paul stayed in Europe.
Meeting Harrwitz on the street, Edge said to him as affectionately as he could:
“Mr. Garrwitz, you will certainly be happy: Mr. Morphy has decided to spend a few more months in Paris.
Harrwitz replied rather rudely:
“So Mr. Morphy is not a man of his word!”
In tabloid newspapers, where Harrwitz was his own man, the following note soon appeared:
"The famous Mr. Morphy yielded to the insistence of his friend Maestro D. Garrwitz and finally agreed to stay in Paris until spring."
Created: March 15, 2011 Views: 15769It was in the spring of 1850. While touring the southern cities of the United States, the Hungarian master Johann Löwenthal stopped in New Orleans. He was asked to play with a boy who was not yet thirteen years old. The game ended... in a draw. Three days later, the master appeared for a new meeting and lost!
The boy's full name was Paul Charles Morphy. He was born on June 22, 1837. His father, Alonzo Morphy, a member of the Louisiana Supreme Court, was a descendant of a noble Hispano-Irish Creole family, his mother, née Le Carpentier, was French.
At first, Paul studied at the Jefferson Academy (that was the loud name of the elementary school). Then at a privileged college in Spring Hill, Alabama. Morphy graduated from college in 1855 and entered the University of Louisiana. It took him only two years to complete his university course. Henceforth, "Paul Charles Morphy, Esq.," said his diploma, "is authorized to practice law throughout the United States." However, Morphy could use this right only a year later - he was 20 years old, and according to American laws, the age of majority is considered to be 21 years old.
The result of the meetings with Leventhal was not an accident. Probably, even then, young Morphy played the power of a good master. In the autumn of 1857, the "First American Chess Congress Tournament" was held under the so-called cup system. There were 16 participants in total, and among them - Morphy. Among the favorites were Charles Stanley, as well as Louis Paulsen and Theodor Lichtengein - masters who moved to America from Germany. But it turned out differently. The match in New York marked the beginning of Morphy's unparalleled chess career. They played small matches up to three victories, in the final competition - up to five. Easily defeating all opponents, Morphy defeated L. Paulsen in the final match (+5, -1,=2).
L.Paulsen - P.Morphy
(6th game of the match)
In an effort to carry out d2 - d4, Paulsen played c2-c3 with the previous move, and Morphy with an excellent blockade maneuver 12...Fd3! divided the enemy forces.
13. b4.
Paulsen decides to open the a-file in order to release the queen's rook from imprisonment. If 13. Re1, then 13...Rxe1+ 14. Qxe1 Nf5 15. Qe2 (15. Bxc6 is bad because of 15... Rd8 followed by 16... Rd6) 15... Rd8, and the exchange of queens - 16. Qxd3 Bxd3 - doesn't make things easier for White. On 17. B:c6? wins 17...Rd6 18. Bf3 Re6.
13...Sb6 14. a4ba 15. Qxa4CD7 (more precisely 15...Bb7!) 16. La2?
Mandatory was 16. Qa6! If 16...Rd6, then 17. Qxd3 Rxd3 18. Be4 and 19. d4. On 16...Qxa6 17. Rxa6 Rae8 White answered 18. d4 Re1 19. Ce3.
After playing 16. Ra2, Paulsen was going to suggest an exchange of queens on c2. This delay turns out to be fatal.
16... Lae8(threatening 17...Q:f1+ with mate) 17. Fa6 .
Late! By sacrificing the queen, Morphy creates irresistible threats to the white king.
It has been argued that Paulsen would have saved the game if he had played 17. Qd1. Indeed, the combination that happened in the game would then be impossible. However, after 17...Re5! there can be no question of any salvation. Threatening is 18... Ce6 and Be6 - c4. In case of 18. Ra1 Be6 19. Re1 decides 19...Bb3 20. Rxe5 Rxe5 21. Qf1 Qxf1+ 22. Kxf1 Bc4+.
17... F: f3!! 18. gfLg6+ 19. Kph1 Ch3 20. Ld1.
The more stubborn 20. Qd3 obliged Black to find the move 20...f5 (not allowing the opponent to give up a queen for a rook, Black threatens mate: 21...Cg2+ and 22... Cxf3X). After 21. Qc4+ Kpf8! (but not 21...Kph8? because of 22. Qf7!) mate threatens again. Neither 22. Qh4 Bxf1, nor 22. Rg1 Rxg1+ and 23...Re1+ can save.
20... cg2+ 21. Kpg1 C: f3+ 22. Kpf1 cg2+
(here it was possible to force checkmate in 4 moves by 22...Rg2) 23. Kpg1 Ch3+ (Morphy goes into a winning ending; the maneuver 23...Be4+ 24. Kpf1 Bf5 led to checkmate) 24. Kph1 C: f2 25. Ff1 C: f1 26. L:f1 Le2 27. La1 Lh6 28. d4 Se3 ! White resigned.
So 20-year-old Morphy became America's first chess player.
In addition to the tournament, Morphy played more than 250 games in New York, including more than 150 with a handicap. The vast majority of them ended in his victory. Out of 100 equal games, Morphy lost only 5! He inflicted ten defeats on Paulsen, the most powerful of American opponents, losing only once and making three draws.
The New World was conquered, and Morphy's friends began to fuss about his match with Howard Staunton. The famous English master was sent an invitation to come to America. But Staunton said that, busy with literary research work on the preparation of a new edition of Shakespeare's dramas, he had retired from serious practice for many years and, unfortunately, would not be able to make a trip to New Orleans.
Rejecting the invitation and not giving any promises regarding a possible meeting in England, Staunton, however, did not refuse directly from the game with Morphy. And Morphy, having received an invitation from the British Chess Association to a congress in Birmingham, in the summer of 1858 went overseas.
Morphy was in a hurry to meet with Staunton, but there was nowhere to hurry. After agreeing in principle to play the match for $5,000, Staunton demanded a one-month delay. Instead of a match, the English master did not mind playing two consulting games: Staunton and Owen (the English master) against Morphy and another English master, Burns. This interesting competition took place at the St. George Chess Club. Both games ended in victory for Morphy (and Burns).
Success in consultation meetings only fueled Morphy's desire to fight Staunton one-on-one. The thought of defeating Staunton was haunting him, despite the fact that the "First International Tournament" in London (1. Andersen, 2. Wayville, 3. Williams, 4. Staunton) clearly showed that the famous English master was the first chess player of the Old World was no longer.
As soon as he arrived in London, Morphy learned that the Birmingham convention had been rescheduled for August. The decision on the match with Staunton required time, and Morphy had no choice but to start fighting with the English masters.
His first opponent was Burns. Morphy finished the meetings with a clear advantage: +19, -7, =1. Following Burns, the young American cracks down on Boden (+5, -1, =3), Byrd (+10, -1, =1), Levé (+6), Medley (+3) and Owen (+4, =1 ).
Later, in August, Morphy played a small match with Owen, giving the f7-pawn ahead. Out of 7 games, the English master lost 5 and drew only two!
The most stubborn of Morphy's English opponents was Loewenthal, who at that time was at the zenith of his fame.
After a draw in the 1st meeting, Morphy won three games in a row. Despite the desperate resistance of Leventhal, the match ended with the victory of the American with the result (+9, -3, =2).
Having received a bet of 100 pounds collected for Leventhal and having learned that the defeated opponent was short of money, Morphy presented him with a gift: for the entire amount he ordered furniture for Leventhal for his apartment ...
In Birmingham, where Morphy arrived to give a session without looking at the board, Staunton was forced to confirm his consent to play the match in front of witnesses, but not immediately, but two months later, in November 1858.
The session in Birmingham, which lasted four and a half hours, caused a sensation. Playing blindly against eight fairly strong players, Morphy won 6 games, lost only one and ended one in a draw.
“Morphy is higher than Caesar, for he came and, without seeing, conquered!” remarked one American scientist at a banquet in honor of Morphy upon his return to the United States.
Since the match with Staunton could only take place in November, Morphy leaves the British capital and heads for Paris. Here, in the famous chess cafe "Rezhana", the walls of which saw the game of Legal and Philidor, Deschanel and Labourdonnay, Staunton and Saint-Aman, Daniel Harrwitz, a native of Breslau and a countryman of Andersen, the winner of the "First International Tournament", excelled.
In one of the games played by Morphy in the Café Rezhane, an amusing episode took place. Morphy's opponent was Alphonse Delannoy, an employee of the French chess magazine Palamede, who played with white pieces.
Morphy played 1...Lfe8, leaving the elephant under attack. Taking an elephant 2. S:s7, Delannoy, not without irony, remarked: “To allow such views, it was not worth coming from America to Europe!”.
In response, Morphy announced a checkmate to him in six moves: 2...L:f2 3. Cr:f2 (if 3. Qg5, then 3...Lee2)
3... Le2+!4. Cr: e2 F: g2+5. kpe1 Fg1+ 6. kpd2 (or 6. Kpe2 Ch5X) 6... Ff2+ 7.Kpd1 Ch5X.
The match with Harrwitz, held in September 1858, was played up to seven victories. Morphy agreed to accept all the bets offered by Garrwitz's friends!
Before the competition "for warm-up" played one preliminary game. Harrwitz won. He then won two matches.
With the score 0:2, Morphy unleashed a series of heavy blows on the opponent. Four defeats in a row broke Garrwitz. Due to (or under the pretext?) illness, he asked to interrupt the match for a week. Morphy agreed.
During this pause, the American master held a session on eight boards blindly against the best chess players of the Café Régence. Only two of them managed to make a draw. A week later, the match with Harrwitz resumes. After a draw in the 7th game and a new defeat in the 8th, Harrwitz again began negotiations for a truce.
Here Morphy did not yield, and the match arbiter, the French sculptor Lekan, with a score of +5, -2, = 1 in favor of the American master, counted Garrwitz a defeat.
The stakes won by Morphy amounted to about 300 francs. Noticing that, according to the terms of the match, the winner of seven games gets the prize, while he, Morphy, won only five, the American refused to accept the bets. He distributed them to those who agreed to this, and donated the remaining amount to pay for the travel expenses of his next rival, Andersen, who was rushing to Paris.
Morphy's hopes of meeting Staunton were never realized. In a letter published in the chess section of the Illustrated London News, Staunton said that due to his literary work and his current questionable form, he refuses to play with Morphy.
But here comes the winner of the "First International Tournament" Adolf Andersen to Paris. He finds Morphy in a hotel room. Morphy is sick and won't get out of bed. Therefore, the game has to be postponed for a few days.
By the beginning of the match, Morphy was still not recovered, and it was decided to play in a specially designated hotel room. Match conditions are the same as with Harrwitz: up to seven wins. As has happened more than once, the beginning of the fight was unfavorable for Morphy. He lost the 1st meeting and drew in the 2nd. And then... Then Andersen lost five games in a row, after which no one doubted the outcome of the struggle. With a stunning result of +7, -2, =2, Morphy won this duel, historically much more important than the match with the middle-aged, and most importantly, insecure Staunton - the match that the American master so vainly sought.
P.Morphy - A.Andersen
(7th game of the match)
1 e4d5 2. edF:d5 3. Nc3 Fa5 4.d4 e5.
Later, 4...Kf6 was played here, and on 5. Kf3 - 5...Cg4.
5. de.
This move is justified by the opponent's stereotyped response. Black's backwardness in development was most sharply emphasized by 5. Kf3!
5...Qxe5+.
Now Black is hopelessly late in mobilizing his forces.
6. Ce2 Cb4 7. Kf3!
Morphy willingly sacrifices a pawn in order to open the b-file and even exchange the opponent's newly developed piece.
7...S:s3 + .
Andersen decides to "drink the bitter cup to the bottom."
8. bcQ:s3+ 9.CD2 Qs510. Lb1.
White pieces are ready for decisive action, while black has only one queen in play. The white rook shoots through the b-file, and the exchange of the f8-bishop also has an effect - 11. Bb4 threatens. The extra pawn is Black's only consolation.
10...Kc6 11. 0-0 Kf6 12. cf4 0-0!
Correct solution. Black has no time to defend the pawn.
13. S:s7.
A more energetic continuation of the attack was probably 13. Rb5 Qe7 14. Re1 and 15. Bd3.
13... kd4! 14. F:d4 F:s7 15.CD3 cg4 .
Taking advantage of the respite, Black should have made the important prophylactic move 15...h6.
16 . kg5! Rfd8.
Both 17. Ne4 Nxe4 18. Qxe4 f5 19. Qd5+ Kph8 20. Rxb7 and 17. Nxh7 Nxh7 18. Qxg4 were threatening. In case of 16...Ch5 17. Ne4 Kg4 18. Kg3 b6 the unexpected 19. Rb5! put Black in a hopeless position.
17. Fb4! Ss8.
The lesser evil was 17...a5 18. Qxb7 Qxb7 19. Rxb7 Rd7, agreeing to play the endgame down a pawn.
18. Lfe1.
18...a5.
On 18...h6 Morphy prepared the required mate: 19. Re7 Rd7 20. Re8+ Nxe8 21. Ch7+ Kph8 22. Qf8x.
19. Qe7!
The easiest. Invading the 7th rank with the rook, Morphy wins a pawn, and soon the game.
19...Qxe7 20. Rxe7kd5 21. From:h7+ Kph8 22. L:f7
(only not 22. Rd1? in view of 22...Cg4! and Black already wins!) 22...Ks3 2 3 . Le1 N:a2 24. Lf4 la6 25. CD3 . Black resigned.
There was no longer any doubt about the complete superiority of Morphy: now he played with the best of the Old World masters. The match with Andersen decided the question of the strongest chess player in the world. After Andersen, Morphy had no one to compete with, and he offered a handicap - the f7 pawn - to any French chess player.
Garrwitz did not consider himself to be "any chess player" and when Morphy sent him such a challenge, he was reasonably offended. Looking ahead, let's say that another great master, L. Paulsen, will do the same later.
Before saying goodbye to Europe, Morphy had several performances in England. These were sessions of simultaneous blind play in the London (+2,-6) and St. George's (+5,=3) chess clubs, as well as a head-to-head session in the St. James Club against the masters (+2,-1,=2) . In the last club, Morphy fought his recent opponents: Byrd, Leventhal, Boden, Burns and the French master, later his friend Arnoux de Rivière.
Thus ended Morphy's journey to Europe, which lasted a little more than ten months. In America, a solemn meeting was arranged for the young master. The official honoring took place on June 25, 1859 in New York. The appearance of Morphy in the hall, which gathered over 2,000 people, was greeted with an anthem. The opponents defeated by him were invisibly present at the ceremony: their names were inscribed on the shields installed in the hall.
Morphy answered the welcoming speeches with great tact. Expressing gratitude to his compatriots, he respectfully spoke of his European rivals.
At the end of the celebration, Morphy was presented with a gift to the nation: a rosewood table inlaid with pearls and silver and a chessboard of mother-of-pearl and ebony. Gold and silver figures on carnelian pedestals symbolized the battle of distant times. On the lid of the box for figures, studded with diamonds, Morphy's monogram was executed with great skill. In addition, he was presented with a custom-made gold watch with diamonds. The numbers were red and black chess pieces.
Receptions, banquets and greetings were an endless stream. Morphy was congratulated by prominent figures of American science and culture. For the first time, a victory over a chessboard was evaluated as an event of a national scale.
Alas, the match with Andersen turned out to be Morphy's last serious performance. Returning to his homeland, he declared that he was ready to play without the f7-pawn with any chess player in the world. Having received no answer to his challenge, the winner of Andersen announced that he no longer intended to seriously engage in chess.
Morphy never played a single real game against a real opponent. The attempt made by L. Paulsen in the autumn of 1859 to meet with Morphy on an equal footing was not successful. While Paulsen considered accepting Morphy's terms and then convincing him to play a real match after winning, Morphy demonstrated his art in New York and New Orleans. In total, he played over a hundred games, mainly by giving a knight or rook forward, but also without looking at the board and against consultants.
It is curious that among the chess players to whom Morphy successfully gave the knight forward were the participants in the New York tournament of 1857 Thompson, Mick and Lichtengein!
However, on his next visit to New York in the fall of 1860, Morphy played only a few games at a New York reception, Morphy, in particular, said that “chess should never be anything but a means of recreation ... they should remain just a game, a means to refresh the mind after serious professional work ... "
However, the work that the world's first chess player decided to devote himself to - the practice of law - did not bring him success.
In 1861, the slave-owning South united into an independent confederation of American states - the Civil War broke out in the country.
Morphy tried to get a diplomatic appointment from the government of the South, but failed.
In the autumn of 1863 Morphy was back in Paris. He listens to music, occasionally plays or analyzes opening variations with Arnoux de Rivière, but does not even go to the Rezhane cafe. In February 1864, Morphy sets out on his return journey.
Morphy's next, third and last trip to Paris in 1867 during the World Exhibition no longer leaves any traces of chess - he does not even play easy games. He does not attend the III International Tournament, which is taking place just in those days.
The most recent games played by Morphy date back to 1869. The constant and last opponent of the great chess player was his school friend Charles Mornand. Morphy gave the horse ahead.
From his youthful years, the nervous and impressionable Morphy was prone to mental disorders. Signs of a severe mental illness became especially noticeable after his return from a second trip to Paris. It became more and more obvious that the great master was lost not only for chess...
Every day at the same hour, impeccably dressed, with the same flower in his buttonhole, he walked through the streets of New Orleans. But relatives knew that he was getting worse and worse. Severe headaches, a feeling of depression, fear of strangers, which turned into a persecution mania - these and other symptoms of a serious illness were intensifying.
In 1879, the chess world learned from Dr. Meredith's letters that Morphy was in a state of hopeless psychic confusion. His brother Eduard and Morian repeatedly issued denials, but their statements only fueled new rumors.
On June 10, 1884, as usual, Morphy went for a walk. It was hot, and when he returned, he asked for a cool bath to be prepared for him. Death came from a hemorrhage in the brain.
The great maestro died at the age of forty-seven.
* * *
Morphy was endowed with an amazing gift. Where his opponents went over countless options in their minds in search of the right path, Morphy, with the help of his truly infallible sense of position, discarded the superfluous and, focusing on the main thing, found the objectively best move with extraordinary ease. This sense of position, or, as it is otherwise called, chess instinct, like Ariadne's thread, led Morphy out of the labyrinth of variations in which his partners wandered and entangled.
Although Morphy left the arena of chess battles two decades earlier than Andersen, his work marks the next, more mature stage in the development of chess art.
A study of the games of the Andersen-Morphy match shows that Morphy the strategist stood head and shoulders above Andersen, while in the art of combination play they were equal. "Sense of position" is the key to the victory of the American master in the winter of 1858. What Morphy was clear even then, Andersen realized only at the end of his chess career. Morphy combinations were successful because they were based on a much stronger positional foundation.
The American master never spoke with theoretical generalizations, and by his play he put forward the principles underlying the strategy of open positions. Using the example of such positions, Morphy clearly demonstrated the interconnectedness of the three main factors of chess struggle: force, space and time.
Such was Paul Charles Morphy- the last uncrowned chess king, one of the greatest geniuses of chess art.
