hello everyone and welcome to my new
video in the series top 10 facts about
Paul Charles Morphy number 1 Paul Morphy
was born on June 22nd 1837 he was an
American chess player considered to have
been the greatest chess master of his
era and an unofficial world chess
champion. He was the chess prodigy he was
called the pride and sorrow of chess
because he had a brilliant but brief
chess career and retired from the game
while still young. Number 2 Morphy was
born in New Orleans Louisiana to a
wealthy and distinguished family. He
learned to play chess by simply watching
games between his father and uncle. His
family soon recognized the boy's talent
and encouraged him to play at family
gatherings and by the age of nine he was
considered to be one of the best players
in New Orleans. At just 12 years of age
Morphy defeated the visiting Hungarian
master Johann Lowenthal's
in a match of three games. Number three
According to his uncle Ernest Morphy
no one formally taught Murphy how to
play chess, rather, Morphy learned on his
own as a young child simply from
watching others play. After silently
watching a lengthy game between Ernest
and Alonso which they abandoned as drawn, young Paul surprised them by stating
that Ernest should have won. His
father and uncle had not realized that
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 winn his uncle had
missed. In the opening he makes the right
moves as is by inspiration and it is
astonishing to note the precision of his
calculations in the middle and the end
game. When seated before the chess board
his face shows no agitation even in the
most critical positions. In such cases he
generally whistles an air through his
teeth and patiently seeks for the
combination to get him out of trouble.
Further, he plays three or four severe
games every Sunday, the only day on which
his father allows them to play without
rolling the least fatigue. Number 4
The inaugural chess Congress was held in
New York in 1857 when Morphy was
only 20 years old. At the time it was the
strongest chess tournament in American
history. The inaugural chess congress
tournament took place on Broadway in New York City. Among those competing were the
American chess champion Charles Henry
Stanley, New York state champion Samuel
Calthorpe, New York chess club champion
Napoleon Marache and the German chess
master Louis Paulsen. Morphy successfully moved through the first three rounds
achieving a combined score of nine wins,
no losses and one
draw. The final round of the tournament
was played between Morphy and Paulsen. One
of those final games lasted 15 hours
reportedly because Paulsen moved so
slowly. Morphy dominated Paulsen winning five games, losing only one and achieving
a draw for the two games. Number five
Morphy traveled to London in 1858 with
the intention of playing Staunton.
Staunton agreed to the match and
published the terms in the London
Illustrated news. The match would consist
of 21 games for a stake of 500 pounds. At Queens College in Birmingham England
while waiting for something to name a
date for the match Morphy played eight
chess masters at the same time. They were led by Lord Littleton, president of the
British Chess Association. Morphy won
six games, lost only one and tied
another. The achievement understandably
shocked the British chess world. Staunton
had not yet named the date for their
chess match so Morphy sailed to France.
While there he gave an eight board blind
simultaneous exhibition against members
of the chess venue Cafe de la Regenca,
sitting alone for ten hours. He scored
six wins, no losses and two draws. He
eventually won a repeatedly delayed
match against the Cafe de la Regenca
champion Daniel Harrwitz.  Morphy was the
toast of Paris and accepted an
invitation from the King and Queen of
France, Emperor Napoleon the third and
Empress Eugenie.
Although the match with Staunton never took place because of Staunton's ill health,
well, or so he claimed. Morphy was already considered the
strongest player in the world and
Staunton was accused of being a coward.
Number six - Morphy played with outmost honor,
he never dodged a game, not even when
sick, and never made any excuses. He
always treated his opponents with proper
respect regardless of their disposition
towards him. Morphy played anyone under
any conditions. In matches he accepted
every term or demand from his opponents
and made no demands in return, except one
universal request, that the match be
played for honor
rather than stakes, a request to which
only Anderssen agreed. Even playing
blindfold against multiple opponents,
Morpy always tried to obtain the
strongest opponents. He seem to have more
to prove to himself than to the rest of
the world.
Number seven - Another aspect of Morphy's
genius that may not have been mentioned
is his ability to adapt. In his match
against Harrwizt, Morphy lost the first
two games. He didn't get the sort of wide
open heavily technical games in which he
was so deadly, and he was outplayed
positionally.
Morphy adapted though, and won the next
four games of the match, not by forcing
play along tactical lines but by
positional means. He learned and adapted
immediately on the basis of the first
two games and was already a stronger
player as a result. He went on to win the
match five and a half to two and a half.
That Morphy was able to adapt so quickly
and then outplay Harrwitz positionally
suggests that if he were transported to
the modern era he could do well today if
he had the motivation and time to learn
and prepare. Number eight - Before retiring,
Morphy offered his challenge to play
anyone in the world at odds of a pawn and
a move. No one accepted, but in all
fairness, this was a double-edged
challenge. Anyone who played Morphy at
odds and won wouldn't have beaten Morphy, except at a disadvantage and is that
person lost his skill would forever be
in question. So, for any serious opponent
it was a no-win situation. However, Morphy
was entitled to such a challenge. It's
possible it was also his way of retiring
gracefully. Number nine - It's pointless to
argue who was the greatest chess player
of all time. In Morphy's case it's
sufficient to say that during his brief
chess career he attempted to meet the
greatest players available and those he
did meet, he beat on their own terms
without so much as a close match. It's
hard to compare someone who was in a
league of his own. And number 10 -In 1859
Morphy returned to London. Staunton
refused to follow through with their
intended match. That same year Morphy was
invited to a private invitation with
Queen Victoria of England. It was
reported that in the garden of
Buckingham Palace, Morphy gallantly let
the queen win their game. People were a lot
more interested in Morphy the chess
player than Morphy the lawyer. His law
practice didn't last long and it's said a
woman declined his marriage proposal
because she didn't want someone who was
just a chess player. Paul Charles Morphy
died in New Orleans on July 10th 1884
and was buried in st. Louis cemetery.
Morphy's legacy to the game of chess
was extraordinary.
Chessmaster Adolf Anderssen said of
Morphy: I consider mr. Morphy the
finest chess player who ever existed.
Emanuel Lasker is quoted of saying: no one ever was so far superior to the players
of his time. And the great chess champion Bobby Fischer is reported to have said
the following of Morphy:
perhaps the most accurate chess player
who ever lived.
