Poll of the week (19) Great players of all time:
" do you think about Paul Morphy? Paul Charles Morphy, 'The eagle of Louisiana'
An unsurpassed master in open play
"Paul Morphy, the young American for more than a century the world astonished with his chess prowess, joined Romantic school prevailing in his time a new concept in the assessment of the game: development. The theoretical basis of his ideas against the prior board development revolves around the initial aim of the struggle. Linking this concept to their formidable talents combined, Morphy dominated an era with his brilliant play, beautiful and at the same time, simple and effective "(Benito López Esnaola, on the back of his book" Morphy, his life and 353 items " )
"For me to fight against this man is useless, given its tremendous force. His accuracy as a mechanism, it is always deadly. "(Adolf Anderssen, after playing the celebrated 1858 match in Paris against him).
"Morphy is chess with the seriousness and the scruples of an artist. As for us the effort that a game becomes a source of distraction and lasts as long as the enjoyment of it, for it is as a sacred duty. Never a game of chess was for him a hobby, has always been a problem that required all his effort, a work of vocation that is applied as if on a mission "(Adolf Anderssen) 
Anderssen vs
. Morphy, Paris 1858 match
"Morphy's career marks a great epoch in the history of our game and a careful study of his games will always be essential to acquire a thorough knowledge of direct attack against the king, which is the most important element of the expertise of our science "(Wilhelm Steinitz)
" In Paul Morphy the spirit of Labourdonnais reincarnated in an even more strong, firm and proud. Morphy discovered that the brilliant play of the teacher is, in essence, determined not by a sudden and inexplicable illumination, but the situation of the pieces on the board. introduced the rule that the moves brilliant and profound winning maneuvers are only possible in those positions in which the opponent can oppose an excess of active energy. From the first play, Morphy was to show the internal energy contained in its parts. The truth is that, suddenly, his pieces had much more dynamic than the enemy forces. "(Emanuel Lasker) vs Paulsen. Morphy, Final American Chess Congress, New York 1857
"Morphy was the first positional player who understood the strategic rationale for the attack, unlike its romantic rivals "(Richard Reti)
" In reviewing the history of chess, from Labourdonnais to current teachers, and Lasker, we find that the greatest stylist was Morphy. No complicated combinations sought, but neither prevented, what is the correct way to play. Its main strength is not the combinative ability, but his positional play and his style. Morphy achieved most of their victories playing in a simple and straightforward and simple and logical method is what is the true brilliance of his game, at least when considered from the point of view of the great masters "(Jose Raul Capablanca ) vs Morphy. Löwenthal, London 1858 match
"The more vivid and richer appears to us the figure of Morphy, the lighter is the secret of his success, if we move to the time he lived and created, if we take the trouble to study, even slightly, their contemporaries! Let their way through London and especially Paris, where the traditions of Philidor still alive, where the immortal creations and McDonnell Labourdonnais remain in our memory at a time, in order, which was still alive Anderssen, and only brilliantly could hardly surprised anyone. The strength, the invincible force of Morphy, that was the reason for its success and the guarantee of immortality. "(Alexander Alekhine)
" If the hallmark of a genius is that it is much more advanced than his age, then Morphy was a chess genius in the fullest sense of the term. "(Max Euwe) giving simultaneous blind Morphy at the Cafe de la Regence Paris
"Until today, Morphy is an unsurpassed master in open play. To understand how great was his significance, the evidence is sufficient to note that nothing substantially new has been created in the field since Morphy. Every player, from beginner to master, should play over and over again, heading the American genius. "(Mikhail Botvinnik)
" There is no doubt that Morphy chess was an art, or that for chess Morphy was a great artist. His game was made by the freshness of thinking and boundless energy. He played with inspiration, without bothering to penetrate the psychology of his opponent. Played, if we say so, a pure chess. Its harmonious positional understanding and profound insight Morphy would have made a very dangerous opponent for even the most skilled players of our era "(Vassily Smyslov) Morphy playing with the Queen Victoria Palace
Buckingham, London 1859
"One popular theory is that if Paul Morphy chess back today, and playing against the best contemporary players, lost. Nothing is further from the truth. In a match, Morphy would beat any player alive today. Morphy was perhaps the most accurate player many have lived. Had a complete picture of the board and never make mistakes, although that plays very quickly, because only rarely needed more than five minutes to decide on a play, while their opponents, then, often took hours "( Bobby Fischer)
"I have analyzed hundreds of items of Morphy and his genius always surprised me that he admired. I needed twenty minutes to find answers as to why he had made some moves in the positions that seemed lost. Besides, he had an extraordinary technique in the endgame. His only flaw, perhaps, was the game close, as the Dutch defense "(Bobby Fischer)
"Morphy was probably the greatest genius of all. What he did was extraordinary" (Bobby Fischer)
"In Morphy that combines a unique natural talent and brilliant erudition "(Garry Kasparov)
Beautiful mate at the opera:
Perhaps the best known is the game of Morphy played the blind woman with the Duke of Brunswick and Count Isouard in consultation during the intermission of a performance of 'The Barber of Seville' at the Paris Opera , 1858. It not only checks the prodigious talent tactical winner, but the beauty of the final combination, also really anthology. So things happened to "the famous treasure of Morphy," as David Bronstein called this item.
videos of the game commented on by the MF Leontxo Garcia (the game starts at minute 7 of the first video):
Morphy Other items recommended:
vs Paulsen. Morphy 1857. Morphy In this position he played 17 ... Qxf3!
composed Morphy working at age 9: "The next position, corresponding to a composition attributed to Morphy. AC White says on this problem, "The White Rook" who could not find news of it until 1888, when I taught H. Lehner, editor of "Lasehalle" and said it was the only issue made by Morphy. As we have ascertained, was composed when he was nine and it seems very clever and simple, especially considering the young age of great Morphy. It also seems true that was published in 1856. "(López Esnaola," Morphy, his life and 353 items ").
White to play and mate in 2 moves to the final solution
of this note
Morphy
Trivia: The first love of Paul Morphy:
"When it came the story of this event was Paul Morphy or teacher or even had defeated world champion Anderssen , although it was known as a genius. I was at that time sixteen years old and was studying in high school, a year after completion in the Jesuit Colegio San José, State of Alabama. It was spring 1855 when one of his raids student saw some graceful young daughter of a gardener who took care of their own land, living adjacent to the Paul guys. That is obvious to see it and love was all one. The crush own romantic times and Becquer Heine sang!
But Paul had arrived late. A mighty rival opposed his amorous projects. It was his own cousin Ernest, two years his senior and son of its neighbors guys mentioned the young lady, who was hooked. This was enough reason for the emergence of the usual discussions of family, Paul avoided challenging Ernest to a match of chess at six games, the conditions were:
1 - The games would be played with the forced opening of the Evans Gambit, fashionable at that time. 2 - Paul gave an advantage of time, just having a moment of reflection for each move, while Ernest, could think all he wanted, so the forces would balance. 3 - The winner would be entitled in usufruct to the alleged favors the pretty girl, but the loser might oppose his rival with unfair competition. Agreed then, these conditions, it played the love of the desired treasure in the field of honor of chess. The victory corresponded to Paul, who defeated his opponent four times cousin, losing only one game and making other tables. But this victory was not completed in the realm of Eros, as the report Paul to the lady his claims, by the triumph achieved response obtained gourds the size of a cathedral. And the tradition has not stopped all of that, but the future father who happened to witnessed the scene from hidden place, but gave the trouser a series of noogies, by way of perpetual check that out not in desperate flight, take root there forever that world chess genius " (English Chess, 1948) Trivia: Morphy chivalry:
Lewis Elkin and Paul Morphy
In an interview with Bobby Fischer made Dimitrje Bjelica prominent journalist, he posed the following question:
"Can you tell his favorite story of the chess world?" To which Fischer said "The one I like is a story about Morphy. It was the turn of its rival and, at that time clocks were not used, was thinking about five hours . Morphy was a true gentleman and would not put him hurry. But after five hours, asked: "Excuse me, but why not play at once? - His opponent replied: - "Ah, but I get to play me?". Some paranoia and eccentricity:
- Morphy in 1862 gave a simultaneous display of 8 to blind in Havana while dancing waltz and quadrille.
- the end of his life was the paranoia that several people, including his brother, tried to poison him, and for a time refused to take food, except when they came from the hands of his mother or his sister.
- Another of his false fears was that his brother-and a close friend, Binder, conspired to destroy their clothes, of which boasted Morphy, and kill him. On one occasion he appeared at the office of Binder and attacked him.
- For a time he dominated the hobby of traveling from one end to another, the roof of his house, reciting the following words: "Il Planter's bannière de Castille sur les murs de Madrid gagnèe au cri de Ville et le petit Roi tout s'en Penaud anger "(nod the banner of Castile on the walls of Madrid conquered the city shouting, and the little king will move away shamed).
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"Morphy crisis exposed the features that had previously been sublimated in chess: the memory back to a fixation their childhood environment, the prospect fell into voyeurism, satisfied with the opera, by the contemplation of the female faces, and through his eccentric habit of putting women's shoes in a semicircle. When asked why he enjoyed putting them well, said: 'I like to watch' "(Reuben Fine," Psychology of the Chess Player ")
- " All chess players are half crazy. Say, Paul Morphy, the first U.S. champion, died sitting fully clothed in a bathtub where floating shoes of a woman (Lily Rad Catherine Velis, best seller 'The Eight' by Katherine Neville)
Morphy Quotations:
- "Seize open lines, the advantage is that attacks"
- "Help your pieces and they will help you"
- "The pawn is the most important instrument of victory"
- "I am not, nor want to be a professional chess player"
- "Chess is to be primarily a recreation and should not be performed at the expense of other, more serious activities. As a simple game as a break from more important activities in life, deserves the highest recommendation "
- "It is impossible to keep one's own excellence in a glass case like a jewel, to remove it only when needed, on the contrary, can only be sustained through continued good practice"
Videos' Paul Morphy, the Mozart Chess':
"Morphy, his life and 353 items", López Benito Esnaola
solution to the problem of Morphy:
1.Ta6! bxa6 (if the black bishop plays, follows 2.Txa7 + +) + + 2.b7
