Paul Morphy

Paul Charles Morphy (June 22, 1837 - July 10, 1884), "The Pride and Sorrow of Chess," is considered to have been the greatest chess master of his time, and was an unofficial World Champion. Some chess grandmasters consider Morphy to have been the greatest chessplayer who has ever lived.

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, dressed in a lace shirt and velvet knickerbockers and looking like anything but a ferocious opponent. 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. To General Scott's surprise, Morphy beat him easily not once, but twice. The second time the boy 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.

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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.

Related Topics:
Chess master - Johann Löwenthal

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Löwenthal had played young talented players before, and expected to easily overcome Morphy, and considered the informal match as a waste of time but accepted the offer as a courtesy to the well-to-do Judge.

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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.

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When the first game began, Löwenthal got to about move 12 and realized he was up against something formidable. He slowed way down on his moves, and made funny eye brow movements after Morphy completed each move. 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.)

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