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chess history
Bill Wall's Wonderful World of Chess
In 1793, Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) appointed Michael (Miguel) Morphy to be the American Consul to Malaga, Spain. Michael Morphy was Consul to Malaga from 1793 to 1799. Morphy was one of the first to report of abuses by American and British seamen changing their allegiance when it suited their fancy when brought before consuls to settle disputes. American sailors would call themselves British subjects for the sake of leaving their own vessel to go on board an English ship.
Don Diego, Jr. was made vice-consul after his father’s death in 1818. In New Orleans, he devoted himself to teaching Spanish and making translations. He wrote a book on Spanish idioms and a dictionary of the French, Spanish, and English languages. Paul’s maternal grandfather was Joseph Essau Le Carpentier, an auctioneer and slave trader. He was born in Santo Domingo (Haiti). Paul Morphy’s maternal grandmother was Modeste Blache (1784-1840), and not a former black slave as some sources cite. Joseph Le Carpentier purchased slaves and re-sold them in the 1820s. Alonzo Michael Morphy (1798-1856), Paul Morphy’s father, was born in Charleston, South Carolina. The family moved to New Orleans in 1809 when Diego was appointed Spanish consul to New Orleans. Alonzo Morphy became an attorney in 1819. He was a Louisiana congressman from 1825 to 1829. From 1829 to 1839, he was the attorney general for Louisiana. From 1839 to 1846, he was a Supreme Court justice for Louisiana. A chess club was founded in New Orleans in 1928, but died out a few years later. Paul Charles Morphy was born on June 22, 1837 in New Orleans. His grandfather on his mother’s side was an auctioneer and slave trader. Paul was one of 4 children (Malvina, Edward, Paul, and Helena). His mother, Louise Therese Felicite Thelcide Le Carpentier, was a musically-talented daughter of a prominent French Creole family. She played the piano and the harp, sang beautifully, developed a large musical library, and composed trios. For a Morphy family genealogy, see http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~htiwgw/familles/morphy.htm.
The house that Paul Morphy was born in (above) was later owned by the Confederate General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard (1818-1893). The house was later purchased by author Francis Parkinson Keyes (1885-1970), who wrote The Chess Players, a fictionalized account of Paul Morphy.
Morphy’s family moved to a mansion on Royal Street in 1841 (above). The Morphy mansion is today the site of Brennan’s, a famous New Orleans restaurant, which first occupied the building in 1955. Paul Morphy seemed to learn chess on his own while watching others play. During one summer afternoon, after watching a long game between his father, Alonzo, and his uncle, Ernest, Paul surprised them by stating that Ernest should have won. The two had just agreed to a draw. Paul proved his claim by setting up the pieces and demonstrating the won his uncle had missed. In 1844, the chess club in New Orleans was revived by French chess master Eugene Rousseau (1810-1870), a distant relative to Jean Jacques Rousseau. Rousseau had arrived in New Orleans from Paris in 1841 and established himself as the strongest player in New Orleans. In November-December, 1845, Paul Morphy witnessed the first US championship contest ever held, a match won by Charles Stanley (1819-1901) over New Orleans master Eugene Rousseau. His uncle, Ernest, acted as Rousseau’s second. Stanley won the match with 15 wins, 8 draws, and 8 losses. After the match, Stanley started the American Chess Magazine, the first American periodical devoted solely to chess. The magazine lasted only one year.
By the age of 9, Paul was considered one of the best chess players in New Orleans. In 1846, General Winfield Scott (1786-1866), Mexican-American War hero and Commanding General of the U.S. Army, visited the chess club in Royal Street in New Orleans while on his way to take command in the Mexican War. He wanted to play some chess with a strong local player. After dinner, his opponent was brought in. It was 9 year old Paul Morphy. Paul beat the general twice that evening. General Scott declined further games and retired for the night, never to play Morphy again. On June 22, 1849, Paul Morphy’s 12th birthday, Paul defeated his uncle, Ernest Morphy, in a chess game. It was Paul Morphy’s first blindfold game. On October 28, 1849, Paul Morphy defeated Eugene Rousseau (1810-1870), one of the strongest chess players in American, in a chess game. On October 31, 1849, Ernest Morphy sent a letter to Lionel Kieseritsky (1806-1853) enclosing a game the Paul Morphy played against Eugene Rousseau. In May 1850, the Hungarian master Johann Jacob Löwenthal (1810-1876) visited New Orleans. He played 12-year-old Paul Morphy three games, and Paul won all three games from Löwenthal (some sources say that one game was drawn – Löwenthal altered an ending to make it look like a draw). One game was played on May 22 and another game was played on May 25. When Löwenthal lost, he threw his arms around Paul and said he would become the greatest player ever known. At this time, Paul was so short that he had to sit on several books, or else stand, in order to get a clear view of the pieces on the board. On December 3, 1850, at the age of 13, Paul enrolled at Spring Hill College (then called the Jesuit College of St. Joseph) in Spring Hill (near Mobile), Alabama. His brother, Edward, also enrolled at this time. Paul excelled in Latin, Greek, French, English, and Mathematics. In his first year, he was elected president of the Thespian Society and played the part of Charles in the play Gregoire. Spring Hill College was the first Catholic college in the South and the fifth oldest Catholic college in the United States. His closest friend, Charles Amedee Maurian (1838-1912), also attended Spring Hill College. In 1851, Kieseritsky published the Paul Morphy vs. Eugene Rousseau game in the January, 1851, issue of La Régence. It was Paul Morphy’s first published game. In 1851, Paul played the part of Portia in the Merchant of Venice. His older brother, Edward, played the part of Shylock. In the spring of 1853, Paul Morphy taught chess to his friend, Charles Maurian, while they were in the infirmary together. Paul Morphy took some lessons in fencing in school, but did not continue. Earlier, his father hired a famous maitre d’arms to instruct Paul, who became a good swordsman. In late 1853, Morphy acquired Howard Staunton’s book on the 1851 London chess tournament and soon gave it away to a friend. Morphy amended the title page to read, “By Howard Staunton, author of The Handbook of Chess, Chess-players Companion ‘and some devilish bad games.’”
In 1854-1855, Paul stayed at Spring Hill College for an extra year, studying mathematics and philosophy. In October, 1855, he was awarded a Master of Arts degree with the highest honors ever bestowed by the school. His commencement address was entitled, “The Political Creed of the Age.” Morphy spent very little time on chess while in college. In November, 1855, after graduating from Spring Hill College, Paul Morphy enrolled at the Law School at the University of Louisiana (renamed Tulane University after 1884). One of his professors said of Paul Morphy, “Of all the thousands of boys and youths in the long years I have devoted to teaching the young, I have never met any that could compare with Paul Morphy in strength and capacity of intellect.” Paul’s older brother, Edward (Edouard), became a cotton broker and, later, the director of the New Orleans Cotton Exchange.
In 1855, at the age of 17, he won 6 games against Judge Alexander Beaufort Meek (1814-1865), who later became the President of the American Chess Congress in 1857. Apart from this, he only faced relatively weak players. On June 10, 1856, Ernest Morphy sent a game and the only known chess problem that Paul Morphy created, to the New York Clipper. The problem was published in its June 28, 1856 issue. On August 30, 1856, Ernest Morphy took out an advertisement in Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, entitled, “Chess Challenge Extraordinary.” He challenged anybody in the United States to come to New Orleans and play Paul Morphy, age 19, in a stakes match at $300 a side. There were no takers. On November 22, 1856, Paul’s father, Alonzo, age 57, died in New Orleans, one day before his 58th birthday. In September, 1856, Alonzo received a cut above the eye from a Panama hat worn by a friend. He had turned to speak to his friend, and the brim of the hat cut his eye. The cut led to congestion of the brain. Alonzo left an estate of $146,162.54 (over $3 million in today’s currency) and owned two slaves (worth $1,700 according to the inventory of Alonzo’s estate). On November 23, 1856, Alonzo Morphy’s funeral was held. The funeral was said to be one of the largest ever held in New Orleans. On April 7, 1857, at the age of 20, he received a Bachelor of Laws (L.L.B.) degree from the University of Louisiana. It was said that he had the ability to recite from memory nearly the entire Civil Code of Louisiana (over 3,500 articles). He was not yet of legal age (age 21) to practice law. He was able to speak at least three languages fluently (English, French, and Spanish). Some sources say he was also fluent in German while others say he was not fluent in German. The University of Louisiana was closed from 1861 through 1865 during the Civil War. In April, 1857, Paul Morphy received an invitation from the New York Chess Club to participate in the First American Chess Congress in New York, to be held in October, 1857. The Congress consisted of three separate tournaments: the Grand Tournament, the Minor Tournament, and the Problem Tournament. At first, he declined because of his father’s death, but at the urging of his uncle Ernest and Judge Meek, he decided to play in the event at the last minute (making his decision on September 19, 1857). Just before leaving for New York, Morphy was elected President of the New Orleans Chess Club. At the time, Morphy owned only three chess books: Chess Studies by Horwitz and Kling, La Regénce collection by Kieseritzky, and The Chess Tournament by Staunton. He borrowed two chess books from his friend Charles Maurian: Chess Player’s Handbook and Companion by Howard Staunton and Treatise on the Game of Chess by William Lewis. A few weeks before the first American Chess Congress, the great financial panic of 1857 hit the country. However, the amount raised for the General Fund exceeded the expectations of the sponsors, and the tournament went on. On September 23, 1857, age 20, Morphy left New Orleans aboard the steamer Benjamin Franklin and arrived in Cincinnati a few days later. He then took a train from Cincinnati to New York City, arriving on October 4, 1857. His first game in New York, on October 5, was against Frederick Perrin at the New York Chess Club. He then beat Charles Stanley four games in a row that evening. While in New York, Morphy met Frederick Edge (1830-1882), who was a reporter for the New York Herald. Edge later became Morphy’s secretary while they were in Europe.
While in New York for the First American Chess Congress, Morphy stayed at the St. Nicholas Hotel. The top 16 players in America (seven of who were born in Europe) were invited. Besides Morphy, the players included William S. Allison, Samuel R. Calthrop, Daniel Willard Fiske, William Fuller (born in England and a whale hunter), Hiram Kennicott, Huburt Knott, Theodor Lichtenhein (born in Germany), Napoleon Marache (born in France), Judge Alexander Meek, Hardman P. Montgomery, Louis Paulsen (born in Germany), Frederick Perrin (born in England), Dr. Benjamin I. Raphael, Charles Henry Stanley (born in England), and James Thompson (born in England). The first round was played on October 6, 1857 in the “Descombes Rooms” at 764 Broadway, New York. The rounds began at 9 a.m. and adjourned at 12 noon for one hour. Any player ½-hour late was fined $3. Being late three times barred the player from any further tournament play. A medical certificate was the only excuse allowed. There were no chess clocks or timing devices, but players were told to limit the time to be consumed on any move to 30 minutes. Morphy’s first tournament game was a win as Black against James Thompson (1804-1870). The opening was a Giuoco Piano and Morphy won in 21 moves. The game took an hour for both sides to play. Morphy won the First American Chess Congress on November 10, 1857. Morphy defeated James Thompson 3-0, Meek 3-0, Lichtenhein 3 wins and 1 draw, and Paulsen 5 wins, 1 loss, and 2 draws. Morphy won 14 games, lost 1 game, and drew 3 games. During the chess congress, Mathew Brady (1822-1896), the well-known photographer, took several pictures of Paul Morphy.
On November 11, 1857, an awards ceremony was held. Morphy refused the $300 first place money (over $6,000 in today’s currency). Instead, he accepted a silver pitcher, four goblets, and a silver tray.
The tray was manufactured by Ball, Black & Co. of New York. It had an etching of Morphy playing Paulsen with the inscription: “This Service of Plate is presented to Paul Morphy the Victor in the Grand Tournament at the First Congress of the American National Chess Association New York, 1857.” All the other prizes were cash awards. After the Congress, Morphy played causal games with several players. He played Charles Stanley in a match whom Morphy played with the odds of a pawn and move. The stakes were set at $100 a side. Morphy won with 4 wins and a draw. Stanley resigned the match. Morphy then sent the $100 to Stanley’s wife, who needed the money for her and her children. It was feared that if the money was given to Stanley himself, he would have used the money on his drinking habit. Mrs. Stanley was pregnant at the time. When the baby girl was born in December, 1857, she named her Pauline, after Paul Morphy.
While in New York, Morphy played 94 even games, winning 85, losing 4, and drawing 8. He played 159 games at odds, winning 104, losing 36, and drawing 19. He played 3 blindfold games, winning 2 and drawing 1. He lost one consultation game, Morphy vs. Fiske and Fuller and Perrin. After Morphy's amazing victory at New York, some suggested that a European master should come to America to play him. When the great British master Howard Staunton heard this (Staunton was considered the best player in the world), he wrote in his weekly paper column, "The best players of Europe are not chess professionals, but have other and more serious things to occupy their minds with." Morphy's friends in New Orleans did send a challenge to Staunton to come to America. But Staunton rejected it. He did say that if Morphy came to Europe, he would find him (Staunton) ready. On March 9, 1858, Paul Morphy wrote a letter to his friend Daniel Fiske in which he referred to a possible match with Howard Staunton (1810-1874). There was a challenge for the stake of $5,000.
[1.Rxa7+ Bxa7 2.b7 mate] On April 30, 1858, Sam Loyd re-published Morphy’s only known chess problem in the New York Musical World. Paul was invited to attend the international chess tournament to be held in Birmingham, England starting on June 22, 1858. He accepted the challenge and traveled to England, but the Birmingham tournament was postponed, and news of the postponement has not reached America until the day Morphy left. Also, Staunton challenged Morphy to a cable match or telegraph match across the Atlantic, but that news did not get to Morphy either. It would be 40 years before a cable chess match between Britain and the USA would be played. In 1897, the British House of Commons played a chess match against the U.S. House of Representatives. The result of the first cable match was a draw. On June 9, 1858, Paul Morphy left New York bound for Europe to challenge their best chess players. The New Orleans chess club suggested paying Morphy the amount needed for him to participate in the Birmingham tournament, to be held in England, but Morphy declined the offer, as he did not want to be considered a professional chess player. He sailed from New York on board the S.S. Africa (Chess Monthly and other sources says it was the steamship Arabia). Morphy arrived in Liverpool and immediately took a train to Birmingham, England. The tournament was scheduled to start on Morphy’s 21st birthday, June 22, but it has been postponed until August 24. Morphy, however, was unaware of the schedule change. When Paul got to Birmingham on June 20, he met Thomas Avery, the president of the Birmingham Chess Club. They went to the Birmingham Chess Club, and a portrait was taken of Morphy. Morphy spent a night in Birmingham, and then went to London the next day. While at the St. George’s chess club in London, he encountered Howard Staunton and inquired about the challenge match between the two. Staunton agreed to play, but asked to be allowed a month to brush up on his chess openings. Morphy agreed. On June 27, 1858, Morphy went to Staunton’s country home in Streatham, along with Thomas Wilson Barnes (1825-1874) and John Owen (1827-1901). At Staunton’s home, they played a few consultation games. Morphy and Barnes defeated Staunton and Owen in the first game. Morphy and Barnes won a second game, but it was played over nine days and finished at St. George’s Chess Club. Morphy played Barnes a series of 27 games. Morphy won 19 games and Barnes won 8 games. Barnes won more games from Morphy than any other player. Morphy never lost more than three games to any other player. On July 10, 1858, Staunton published the agreement between him and Morphy in the Illustrated London News. The match was to be 21 games for a stake of ₤500 a side. The match was to take place after the Birmingham tournament. In July, 1858, Morphy accepted a challenge match from Johann Löwenthal. Löwenthal was now an editor of the Era chess column. The match was arranged for a stake of ₤50, but later went to ₤100 at the desire of Löwenthal’s backer.
After 10 games, Morphy won 7, lost 2, and drew 1. At this point Löwenthal claimed he was sick and wanted to postpone the rest of the match for a week (the first to win 9 games was the winner). On August 10, 1858, Morphy started another match with Reverend Owen (Alter), but with King Bishop Pawn odds. Morphy won this match with 5 wins and 2 draws. The stake was a set of ivory chessmen. Morphy stayed in England for three months trying to arrange a match with Staunton. On August 14, 1858, Morphy wrote to Staunton asking when Staunton's seconds could meet with Morphy's seconds to work out the details of the match. Staunton replied that he needed an extension to finish preparing. He was working on his edition of the complete works of Shakespeare. On August 21, 1858, the match resumed between Löwenthal and Morphy. Morphy won the 14th game and won ₤100 from Löwenthal. Morphy then used that money to buy ₤120 of furniture, which he then gave to Löwenthal’s family for their new apartment. Without replying back to Morphy, Staunton went to Birmingham, which began on August 24, 1858. Originally, Staunton had declared that he wouldn't enter the tournament. However, once he arrived and found out that Morphy was not going to play in the event, Staunton signed up to play. Morphy had promised his family that he would not play in a chess tournament for stakes. Morphy had already beaten Löwenthal earlier. In this tournament, Löwenthal defeated Staunton twice. It may be argued that Morphy was more than a match for Staunton, and that is why Staunton refused to play Morphy. On August 31, 1858, Paul Morphy and Frederick Edge were late at the railway station that would take them from London to Folkstone, then across the Channel and on to Paris. So they went to Dover and took a ship to Calais, France. Morphy became sea sick while crossing the Channel. At first, the French officials would now allow Morphy in the country with an American passport because he spoke French too well. But Morphy convinced them that to a native of New Orleans, French was almost a mother-tongue. He was then allowed in. The customs officials confiscated his underlinen, however. They stayed in Calais for the evening and then took a 10 hour train ride to Paris the next day. Once in Paris, Morphy had dinner, and then visited the Café de la Régence on Rue Street Honoré (opened from 8 am to midnight). He did not announce his visit the first evening and was not recognized.
On September 5, 1858, Morphy started his official match with Daniel Harrwitz (1823-1884) for a stakes of 295 francs. Harrwitz did not want seconds or an umpire. The winner would be the first to win seven games. Harrwitz also wanted the match to be played in the public café at the Café de la Régence. Harrwitz won the first game. When Morphy resigned, Harrwitz rose from his chair, stretched across the table, and took Morphy’s pulse. He then declared to the crowd, “Well, it is astonishing! His pulse does not beat any faster than if he had won the game.” Harrwitz won the second game on September 7, 1858. After the game, he told the crowd, “Oh, it takes very little trouble to beat this fellow.” Morphy responded by saying that Harrwitz would not win another game from him. Morphy won the third, fourth, and fifth games. Harrwitz
then wanted a 10-day delay because of “ill health.” After 12 days delay,
Harrwitz lost the sixth game on September 23, 1858. Harrwitz then asked for
another delay of 6 days. On September 15, 1858, Paul Morphy sat for Eugene Lesquesne to have a bust made of him. Lesquesne made a smaller, second bust that was shipped to New Orleans. He also made a plaster cast of Morphy’s right hand. A picture of the cast appeared on the cover of the January 1976 issue of Chess Life & Review magazine.
On September 27, 1858, Morphy gave an 8-board blindfold exhibition, winning 6 games and drawing 2 games. It was held at the Café de la Régence. The owner of the café wanted to charge a spectator fee of 5 francs for the exhibition, but Morphy said he would not give the exhibition unless the café was open to anyone who walked in. So the event was free for anyone who could get inside the establishment. Morphy broke Philidor’s record of 3 blindfold games – set way back in 1783! Morphy’s opponents were Baucher, Bierwith, Borneman, Guibert, Eugene-Louis Lequesne, Potier, Preti, and Seguin (and 50 other players in the room to give advice to Morphy’s eight opponents). Morphy was seated in the billiard room of the café, with his back to the chess table in the other room.
The blindfold exhibition lasted for 10 hours, without anything to eat or drink for Morphy. When the event was over, it took 30 minutes for Morphy to get outside of the café after being congratulated by everyone inside. However, the crowd outside (over 250 people) was greater than the one inside the café, and the shouting was more deafening. French Imperial guards, not knowing what was going on, thought a new revolution in Paris had broken out. The next morning, Paul Morphy dictated to Edge all the moves of his eight blindfold games, including possible variations. For two hours, Morphy dictated the moves and hundreds of variations of all eight games. Later that evening, Morphy fell asleep in front of an open window that was blowing in cold air. He became sick with a cold and had a fever the next day (some sources say he got sick from drinking Paris water, as he did not drink wine). However, he still wanted to continue the match with Harrwitz and not claim ill health like Harrwitz did. Harrwitz resigned the match on October 4th. Paul Morphy had received a verbal message that “Mr. Harrwitz resigns the match on account of ill health.” Mr. Lequesne handed over the 295 francs ($1,400 in today’s currency) to Morphy. Morphy offered a second match to Harrwitz, but Harrwitz declined. Morphy had his winnings (which he at first declined) deposited with the proprietor of the Café de la Régence to defray the expenses of Adolf Anderssen (1818-1879), his next opponent, to Paris from Breslau, Germany.
While waiting for Anderssen to arrive and play a match, Morphy wrote to Howard Staunton, “…I am not a professional player. I never wished to make any skill I possess that means of pecuniary advancement, and that my earnest desire is never to play for any stake but honor. My friends in New Orleans, however, subscribed a certain sum, without any countenance from me, and that sum has been ready for you to meet a considerable time past. Since my arrival in Paris I have been assured by numerous gentlemen that the value of those stakes can be immediately increased to any amount; but, for me personally, reputation is the only incentive I recognize.” Staunton never did play a match with Morphy. Staunton backed out of the match on the ground that his imperative business engagements would not allow him to take the necessary time to play chess. On November 2, 1858, Morphy played a casual game against the deposed Duke of Brunswick (1804-1873) and Count Isouard de Vauvenargue at the Italian Opera House in Paris. The performance that evening was probably Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville.” Frank Marshall called it “the most famous game of all time.” Morphy – Duke and Count, Paris 1858, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Bg4 4.dxe5 Bxf3 5.Qxf3 dxe5 6.Bc4 Nf6 7.Qb3 Qe7 8.Nc3 c6 9.Bg5 b5 10.Nxb5 cxb5 11.Bxb5+ Nbd7 12.O-O-O Rd8 13.Rxd7 Rxd7 14.Rd1 Qe6 15.Bxd7+ Nxd7 16.Qb8+ Nxb8 17.Rd8 mate 1-0
For an annotated version of this game, see this link. In November, 1858, Mr. James M. Mason, the American Ambassador to France, introduced Morphy to Emperor Napoleon III (1808-1873). While in Paris, Morphy met the grandson of Philidor. Morphy asked him if he played chess, but Philidor’s grandson replied that he once played, but found that he possessed little aptitude for the game. Morphy originally planned to visit the chess clubs in Germany, but he got sick and felt he could not travel. He invited Adolf Anderson (1818-1879) to come to Paris instead. Anderssen responded that he could not leave his post as a mathematics teacher in Breslau, but he would be able to visit Paris during Christmas vacation. Morphy wanted to leave early and be home in New Orleans by Christmas. It took a medical doctor to convince Morphy that he was too ill to cross the Atlantic Ocean during the winter time. On December 15, 1858, Adolf Anderssen arrived in Paris from Breslau. The next morning, Anderssen visited Morphy, who could not get out of bed. They agreed that the victor would be the first to win seven games with no stakes. They both were playing for honor. When Adolf Anderssen arrived in Paris in December, Paul Morphy was suffering from the flu. His medical treatment consisted of being leeched. He lost four pints of blood and was too weak to stand up or leave his hotel bed. Anderssen's friends had told him not to damage the German prestige by traveling abroad and play a match against this young man (Morphy) without official recognition. But Anderssen felt otherwise, and when his friends asked him why he did not play as brilliant as he did in his famous match against Dufresne, Anderssen replied "No, Morphy would not let me." And Morphy himself, was playing the second strongest chess player (Anderssen) in the world from his hotel bed at the Hotel de Breauteuil, suffering from the flu, and still won the match. The match between Morphy and Anderssen began on December 20. It ended on December 28. There were no stakes for the match because Morphy would not accept it.
Morphy won the match with a 7 wins, 2 losses, and 2 draws. He lost the first game, drew the second game, and then won five games in a row. Game 8 was a draw. Game 9 was a win for Morphy. Game 10 was a win for Anderssen. Game 11 was a win for Morphy and he won the match. The day after the match, on December 29, 1858, Morphy played Anderssen 6 casual games and won 5, lost 1. In February 1859, before Morphy returned to the United States, the New York Chess Club started a subscription and asked for donations for purchasing and presenting to Paul Morphy a chess set made of gold and silver by Tiffany’s. The men were of solid gold, representing Romans, and silver, representing barbarians. The set was originally manufactured for display at the Crystal Palace exhibition in 1851. The value of the set was over $1,500 (worth over $35,000 in today’s currency). The chess board squares were made of pearl and ebony, was of rosewood inlaid with silver. At each corner were the letters P.M. in a wreath of gold. The chessboard had a value of over $200 (over $4,700 in today’s currency). On April 4, 1859, a banquet was held in Morphy's honor in Paris. A laurel wreath was placed over the head of a bust of Morphy, carved by the sculptor Eugene Lequesne. On April 26, 1859, he played five of the strongest masters in London simultaneously, but not blindfolded, at the new St. James Chess Club. He played Jules Arnous de Rivière, Samuel Boden, Thomas Barnes, Henry Bird, and Johann Löwenthal. This was the same table-order that Morphy faced. Morphy won two games (Bird and Rivière), drew two games (Boden and Löwenthal), and lost one (Barnes). This was Morphy’s only sighted simultaneous exhibition in his career. The simul lasted for over 6 hours.
Morphy impressed everyone with his memory. Morphy made the statement that he had never forgotten a game that he had played after his chess powers were mature. One English player wrote, “What wonderment h has caused with his omnipotent memory. I have seen him sit for hours at the Divan or the Regents, playing over, not merely his own battles, but the contests of others, till the spectators could not believe their senses.” On May 25, 1859, a testimonial banquet was held at the chapel of New York University in honor of Paul Morphy. It was organized by the New York Chess Club and Colonel Charles Mead presided over the ceremony. Speeches were made, including reading a letter from Samuel Morse.
A few months later, Chess Monthly magazine offered to sell its readers exact replicas of Morphy’s Roman/barbarian chess set for $20 in gold and silver, or $12 in silver and bronze.
The watch was presented to Paul Morphy by William Fuller. The watch was made by the American Watch Company. Roman numerals were replaced by chess pieces on the watch. Years later, when he was living in Paris during the Civil War, Morphy had to pawn his watch for $200 when he felt the pinch of poverty. He sent the watch to Paris to be pawned, but it was never redeemed. Colonel Mead, as chairman of the reception committee, made in his address an allusion to chess as a profession, and referred to Morphy as its most brilliant exponent. When Morphy, spoke, he took exception to being characterized as a professional chess player and resented what Colonel Mead had said. Mead then walked out of the reception and had nothing further to do with Morphy. The May 26, 1859 issue of the New York Times devoted four of its front-page columns to reporting Morphy’s chess achievements. The New York Daily News used five of its six columns on page one to reporting Morphy’s achievements. On May 29, he went to Cambridge where he met Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882). He then went to Waltham, Massachusetts. Here he toured the American Watch Company. Later that evening, he played chess at the Boston Chess Club. Among those that attended was Longfellow. On May 31, 1859, another banquet was held in Morphy's honor at the Paul Revere House in Boston. It was attended by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Professor Louis Agassiz, the mayor of Boston (Frederic Lincoln), the President of Harvard (James Walker), Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes (who presided), Chief Justice Shaw of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, and Senator Wilson. There were 140 invited guests. In his toast to Morphy, Oliver Wendell Holmes said "I propose the health of Paul Morphy, the world’s Chess Champion. His peaceful battles have helped achieve a new revolution; his youthful triumphs have added a new clause to the Declaration of American Independence." Manufacturers sought Paul Morphy endorsements and a baseball club (The Morphy Baseball Club in Brooklyn) was named after him, in which Morphy was an honorary member. The team played at the National Club Grounds at Hamilton Street and Park Avenue. Morphy’s name was also used in advertising Morphy cigars and Morphy hats. Chess clubs bearing his name were started all over the country.
Morphy was offered the position as Chess Editor of the New York Ledger. Morphy was paid $3,000 (over $76,000 in today’s currency) in advance to write America's first chess column (“Chess Department, conducted by Paul Morphy”) for the New York Ledger newspaper. Morphy barely did this for a year, but was fired. The editor, Robert Bonner, was not seeing a return on the investment. Morphy wrote his first article on August 6, 1859 (Morphy promised the first installation in June, but was overwhelmed by his public engagements) and ended it on August 4, 1860, a total of 52 columns. Morphy annotated 35 games from the La Bourdonnais-MacDonnell matches, intending to publish all the games between the two players. Morphy refused to answer any correspondence by readers and dozens of readers wrote letters to Morphy anyway. Bonner hired W.J.A. Fuller to answer correspondents, being careful to state that Fuller would consult Morphy on all important matters before being published. On October 5, 1859, Morphy wrote a letter to the American Watch Company which was published on October 15, 1959 in the New York Saturday Press. The letter stated that the watch was a most reliable and accurate time-keeper. He kept track of the accuracy of the watch, and fount it to be 32 seconds fast from the time he received the watch to Oct 1, 1859. On November 11, 1859, Morphy gave a 4-board blindfold exhibition at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia for the benefit of the Mt. Vernon Fund. The fund was used to restore and preserve Mount Vernon. He won all his games. By 1860, there were already 14 books and pamphlets published on Paul Morphy. In 1860, Morphy may have tried to open a law office. He had business cards printed that said, “Paul Morphy, Attorney-at-Law, 12 Exchange Place, Up Stairs, New Orleans.” He engaged in practice as a civil law notary. He served as Notary in New Orleans from 1858 through 1868.
In March 1861, Ignatz Kolisch challenged Morphy to a chess match for $2,500 a side and backed up by Baron Rothschild. The winner of the first 11 games would be declared the winner. The match would take place anywhere in the world at Morphy’s convenience. Morphy wasn’t interested and the Civil War made things more complicated. Morphy declined for any stake whatever, but kept the idea open to play Kolisch if Morphy made another trip back to Europe. Morphy preferred a quiet, friendly match. In April 1861, the Civil War broke out (Louisiana seceded from the Union in January 1861), which interrupted Morphy’s law career. He was opposed to secession. Morphy’s brother, Edward, joined the Confederate Army (Seventh Regiment of New Orleans) right away, but Paul did not. Morphy’s mother and sisters immigrated to Paris. In October, 1861, Morphy travelled to Richmond, Virginia, the capitol of the Confederacy. He met with General Pierre G.T. Beauregard (1818-1893), a friend of the Morphy family. Morphy visited the Richmond Chess Club on October 24. Morphy was seeking to obtain an appointment in the diplomatic service of the southern confederacy because of his foreign language skills. (Recently, Stan Vaughan has written a novel called Paul Morphy: Confederate Spy and Frances Parkinson Keyes, in her novel The Chess Players, has Morphy an agent for the Confederacy in Europe.) Morphy did not fight for the South during the Civil War and stayed out of the War. There were rumors that he was an officer or a volunteer aid on General Beauregard’s staff, but other sources indicate that Beauregard considered Morphy unqualified. Morphy was not war material, on or off the battlefield. The 1861 New Orleans City Directory (Orleans Parish) included the addresses of Mrs. Alonzo Morphy, D. Morphy, Diego Eugene Morphy (Auctioneer), Edward Morphy, and Ernest Morphy.
Morphy was in New Orleans during the Battle of New Orleans from April 25, 1862 to May 1, 1862. Morphy offered no support for the Union cause when New Orleans was occupied by the Yankees. Morphy’s mother and sister, Helena, fled to Havana and then to Paris. Paul eventually followed them. On October 10, 1862, Morphy and Charles Maurian left for Cuba incognito on the Spanish steamboat, Blasco de Garay (some sources say the ship was the Vasco de Gama). He spent two months in Havana, staying at the Hotel America. On October 31, 1862, Morphy and Maurian sailed for Cadiz, Spain. After arriving in Cadiz, he took a train to Paris and arrived in Paris in early December. His mother, Thelcide, and his sister, Helena, had arrived in Paris earlier. There is no evidence that Morphy played chess or went to the Regence during that time. In February, 1863, Ignatz Kolisch (1837-1889) challenged Morphy to a match while they both met in Paris. Morphy replied that he had given up on competitive chess.
On February, 1864, he sailed for Cuba, then New Orleans, arriving the last week in February. In November 1864, he opened a law office on 12 Exchange Street, but closed it after a few months. On July 25, 1865, he met with Daniel Fiske and Napoleon Marache in New York about publishing his chess games with annotations. However, there was a financial depression that affected the trade of literature. Morphy was unwilling to play any more chess games to add to a chess collection of his games. Publishers were unwilling to take a chance on a collection of his games unless he added new material to it. The project to publish a collection of his games was abandoned. Morphy returned to New Orleans in November, 1865. Morphy was then elected president of the newly organized chess club in New Orleans. In 1866, Paul Morphy thought that his brother-in-law, John Sybrandt, was robbing him of his inheritance. Sybrandt was the administrator of Alonzo Morphy’s estate. Paul took out several lawsuits against his brother-in-law, which he lost. Sybrandt was a cotton merchant and consul for Sweden and Norway who married Paul Morphy’s sister, Malvina. In 1867, Paul went back to Paris and stayed with his sister and brother-in-law for 18 months. In 1869, a massive fire at Spring Hill College wiped out most of Paul Morphy’s records there. Another fire occurred there in 1909, wiping out Morphy’s thesis and grade reports. In 1871, the second American Chess Congress was held in Cleveland Ohio. Morphy was invited, but he declined all invitations. In 1872, Morphy partnered with attorney E.T. Fellowes. Business cards were prepared and the office advertised as “Fellowes & Morphy, Attorneys and Counsellors at Law.” The partnership lasted until 1874. On June 22, 1874, Howard Staunton, age 64, died on Paul Morphy’s 37th birthday. In 1875, Paul Morphy attacked one if his friends, Mr. Binder with a walking stick, trying to provoke a duel. Morphy thought that Mr. Binder wanted to destroy all his clothes and wanted to kill him. Morphy’s barber angered him by innocently mentioning the money to be made at chess if Morphy began to play again. In December 1875, Charles Maurian first began to notice some strange talk by Morphy, who was suffering from delusions. He stated the Paul thought he was being persecuted by unknown persons. In 1875, Morphy’s family considered putting Paul in a mental institution called the “Louisiana Retreat” in New Orleans. It was run by the Catholic Church. The family took a ride there, but Paul convinced the nuns he was sane and needed no constraint or treatment. In 1877, the last known chess game by Paul Morphy was played. Morphy withdrew from society and suffered delusions of persecution in his later years. According to his niece, he had in a period the strange habit of walking up and down the porch saying "Il plantera la banniere de Castille sur le murs de Madrid, au cri de Ville gangnee, et le petit roi s'en ira tout penaud." (He will plant the banner of the Castille on the walls of Madrid, screaming: The city is conquered and the little king will go away looking very sheepish.) At one period, Paul was under the impression that someone was trying to poison him. He refused to eat anything unless the cooking had previously been supervised by either his mother or sister. In 1879 several Parisian publications mistakenly announced the death of Paul Morphy. In 1880, Paul Morphy’s friend, Charles Maurian, founded the Chess, Checkers and Whist Club in New Orleans and was its first president. It started out with 27 members, including Paul Morphy, and in 20 years, had over 800 members. Over the years, its guests included Steinitz, Zukertort, Pillsbury, Mackenzie, Robert E. Lee, and others. Invited guests such as Steinitz and Zukertort were able to run into Morphy at the club and made an attempt to interview him. The club collected all the Morphy memorabilia that they could, but fire destroyed the club’s building in 1890 and nearly all the club’s records were lost. There was a bust of Paul Morphy in the club room. In 1882, a San Francisco newspaper reported that Paul Morphy was in a New Orleans lunatic asylum. In July 1882, Paul Morphy was asked if it was okay to include him in a book, Louisiana Biographies, about famous Louisiana citizens because of his achievements in chess. Morphy was outraged by being connected with chess, and answered, that his father, judge at the supreme court of Louisiana, Mr. Alonzo Morphy, at his death, had left a sum of 146,162 dollars and 54 cents. But that he (Morphy) did not have a profession at all and thus had nothing to do in such a book.
In January 1883, William Steinitz (1836-1900) was able to interview Paul Morphy in New Orleans for about 20 minutes. Steinitz’s experience with Morphy was published in the New York Tribune on March 22, 1883. Paul Morphy was fond of grand opera and seldom missed a performance at the French Opera House on Bourbon Street (burned down in 1920). In 1884, Dr. Johannes Zukertort interviewed Paul Morphy. His experience with Morphy was published in the Salt Lake City Tribune on June 28, 1884. On July 10, 1884 Paul died of a stroke while taking a cold bath after an afternoon walk on Canal Street. He died at 89 Royal Street, New Orleans. He was just 47 years old. Paul’s mother was concerned that Paul was taking a bath for over an hour. He did not respond to here and the door was locked. She called a neighbor, Mollo, who forced the door open. They found Paul unconscious and called a doctor. The doctor pronounced Paul Morphy dead from “congestion of the brain” at 2:30 pm. When he died, a chess board and chessmen was found set up on his table near his bed. He had kept abreast of the goings-on in the chess world until his death. There is no evidence that he had a shoe fetish as some sources have reported. There is no evidence that he was spurned by a lover for being a mere chess player. When Paul Morphy died, the headlines in the New York Times were: Paul Morphy Dead – The Great Chess Player Insane for Nearly a Score of Years. The New York Times article wrote, “Every fair day his trim little figure, clad in the height of snug fitting fashion, might be seen swinging his little cane on the boulevard scrutinizing through his glass the fair promenaders. He thus passed his useless life away unmolested and unmolesting. As late as yesterday (the day before his death) he was seen on Canal Street chattering to himself and smiling at his own conceits.” Paul Morphy’s funeral was on July 11, 1884 and held at Saint Louis Cathedral, the oldest church in Louisiana. The pall bearers were his brother Edward, his cousins Edgar Hincks, E.A. Morphy, Leonce Percy, Henry Percy, and his best friend Charles de Maurian. Charles de Maurian wrote his obituary for the New Orleans Times Democrat.
The New York Sun in its obituary notice on Morphy said that blindfold chess had made him insane and killed him. “The strain in his brain produced a brain fever, from which he never recovered.” Paul Morphy played 227 competitive games during his lifetime, winning 83 percent of his games. He played 59 serious games in matches (Lowenthal, Harrwitz, Anderssen, and Mongredien) and the 1857 New York tournament. He won 42, drew 9, and lost 8. There have been at least 515 known games (played on equal terms and games at various odds) that Paul Morphy played between 1845 and 1877. There are 469 surviving games. Click on Morphy's name for a zipped pgn file of his games: Morphy, Paul. Morphy stood 5 feet, 4 inches in height and was slim, weighing around 90 pounds. He never married. He wore a cloak, kid gloves, a monocle (he was nearsighted at an early age), and always had a walking stick. He was always particular about how he dressed. He was a dandy.
In 1885, Wilhelm Steinitz wrote in the April 1885 issues of International Chess Magazine that it was Sheriff Walter Cook Spens (1842-1900) who called Morphy “the pride and sorrow of chess.” However, Harry Golembek stated that the phrase was coined by D.W. Fiske. On July 24, 1886, the estate of Paul Morphy was sold by auction. Among the items sold were his chess trophies, items he was given during the First Chess Congress in 1857, and chess sets. The chess set was purchased for $1,550 by Walter Denegre who was representing the New York and Brooklyn Chess Club. Paul Morphy was never the official American Chess Champion. The first recognized American Chess Champion was Solomon Lipschuetz, by virtue of his victory in the 6th American Chess Congress in 1889. In January 1890, a fire at the New Orleans Chess, Checkers and Whist Club lost most of their records and Morphy memorabilia. In 1891, Morphy’s house on Royal Street was sold at public auction for $6,000. Alonzo Morphy paid $90,000 for it. It was the oldest building on the street, over 120 years old. It was reported that the house had been uninhabited for several years and was hardly more than a crumbling ruin. In 1892, Regina Morphy, Paul Morphy’s niece, composed “The Paul Morphy Waltz,” dedicated to the Chess and Checker Club of New Orleans. In 1920, the old Morphy mansion was donated to Tulane University. It was later converted into the world-famous Brennan’s Restaurant in 1954. In 1926, Regina Morphy-Voiter wrote The Life of Paul Morphy in the Vieux Carré of New Orleans and Abroad. She was the daughter of Paul Morphy’s brother, Edward. She was born in 1870 and was 14 when her uncle Paul died. She wrote that Paul Morphy had a dozen or more pairs of shoes of all kinds which he insisted in keeping arranged in a semi-circle in the middle of the room so that he could at once lay his hands on the particular pair he desired to wear. In 1956, Reuben Fine, in The Psychology of the Chess Player, wrote that Morphy had the habit of arranging women’s shoes in a semi-circle in his room. In 1930, the General Beauregard Memorial Association purchased the old Morphy House on Chartres Street and made it a museum. The house was known as the Beauregard House. In 1931, Dr. Ernest Jones (1879-1958) wrote a 23-page essay entitled ‘the Problem of Paul Morphy’ in The International Journal of Psycho-Analysis. Jones saw chess as a play substitute for the unconscious rivalry between son and father that culminated in symbolic father-murder. In 1938, David Lawson (1886-1950), born Charles Whipple, began his research on Paul Morphy. It took him 38 years before he published his book on Paul Morphy. In the 1950s, Frances Parkinson Keyes purchased the historic Beauregard Housed. She wrote many novels and books in this house, including The Chess Players, written in 1960. On April 3, 1975, the Morphy House (Brennan’s Restaurant) was severely damaged in a fire. It was later restored to its original splendor and resumed business six months later. In 1984, the Morphy House on Royal Street was purchased from Tulane University by the Brennan family.
In 1964, Fischer wrote an article in Chessworld, naming Morphy as one of the 10 greatest chess players of all time and “the most accurate chess player who ever lived.” In 1976, David Lawson wrote Paul Morphy, the Pride and
Sorrow of Chess. Lawson was 89 years old at the time the book was
published. The book was published by David McKay and is 424 pages. In 2010, Lawson’s book Paul Morphy, the Pride and Sorrow of Chess was re-issued and edited by Thomas Aiello and published by the University of Louisiana. New Orleans has a street named after Paul Morphy. References: Batgirl (Sarah Beth); Beim, Paul Morphy: A Modern Perspective; Buck, Paul Morphy: His Later Life; Del Rosario, A First Book of Morphy; Edge, Exploits and Triumphs, in Europe, of Paul Morphy; Lange, Paul Morphy; Lawson, Paul Morphy, The Pride and Sorrow of Chess (1976 and 2010 edition); Lowenthal, Morphy’s Games of Chess; Reinfeld & Sergeant, Morphy’s Games of Chess; Sergeant, Morphy Gleamings; Sergeant, The Unknown Morphy; Shibut, Paul Morphy and the Evolution of Chess; Stanley, Morphy’s Match Games; Ward, The Genius of Paul Morphy; Wikipedia, Paul Morphy; Winter, Chess Notes; www.chessgames.com, Paul Morphy.
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In
1793, Diego Morphy (born in 1765), son of Michael Morphy and Paul Morphy’s
grandfather, was living in Santo Domingo (renamed Haiti in 1804) when a
Black slave revolt took place (100,000 blacks were killed and 24,000 whites
were killed). Diego hid his son (Don Diego, Jr.) in a basket covered with
cabbage leaves and had his wife dressed as a market vendor. She boarded a
ship under the pretext of wanting to sell vegetables to the captain of the
vessel. They escaped on an English ship bound for Philadelphia. Diego
later escaped to Philadelphia then moved to Charleston, South Carolina and
became Spanish consul to North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.
While
in New York, Paul was offered to co-edit the Chess Monthly, edited by
Daniel Fiske (1831-1904). Morphy was to provide annotated games. Morphy
contributed to volumes 2-4, (1858-1860). Morphy’s last chess article for
the Chess Monthly was December 1860.
Jan1976_CastOfMorphysHand.gif)
On
September 19, 1858, Morphy dined with the deposed Duke of Brunswick, Charles
Frederick August William (1804-1873). The Duke played at least 11 games in
consultation against Morphy during Morphy’s stay in Paris.
Morphy was invited to a private audience with Queen Victoria
(1819-1901). The queen presented Morphy with a chess cabinet that contained
an ivory chess set and a sheepskin chessboard with her signature on the
board.
In
July 1859, Morphy sat for a portrait by Charles Loring Elliott (1812-1868),
which hung in the Manhattan Chess Club for over 100 years (from 1884 to
2002). Elliott was one of the foremost portrait artists of his time.
In the August 1863 issue of The Chess Player’s Magazine,
it was reported that “A rumour has reached us that Mr. Morphy’s present
position in society being connected with the Confederate cause on a
diplomatic mission in Paris, will prevent him for a long time to come from
displaying those marvelous qualities over the chequered board…”
In an interview in former Yugoslavia, International
Grandmaster Bobby Fischer (1943-2008) commented on Paul Morphy saying "Morphy
... I think everyone agrees.... was probably the greatest of them all."
