Paul Morphy was born in New Orleans,
Louisiana to a wealthy and distinguished family. His father,
Alonzo Michael Morphy, was a lawyer, state congressman, state
attorney general, and state Supreme Court Justice of Louisiana.
Morphy's mother, Louis Therese Felicite Thelcide Le Carpentier,
was the musically talented daughter of a prominent French Creole
family. Morphy grew up in an atmosphere of genteel civility and
culture where chess and music were the typical highlights of a
Sunday home gathering.
According to his uncle, Ernest Morphy, no one formally taught
Morphy how to play chess. Ernest wrote that as a young child,
Morphy learned on his own from simply watching the game played.
His uncle recounted how Morphy, after watching one game for
several hours between his father and him, told him afterwards
that he should have won the game. They both were surprised, as
they didn't think that young Morphy knew the moves, let alone
any chess strategy. They were even more surprised when Morphy
proved his claim by resetting the pieces and demonstrating the
win his uncle had missed. Later, a similar story was told about
the Cuban chess prodigy José Raúl Capablanca.
After
that Morphy was recognized by his family as a precocious chess
talent. Taken to local chess activities and allowed to play once
a week at family gatherings on Sundays, Morphy demonstrated his
innate 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.
In 1850, the strong professional Hungarian chess master Johann
Löwenthal visited New Orleans, and could do no better than the
amateur General Scott could. 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.)
After 1850, Paul Morphy did not play much chess for a long time. Studying diligently, he graduated from Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama in the spring of 1855. He then was accepted to the University of Louisiana to study law. He received a law degree in 1857, in preparation for which he is said to have learned the Louisiana Civil Code by heart.
Not yet of legal age to begin the practice of law, in 1857
Morphy found himself with free time. He received an invitation
to participate in the First American Chess Congress, to be held
in New York in the fall. At first he declined, but at the urging
of his uncle, who was quite proud of Morphy's chess skill, he
eventually decided to play. After securing parental permission,
Morphy made the long trip to New York via steamboat up the
Mississippi River and overland by railroad to New York. There,
he defeated each of his rivals, defeating the strong German
master Louis Paulsen in the final round. Morphy was now hailed
as the chess champion of the United States, and such was his
strength of play that many urged him to test his skill abroad.
Still too young to start
his law career, he was invited to attend an international chess
tournament soon after returning to New Orleans, to be held in
Birmingham, England in the summer of 1858. He accepted the
challenge and traveled to England but ended up not playing in
the tournament, playing a series of chess matches against the
leading English masters instead and defeating them all except
English chess master Howard Staunton who promised to play but
eventually declined.
Staunton later was criticised for failing to meet Paul Morphy.
Staunton was flattered and at first intended to prepare for a
contest in which he had little chance of success. There is no
doubt that he was a very busy man in 1858, as he was under
pressure to produce his edition of the complete works of
Shakespeare. He did invite Morphy to play some casual games at
his Streatham home.
Staunton later conducted a newspaper campaign to make it seem
that it was Morphy's fault they did not play, suggesting among
other things that Morphy did not have the funds to serve as
match stakes when in fact he was so popular that numerous
wealthy people and groups were willing to stake him for any
amount of money.
Seeking new opponents and now aware that Staunton had no real
desire to play, Morphy then crossed the English Channel and
visited France. There he went to the Café de la Regence in
Paris, which was the center of chess in France. He played a
match against Daniel Harrwitz, the resident chess professional,
and soundly defeated him.
In Paris he suffered from a bout of intestinal influenza and
came down with a high fever. In accordance with the medical
wisdom of the time, he was treated with leeches, resulting in
his losing a significant amount of blood. Despite the fact that
he was now too weak to stand up unaided, Morphy insisted on
going ahead with a match against the visiting German champion
Adolf Anderssen, who was considered by many to be Europe's
leading player, and who had come to Paris all the way from his
native Breslau, Germany, solely to play against the now famous
American chess wonder. Despite his illness Morphy triumphed
easily, winning seven while losing two, with two draws. When
asked about his defeat, Anderssen claimed to be out of practice,
but also admitted that Morphy was in any event the stronger
player and that he was fairly beaten. Anderssen also attested
that in his opinion, Morphy was the strongest player ever to
play the game, even stronger than the famous French champion
Bourdonnais.
In France, as he had before in England and America, Morphy
played many exhibition matches against the public. He would take
on eight players at once while playing without sight of the
board, a feat known as blindfold chess, the moves of his
opponents and his replies being communicated verbally. It was
while he was in Paris in 1858 that Morphy played a well-known
game at the Italian Opera House in Paris, against the Duke of
Brunswick and Count Isouard.
During his chess travels,
Paul Morphy was very popular. He was extremely polite, cultured,
quiet, and reserved. In appearance he was small in stature,
slim, and always impeccably dressed. His sense of sportsmanship
was of the highest caliber, and his combination of brilliant
play and personal modesty made him a welcome guest everywhere.
Still only twenty-one, he was now a world-famous celebrity.
While in Paris, he was sitting in his hotel room one evening,
chatting with his companion Frederick Edge, when they had an
unexpected visitor. "I am Prince Galitzin; I wish to see Mr.
Morphy." the visitor said, according to Edge. Morphy then stated
that he was Mr. Morphy. "No, it is not possible!" the prince
exclaimed, "You are too young!" Prince Galitzin then explained
that he was in the frontiers of Siberia when he had first heard
of his "wonderful deeds." He explained, "One of my suite had a
copy of the chess paper published in Berlin, the Schachzeitung,
and ever since that time I have been wanting to see you." He
then told Morphy that he must go to St. Petersburg, Russia,
because the chess club in the Imperial Palace would receive him
with enthusiasm.
However, Morphy was more interested in going home, possibly
because he had already been gone longer than he had gotten
permission for from his family. Morphy was very secretive about
his personal life, so the facts are not known, except that his
brother-in-law actually came to Paris about this time, most
likely for the purpose of escorting Morphy home. Since Morphy
was twenty-one, his dependence was possibly not only one of
habit, but also financial, as he had no money of his own and was
most likely traveling on money given to him by his family.
Returning to England in the spring of 1859, Morphy was lionized
by the English. As had happened in France, he was now sought
after by the best people. His fame was such he was even asked to
a private audience with Queen Victoria. His chess supremacy was
universally acknowledged and no longer did it seem fit to have
him play even masters without giving him some sort of handicap.
A match therefore was set up where he was pitted against five
masters (Jules Arnous de Rivière, Samuel Boden, Thomas Barnes,
Johann Löwenthal, and Henry Bird) simultaneously. Morphy won two
games, drew two games, and lost one. No other world champion has
since duplicated his feat of playing five of his closest rivals
at the same time.
Shortly after, Paul Morphy started the long trip home, taking a ship
back to New York. Word of his exploits in Europe had reached
America, and he found himself the man of the hour. Popular
acclaim was such that he had to travel home slowly, stopping in
all the major cities, where the leading citizens in each
competed to heap honors on him. Famous people such as Dr. Oliver
Wendell Holmes honored him at testimonial banquets,
manufacturers sought his endorsements, newspapers asked him to
write chess columns, and a baseball club was named after him. He
was feted again and again, and in exchange, he thrilled the
public with demonstrations of his skill, including more
blindfold chess exhibitions.
Prior to his getting home, Paul Morphy had issued an open challenge
to anyone in the world to play a match where he would give odds
of pawn and move; and to play for any amount whatsoever. Finding
no takers, he declared himself retired from the game, and with a
few exceptions, he gave up the public playing of the game for
good. He then began to think of beginning his law career.
Unfortunately, he was unable to, as in 1861 the American Civil
War broke out, disrupting life in New Orleans. Opposed to
secession, Morphy did not serve in the Confederate Army but
remained for a while in New Orleans, then left the city for
Paris. He lived for a time in Paris to avoid the war, returning
to New Orleans afterwards.
His principled stance against the war was unpopular in his
native South, and he was unable to begin practice of the law
after the war. Attempts to open a law office failed due to a
lack of clients; if anyone came to his office, it was invariably
in regards to chess. Financially secure thanks to his family
fortune, Morphy had effectively no profession and he spent the
rest of his life in idleness. Asked by admirers to play chess
again, he refused, considering chess not worthy of being treated
as a serious occupation. Chess in Morphy's day was not a
respectable occupation for a gentleman, but was admired only as
an amateur activity. Chess professionals in the 1860's were
looked upon as akin to professional gamblers and other
disreputable types. It was not until decades later that the age
of the professional chess player arrived with the coming of
Wilhelm Steinitz, who barely made a living and died broke, and
Emanuel Lasker who, thanks to his demands for high fees, managed
a good living and greatly advanced the reputation of chess as a
professional endeavor.
Morphy's final years were
tragic. Depressed, he spent his last years wandering around the
French Quarter of New Orleans, talking to people no one else
could see, and having irrational feelings of persecution.
Morphy was found dead in his bathtub on the afternoon of July
10, 1884. The doctor said he had suffered congestion of the
brain, brought on by entering cold water after being very warm
from his mid-day walk. He died young, at the age of only
forty-seven. Despite the fact that Morphy had not played chess
publicly for over twenty-five years, it was not until after his
death that Steinitz proclaimed that his match with Zukertort
would be for the "official" world chess championship. Steinitz's
forbearance to claim the title while Morphy was still alive was
a recognition of Morphy's chess strength.
Today many amateurs think of Paul Morphy as a
dazzling combinative player, who excelled in sacrificing his
Queen and checkmating his opponent a few brilliant moves later.
One reason for this impression is that chess books like to
reprint his flashy games. There are games where he did do this,
but it wasn't the basis of his chess style. In fact, the masters
of his day considered his style to be on the conservative side
compared to some of the flashy older masters like La Bourdonnais
and even Anderssen.
Morphy can be and generally is considered the first modern
player. If his games do not look modern, it is because he didn't
need the sort of slow positional systems that modern
grandmasters use, or that Staunton, Paulsen, and later Steinitz
developed. His opponents hadn't yet mastered the open game, so
he played it against them and he preferred open positions
because they brought quick success. He played open games almost
to perfection, but he also could handle any sort of position,
having a complete grasp of chess that was years ahead of his
time. Morphy was a genius who intuitively knew what was best,
and in this regard he was much like Capablanca. He was, like
Capablanca, a child prodigy; he played fast and he was hard to
beat. Lowenthal and Anderssen both later remarked that he was
indeed hard to beat since he knew how to defend and would draw
or even win games despite getting into bad positions. At the
same time, he was deadly when given a promising game. Anderssen
especially complained of this, saying that one false move
against Morphy and one may as well resign. Morphy would win his
won games, but if he made an error, it was still a long, hard
process trying to beat him, and more likely than not the game
would still go to him in the end. "I win my games in seventy
moves but Mr. Morphy wins his in twenty, but that is only
natural..." Anderssen moaned, explaining his poor results
against Morphy. Anderssen was perhaps grateful that he did get a
70 move win, as he didn't get many wins of any kind against
Morphy.
According to the online database chessgames.com, Paul Morphy suffered
only twenty losses out of about two hundred games in the
database, giving him a far higher scoring percentage than any
other great master in the database.
"Morphy's principal strength does not rest upon his power of combination but
in his position play and his general style....Beginning with la Bourdonnais to
the present, and including Lasker, we find that the greatest stylist has been
Morphy. Whence the reason, although it might not be the only one, why he is
generally considered the greatest of all." - former world chess champion Jose
Raul Capablanca, in Pablo Morphy by V. F. Coria and L. Palau.
"...Morphy, the master of all phases of the game, stronger than any of his
opponents, even the strongest of them..." - former world chess champion
Alexander Alekhine, in Shakmatny Vestnik, January 15, 1914
"...the greatest chess player that ever lived...no one ever was so far superior
to the players of his time" - former world chess champion Emanuel Lasker,
Lasker's Chess Magazine of January 1905
"...Morphy was stronger than anyone he played with, including Anderssen" -
former world champion Wilhelm Steinitz, International Chess Magazine 1885.
"Morphy, I think everyone agrees, was probably the greatest of them all." -
former world chess champion Bobby Fischer
Play through Paul Morphy's games