1	The Morphy Horror Picture Show A story on how a night at the Opera turned Brutal…and then became Chess History By Academic Chess Founder Eric Hicks Copyright 2003 Academic Chess All Rights Reserved (Yellow text indicates places where history is a bit embellished, all else is factual)
2	Paul Morphy…16 months in time Paul Morphy is considered to be one of the greatest chess geniuses of all time. Morphy did not want to be a professional player. Morphy played competitive chess for only 16 months. When he finished law school he was too young to practice law and had 16 months before he could be a lawyer. Morphy decided to use this 16 months to play serious chess. In this short time, Morphy established himself as the best player in the world.
3	Morphy’s Futile Quest Morphy beat every significant player in his day except for one….Staunton (right) Staunton was considered one of the strongest player in the world. Staunton ran like a chicken, probably knowing that he would have been defeated. It became an obsession of Morphy’s to play Staunton, an obsession that was never realized.
4	Morphy and Adolf Anderrsen Morphy went to Europe in search for Staunton. Although he never was able to nail Staunton down to a match, he did accomplish great things in Europe. His two biggest Feats: Defeating the world’s #2 player Anderssen (right) in a match while Morphy was extremely sick. Playing what would become the most famous game in chess history…The Opera House Massacre. Anderssen, although not the world’s #1 player, was more famous than Staunton. Why? He played two of the most famous games in chess history and was therefore immortal. Morphy was a big fan of the Immortal Game and would show it to peers. Little did Morphy know he was about to play an immortal game himself. See The Immortal Game See The Evergreen Game. See The Famous Game List
5	Blindfolded Chess While trying to round up the world’s biggest chess chicken (Staunton), Morphy had time to kill in Paris while awaiting Anderssen who was travelling from Germany. To Pass some time, Morphy played multiple games against French Challengers blindfolded. In the picture you see Morphy with his back turned to the games. A mediator calls out the moves to Morphy who remembers the positions in his head in all the games at once. Morphy played 8 of the best players in Paris and did not lose a single game. Get a complete account of this amazing blindfold event See these Eight Brilliant Games
6	Morphy and the Ladies Morphy found out the hard way in France, that meeting ladies playing chess and being the world’s best chess player, was not the best social mix. Morphy could not “throw” a game, and beat all his opponents ruthlessly. These opponents included a beautiful princess and a couple of fine Duchesses. Morphy would spend many night’s with great dames of Paris playing them at queen’s odds. Morphy had integrity, and had a serious girlfriend back in New Orleans, otherwise he would have really “gotten his game on.” It is rumored that once returning to New Orleans , Morphy would give up chess because his girlfriend would not marry “a mere chess player.”
7	The Immortal Chess Femme Fatal Morphy would die without chess and without ever being married. It can be said that Morphy’s Femme fatal Cajun queen greatly contributed to his chess-less demise. Serves Morphy right for allowing others to control his true calling and destiny.
8	Lets Get Back to the Game With all that talk of ladies…it is time to focus on the subject at hand..which is Morphy’s Massacre Game.
9	The Invite Back then there was no Air travel…not even cars. Morphy was stuck in Paris waiting For Anderssen to “getty up” horse- and-carriage-style to him. Morphy was frustrated, Stauntonless, and bored. Then two gentlemen, the Duke of Brunswick (top right) and the Count of Isourard, invited Morphy to the Paris Opera House to watch an opera. Morphy did some thinking…what is this Paris Opera House? Is this some rink-a-dink play house? Morphy was not going to waste his time at some kids back-yard extravaganza.
10	The Paris Opera House
11	The Private Box Morphy was still skeptical. “But what kind of seats do you fellas have?” Morphy was a Louisiana aristocrat and knew that cheap “seats” at the opera would mean standing for the entire show elbow to elbow with deodarantless Parisians. “Why sir” Said the Duke, surprised at the American’s brashness, “We have a private box of course….a season ticket private box.” That private box had a table, free drinks, and a cocktail waitress. How could Morphy say no?
12	The Acceptance Morphy accepted the invite. A Night at the Opera! A night without chess! Just the break from chess Morphy was looking for! Morphy was a big music fan and could not turn down good seats at the opera. He had no idea that the Duke and the Count were amateur chess players, and actually invited Morphy to the opera in hopes of playing the great American Master a game of chess. This was a tickets-for-chess-lesson- scalping-scheme. It is said that Morphy would turn down invitation in which he was expected to play chess.
13	The Opera According to Lawson, the author of the definitive Morphy biography “Paul Morphy”, the Opera that Paul Morphy watched that night was “The Barber of Seville.” The Duke and count knew Morphy’s weakness. Morphy was a huge Opera fan. His mother was a composer, his sister an accomplished musician. Back at home in Louisianna, Morphy rarely missed a performance at the French Opera House on Bourbon Street. It was said that if Morphy heard a tune once he remembered it for life. (chess talent and music talent are related).
14	The Barber Of Seville
15	Morphy…Opera Superstar With all his incredible chess feats in Paris stacking up, especially the amazing blindfolded Simul, Morphy had become a well known fixture in Paris high society. It is said that when he came into the opera house, the entire orchestra stood up to get a look at him. Morphy who was humble and somewhat shy, was having more and more of a hard time living discreetly in Paris.
16	The Interruption During the opera, the Duke of Brunswick and Count Isourard pulled out a chess set and challenged Morphy to a game. Morphy was put on the spot. He did not want to play two amateur players but did not want to be rude to his hosts. He reluctantly accepted. Morphy was positioned with his back to the stage. He was determined to play brilliantly and finish the game quickly so that he could continue watching the Opera.
17	Chess Destiny and Immortality In chess, playing a beautiful game is more important than winning a championship for immortalizing a player. There are many former world champions without a famous brilliant game, and are comparably unheard of. You play a perfect beautiful game in chess and you are immortal. For Morphy, his “immortal game” came during an opera…and The Opera House Massacre would become one of the most famous games of all time. The Dukes did good for Morphy by challenging him, and interrupting his opera experience. The Opera Massacre Game would become a big part of Morphy’s history, and chess history in general
18	The Game The Opera Massacre game became the Mona Lisa of chess games. Although it is not really fair that a grand master vs amateur game would become this famous, because of its rich tapestry of history…it did. Some chess masters do not believe this story because it so “perfect”…as perfect as the game. The game lives forever in the souls and memory of many chess players….and in the embryos of future players. Take this for example…you cannot find any history about the Duke or the Count outside of this game. Now, with the help of Paul Morphy, they are immortal. All chess players know about the Duke and the Count…unfortunately, they know them as losers. So the moral of the story is if your going to play in an immortal chess game, make sure you are the winner, otherwise you will make it on the short list of immortal chess losers! See the Opera House Game
19	The Position The position to the right is probably the most famous position in all of chess. It is mate in 3 for Morphy (white). Morphy wanted to finish the game quickly so he could get back to watching the opera. He has an easy win with trading off material starting with QxQ, then BxN, and finally RxR which would trade into an endgame where Morphy is clearly winning. But knowing these two amateurs would probably not resign…Morphy decided to do the beautiful hammerblow mate in 3 instead. Can you find the mate? Remember, most combinations involve forcing checks. The first two moves are checks and the third is a checkmate. See the entire Game
20	The Morphy Hammer Blow
21	Quotes From the “Peanut Gallery” “A very fine finish to a most elegant game.” --Steinitz, 1^st world Champion
22	The Joke This game was proof that two mediocre chess talents are not better than one great one. According to Chess Historian Kerry Lawless…at the end of the game Morphy made some easy joke about the checkmate and the fat lady singing. The Count and Duke were probably not as amused at the American’s sharp sense of humor as they were impressed with his awesome chess.
23	The Immortal Prize Morphy returned to America to much hype and fanfare. Many parties and dinners were given in his honor. Among other presents, Morphy was given a custom made chess watch. Morphy kept the watch until his death. To this day there exists only one of these watches. ATTENTION: If anyone has this watch and wants to trade it for a brand new watch of your choice, a nice tax donation…or even for a pimp car. (click here to see car)…we will gladly accommodate you! Email us at info@academicchess.com And just tell us you want to trade your Morphy watch in for the deal of a life time! Come on…trade that old piece of junk in for something spiffy! We are just in it for Chess!
24	Morphy’s World Championship Morphy’s welcome home celebrations were well deserved. What Morphy had done was establish himself without a shadow of a doubt of being the world’s best chess player. In a time with no official world championship, in the chess communities eyes through out the world, Morphy was second to none. Morphy was one of three players to completely dominate his time period along with Fischer and Kasparov. Establishing himself as the best player of his time, Morphy, with nothing left to prove, promptly quit playing chess much like Fischer did. Both Fischer and Morphy completely dominated their predecessors in chess, and by continuing to play, they would be risking to lose a match, which would tarnish their spot in chess history. Morphy is the first real World Champion of Chess.
25	The Three Most Dominating Chess Players of Their Time Paul Morphy Bobby Fischer Gary Kasparov
26	Morphy Tribute Morphy is often criticized by modern day chess fans, who say that because of his time, his opponents were weak. The Opera Game, his most famous game, was definitely played against weak players by Grand Master standards. David Bronstein on this fact said: “Yes Morphy’s opponents were weak…but he beat them like a genius.” Fischer said about Morphy: “Morphy, I think everyone agrees, was probably the greatest genius of them all..." One thing is for sure….Morphy dominated his time in chess like other Greats of Chess. Fischer, Kasparov, Capablanca…Morphy is one of the Supreme Legends of chess.
27	Morphy Links See More Fischer Quotes On Morphy Go to Morphy’s Brilliant Games Get More Information On Morphy See a Picture Story about Fischer