Chess player, born in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. The son of a wealthy Irish-American father (the family name was originally Murphy) and French-Creole mother, he graduated from Spring Hill (Alabama) College with the school's highest honours ever and received a law degree from the University of Louisiana at age 18. Ineligible to practise until 21, he turned to chess. After winning the American championship and beating the strongest masters in Europe (18579), he came home to a hero's welcome as unofficial world champion (title play was not formalized until 1886). Foreshadowing the career of fellow US champion Bobby Fischer, who called him perhaps the most accurate chess player who ever lived, he returned to New Orleans, failed to set up a law practice, and went into seclusion. After abandoning all but friendly chess games and suffering from paranoia, he died from a stroke while taking a bath.
Paul Charles Morphy (June 22, 1837 - July 10, 1884), "The Pride and Sorrow of Chess," was an American chess player. Some chess grandmasters consider Morphy to have been the greatest chessplayer who ever lived.
Biography
Early life
Morphy was born in New Orleans, Louisiana to a wealthy and distinguished 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.
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. 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. The second time Morphy 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. Löwenthal, who had played talented young players before and expected to easily overcome Morphy, considered the informal match a waste of time but accepted the offer as a courtesy to the well-to-do judge. He expected no more from Morphy than the usual talented young players he had played before. He slowed down his play greatly, and each time Morphy made a good move Löwenthal's eyebrows shot up in a manner described by Ernest Morphy as "comique". Löwenthal played three games with Morphy during his New Orleans stay, losing all three. 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.)
Schooling and the First American Chess Congress
After 1850, Morphy did not play much chess for a long time.
Not yet of legal age to begin the practice of law, Morphy found himself with free time. 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. 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 in Europe.
Morphy goes to Europe
Still too young to start his law career, soon after returning to New Orleans he was invited to attend an international chess tournament 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. At times, Staunton was physically present in the same room where Morphy easily beat the English masters. He had every opportunity to measure Morphy's talent, and he decided not to play a single game against Morphy.
Staunton was later criticised for failing to meet Morphy. However, Staunton spent his time producing his edition of the complete works of Shakespeare and playing chess, (Staunton competed in a chess tournament during Morphy's visit) avoiding public games only against Morphy.
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, Morphy crossed the English Channel and visited France. 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. 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. 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.
Morphy is hailed as World Champion
During his travels, Morphy was highly regarded. Morphy then stated that he was Mr. Morphy. 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.
Morphy biographer David Lawson writes that Morphy was the first to be universally hailed "The World Chess Champion". However most chess historians place the first official world chess championship in 1886, and so regard Morphy as having been unofficial world champion.
In Paris, on April 4,1859, a banquet was held in his honor, where a laurel wreath was placed over the head of a bust of Morphy, carved by the sculptor Eugene Lequesne.
Returning to England in the spring of 1859, Morphy was lionized by the English. Morphy won two games, drew two games, and lost one.
Shortly after, Morphy started the long trip home, taking a ship back to New York. At the University of the City of New York, on May 29, 1859, John Van Buren, son of President Van Buren, ended a testimonial presentation by proclaiming, "Paul Morphy, Chess Champion of the World".
Morphy travelled home slowly, stopping in all of the major cities. At the banquet, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes proposed a toast to "the health of Paul Morphy, The World Chess Champion".
Morphy was a celebrity.
Morphy abandons chess
Morphy reportedly declared that he would play no more matches with anyone unless he was giving odds of pawn and move (in a match between two evenly matched Masters, a pawn advantage is considered a winning advantage). 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. Chess in Morphy's day was not a respectable occupation for a gentleman, but was admired only as an amateur activity.
Tragedy and twilight
Morphy's final years were tragic.
Morphy passed away at the age of forty-seven on the afternoon of July 10, 1884.
Morphy's chess play
Today many amateurs think of Morphy as a dazzling combinative player, who excelled in sacrificing his Queen and checkmating his opponent a few brilliant moves later.
Morphy can be considered the first modern player. Anderssen especially commented on this, saying that after one bad move against Morphy one may as well resign. "I win my games in seventy moves but Mr. Morphy wins his in twenty, but that is only natural..."
Of Morphy's 59 "serious" games — those played in matches and the 1857 New York tournament — he won 42, drew 9, and lost 8.
Notable chess games
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| Position from Morphy-Anderssen, 1858 after 7...Ng3. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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