Paul Morphy: The Pride and Sorrow of Chess
Paul Morphy may be the most remarkable figure in chess history. In an active competitive career spanning barely two years, he defeated every great player in the world and demonstrated a depth of chess understanding far ahead of his time. Then he stopped playing, returned to the United States, descended into mental illness, and died at forty-seven without ever explaining why he gave up the game.
New Orleans Prodigy
Morphy was born into a prominent New Orleans family in 1837. He reportedly learned chess by watching his father and uncle play, and by the age of ten was defeating strong adult players. He learned law and appeared destined for a legal career. It was only after his father's death in 1856 that he began to take chess seriously as a competitive pursuit.
The American Tour
In 1857, Morphy entered the first American Chess Congress in New York and won it convincingly. He then challenged the strongest players in the country, defeating all of them. His play was startlingly modern: he opened with rapid piece development, sought open lines, and punished opponents who delayed development or grabbed pawns at the cost of time.
The European Conquest
In 1858 and 1859, Morphy visited Europe and challenged the best players on the continent. He defeated them all, usually by wide margins. His matches against Anderssen, Harrwitz, and others were decisive demonstrations of his superiority. He gave most opponents odds (handicaps) to make the games more interesting and still won. The only strong player who refused to meet him was Howard Staunton, who gave various excuses that were widely seen as evasion.
Playing Style
Morphy's chess was revolutionary for its time. While other players of his era played slow, defensive games or sought flashy combinations without sufficient preparation, Morphy played a complete game: rapid development, control of open files, coordinated piece activity. His style looks almost modern, and analysts have noted that many of his techniques anticipate ideas that were not formally articulated until decades later.
Retirement and Decline
After his European triumph, Morphy returned to New Orleans and essentially stopped playing serious chess. He made a few sporadic appearances but never competed at the top level again. He attempted to establish a law practice but found no clients — possibly because of a social prejudice against professional chess players, possibly for other reasons.
In his later years he showed increasing signs of paranoia and mental illness. He died in 1884, apparently of a stroke following a cold bath. He was forty-seven. The reasons for his abandonment of chess have been debated ever since by chess historians and psychologists alike.
Legacy
Morphy's influence on chess was profound. He demonstrated a level of play that was simply not seen again for several decades, and his games are still studied as models of open-game play and attacking chess. Every world champion since has acknowledged his importance to the game's development.