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Keeping up with Paul Morphy
Last week you had the chance to compare your chess skills with the famous American GM Frank Marshall. This time your task is harder as the new benchmark you are supposed to keep up with is the legendary Paul Morphy. In one of my previous articles (http://www.chess.com/article/view/the-best-chess-game-ever-played ) I already described my first encounter with one of Morphy's games and the deep impact it had on me. But it should be mentioned that one of the first chess compositions I ever saw was also composed by Morphy even though I didn't know it at that time. Here is this little gem: White starts and checkmates Black in two moves.
Now I am going to give you 10 positions from Morphy's games. Try to find how Morphy managed to defeat his opponents there. The positions are arranged from elementary ones (with some brief notes for our less experienced members) to extremely difficult to solve. Good luck!
( Please remember that you can always replay the whole game from the first move if you click "Solution" and then "Move list.")
James McConnell (?) vs. Paul Morphy (?)
New Orleans / New Orleans
1849
ECO: C38 | 0-1
Black to move
21. Kg1
I hope you knew this basic tactical pattern called 'smothered mate'. It is very beautiful and worthy to remember since it happens in tournament games more frequently then you might think. You'll have a proof very soon :)
George Hammond (?) vs. Paul Morphy (?)
Casual / New York
1857
ECO: C53 | 0-1
Black to move
28. Re4
This elementary tactic is called 'deflection'. It is very common in chess.
Napoleon Marache (?) vs. Paul Morphy (?)
New / New
1857
ECO: C52 | 0-1
Black to move
19. Qe4
The following puzzles are slightly more difficult, but still should be easy to solve.
Paul Morphy (?) vs. Daniel Harrwitz (?)
Paris (France) / It
1858
ECO: C41 | 1-0
White to move
30... Rxc5
John William Schulten (?) vs. Paul Morphy (?)
New York / New York
1857
ECO: C31 | 0-1
Black to move
17. Kg1
Paul Morphy (?) vs. Schrufer (?)
Paris / Paris
31 Mar 1859
ECO: C56 | 1-0
White to move
20... Kb8
Paul Morphy (?) vs. Eugene Rousseau (?)
New Orleans / New Orleans
1849
ECO: C39 | 1-0
White to move
13... d5
The next two positions are even more advanced, but still solvable:
Jules Arnous De Riviere (?) vs. Paul Morphy (?)
Paris / Paris
1863
ECO: C58 | 0-1
Black to move
17. Qd4
Paul Morphy (?) vs. Johann Jacob Loewenthal (?)
London / It
1859
ECO: C51 | 1-0
White to move
24... Ng4
The last combination is incredible and really difficult to find. If you manage to solve it and anticipate all Morphy's moves before you start actually moving pieces on the board then you should be very proud. You are probably a very strong Master or a Grandmaster!
Henry Edward Bird (?) vs. Paul Morphy (?)
London / London
1858
ECO: C41 | 0-1
Black to move
17. O-O-O
I hope that all chess.com members regardless of their level enjoyed the combinations and also learned something new from the great chess genius.
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