In complicated positions, Bobby Fischer hardly had to be afraid of anybody.
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[Event "American Chess Congress"]
[Site "New York"]
[Date "1857.??.??"]
[Round "Final"]
[White "Paulsen, Louis"]
[Black "Morphy, Paul"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "David Hayes"]
[BlackElo "0"]
[ECO "C48"]
[TimeControl "0"]
[WhiteElo "0"]
{ Paul Charles Morphy (June 22, 1837 - July 10, 1884) was a child prodigy of
chess. He defeated European Master Johann Lowenthal in his home town of New
Orleans at the age of 12. Like the 20th century World Chess Champion Bobby
Fischer, Morphy dominated world chess by defeating the best players of his
day Paulsen (inventor of the Sicilian Dragon opening), Lowenthal, Harrwitz,
and Anderssen. His record against Anderssen (the Champion of London, 1851)
was 7 wins, 2 losses, and 2 draws. He was declared the World Champion in
Paris, London, and New York. Morphy was the first world champion to be
acclaimed at the time he was actively playing.|Also like Fischer, Morphy
retired from serious competitive chess after the American civil war ruined
his personal family fortune. He had played only 75 competitive games. His
sudden retirement at the height of his genius added to his reputation as a
super player. Quite possibly Morphy and Fischer are the best human players
the game has ever known. Fischer reportedly described Morphy as "perhaps the
most accurate player who ever lived" in Fischer, Bobby (1964), "The Ten
Greatest Masters in History (as told to Ben Hickey)," Chess World, vol. 1 no.
1, pp. 56-61.|The Morphy Defense of the Ruy Lopez (1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5
a6) is named after Morphy. It is the most popular variant of the Ruy Lopez
opening. He preferred playing open games, but could handle closed positions
also. Morphy was a player who intuitively knew the best move to make in both
open and closed positions. He played quickly and was hard to defeat. Time
control was not used in his day. Still, Morphy would often use less than one
tenth of the time his opponents would use to make all of his moves.|This game
against a worthy opponent Louis Paulsen demonstrates the accuracy and energy
of Morphy's play. } 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Bc5 5. O-O O-O 6. Nxe5 Re8 ( { White plays for the fork trick.|Black can try: } 6... Nxe5 7. d4 { The fork regains the piece. However, play might have continued down the
rabbit hole with very complex lines. } 7... Bd6 8. f4 Neg4 9. e5 { Yet another fork
as white dominates the center. } 9... Bb4 10. Qf3 d5 11. h3 Bf5 12. hxg4 Nxg4 13. Nd1 Qh4 14. Qh3 Qxh3 15. gxh3 Nh6 16. Ne3 c6 17. Nxf5 Nxf5 18. Bd3 { White has
the better game. } ) 7. Nxc6 dxc6 8. Bc4 b5 ( { The pawn on e4 is immune
because: } 8... Nxe4 9. Nxe4 Rxe4 10. Bxf7+ Kxf7 11. Qf3+ Qf6 12. Qxe4 ) 9. Be2 ( { Maintaining the bishop's pressure on f7 runs into trouble after: } 9. Bb3 Bg4 10. Qe1 b4 11. Na4 Rxe4 12. Nxc5 Rxe1 13. Rxe1 { Black has a better
game. } ) 9... Nxe4 10. Nxe4 Rxe4 11. Bf3 Re6 12. c3 Qd3 13. b4 Bb6 14. a4 bxa4 15. Qxa4 Bd7 16. Ra2 ( { It is not too late to play Qa6 for a roughly equal game. } 16. Qa6 Qxa6 17. Rxa6 Rae8 18. Bg4 Bc8 19. Ra1 Rf6 20. Bf3 ) 16... Rae8 17. Qa6 Qxf3 { A deep sacrifice. } 18. gxf3 Rg6+ 19. Kh1 Bh3 20. Rd1 ( { White would
blunder into mate with: } 20. Rg1 Bg2+ ( 20... Rxg1+ 21. Kxg1 Re1+ 22. Qf1 Rxf1# ) 21. Rxg2 Re1+ 22. Rg1 Rexg1# ) 20... Bg2+ 21. Kg1 Bxf3+ 22. Kf1 Bg2+ 23. Kg1 Bh3+ 24. Kh1 Bxf2 25. Qf1 Bxf1 26. Rxf1 Re2 27. Ra1 Rh6 28. d4 Be3 { White
resigns here. } 29. Bxe3 Rhxh2+ 30. Kg1 Reg2# 0-1