Paul Morphy

Paul Morphy (1837-1884), American chess player, whose innovations during a brief but brilliant career added new dimensions to the game. His strategic approach to chess foreshadowed the use of positional play, a strategy that has been used by many grandmasters in the modern era. For a short time in the late 1850s, Morphy dominated the international chess world.

Paul Charles Morphy was born into a wealthy family in New Orleans, Louisiana, and began to play chess as a young boy. By age 13, he was the best chess player in New Orleans and one of the best in the United States. Morphy received a law degree in 1857 from the University of Louisiana, but because he was too young to practice law, he instead concentrated on his chess playing. That year he showed his dominance in the game by winning the first American Chess Congress, held in New York City.

In 1858 Morphy traveled to Europe, where he played three grandmasters: János Löwenthal of Hungary, Daniel Harrwitz of Germany, and Adolf Anderssen of Germany. He defeated all three of these leading European players within a six-month period, assuring himself a place in chess history. His play in Europe sparked new interest in chess theory. Instead of using outright attacks during play, as was traditionally done, Morphy slowly moved his pieces into positions of strength. This attention to position allowed him to arrange complex combinations of pieces that ultimately overwhelmed opponents. Although he could not arrange a match with the top British player, Howard Staunton, for a brief time Morphy was considered by many to be the best player in the world.

Morphy was given a hero’s welcome when he returned to New York in 1859. He wrote a chess column in the New York Ledger for a year before starting an unsuccessful law practice in Louisiana. Morphy played only a few competitive matches after beginning his law practice because his wealthy social peers viewed chess as a pastime rather than a worthwhile occupation. Morphy struggled with this perception, in large part because of his obsession with the game. He called this obsession “chess fever.” Morphy’s failure to reconcile his image of himself as a great chess player and intellectual with his peers’ image of the game led to his withdrawal from society. His neutral position on the American Civil War (1861-1865) also caused him to be left out of many social circles. Suffering acute depression, Morphy was cared for by his mother and sister until he died at the age of 47.