Paul Morphy had a terrible habit...

he would only raise his eyes from the board when victory was a certainty. Then he would gaze curiously at his rival. The rival would humbly meet Paul's gaze. He immediately realized the futility of further mental combat.

Originally posted by @ketchuplover
he would only raise his eyes from the board when victory was a certainty. Then he would gaze curiously at his rival. The rival would humbly meet Paul's gaze. He immediately realized the futility of further mental combat.

If you can't win a staring contest, don't play tournament chess. 😛

Originally posted by @bigdoggproblem
If you can't win a staring contest, don't play tournament chess. 😛

Suppose a girl or guy from some country not familar with chess comes along, learns chess maybe getting basic training, how pieces move, en passant, pawn advance and so forth but not much about openings or strategy.

Suppose that person has a Morphy like ability to play chess and starts beating good players.

How far up the scale would someone like that rise without real coaching from GM trainers and such?

Originally posted by @ketchuplover
he would only raise his eyes from the board when victory was a certainty. Then he would gaze curiously at his rival. The rival would humbly meet Paul's gaze. He immediately realized the futility of further mental combat.

This would only have an effect if a really strong player were doing it. If I tried something like this it would carry as much weight with my opponent as a fly 2 light years away. 😕

Originally posted by @sonhouse
Suppose a girl or guy from some country not familar with chess comes along, learns chess maybe getting basic training, how pieces move, en passant, pawn advance and so forth but not much about openings or strategy.

Suppose that person has a Morphy like ability to play chess and starts beating good players.

How far up the scale would someone like that rise without real coaching from GM trainers and such?

It depends on who they play. Playing games against better players is a form of coaching, especially if one reviews their losses in an earnest effort to find out where they went wrong.