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Why Morphy was sooooo good!

Why Morphy was sooooo good!

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rc

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here are just some of Morphys more celebrated moves. it has been alleged that he was a tactician, only, yet nothing could be further from the truth. Morphy was an artist, and it comes as no surprise that many of his games contain, what chess players term, beautiful moves. here are some of them.



this game was played as part of a blindfold exhibition, New Orleans 1858. its is the move, 21.Re8 that is celebrated, a constant theme in Morphys games, a positional sacrifice, made with the intent to deflect his opponents queen. the ending from 24...Qf8 is Retis continuation, the actual game, Morphys opponent played 24...Qg2

M

Earth

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Originally posted by robbie carrobie
here are just some of Morphys more celebrated moves. it has been alleged that he was a tactician, only, yet nothing could be further from the truth. Morphy was an artist, and it comes as no surprise that many of his games contain, what chess players term, beautiful moves. here are some of them.

[pgn]1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. ...[text shortened]... he ending from 24...Qf8 is Retis continuation, the actual game, Morphys opponent played 24...Qg2
This is chess of a level and beauty I can only awe at.
Re8 is beautiful, but the early gambits to gain development, and the way he has 'seen' ( 🙂 ) the refutation of what appear initially to be some pretty good disruptive exchanges by black, is just mind boggling.
A confidence born of true mastery of the chess pieces.

rc

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Dig this one my friend, played in London, 1858, against English Master , Henry Bird.



Again we see another beautiful positional sacrifice, 17...Rf2, which cannot be ignored. and then the follow up, 18...Qa3, which although will not lead to mate if white is careful, there is double attack against a2 and b2, opening lines to the king, which shall be hemmed in by its own pieces.

rc

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please if anyone else has any Morphy brilliances, please share, perhaps with just a little annotation 🙂

S
Caninus Interruptus

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"In a set match, Morphy would beat any man alive today." -Fischer

"[in solitaire chess against Morphy] it has taken me 20 minutes to find the proper response to his moves." -Fischer

S
Caninus Interruptus

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Originally posted by robbie carrobie
here are just some of Morphys more celebrated moves. it has been alleged that he was a tactician, only, yet nothing could be further from the truth. Morphy was an artist, and it comes as no surprise that many of his games contain, what chess players term, beautiful moves. here are some of them.

[pgn]1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. ...[text shortened]... he ending from 24...Qf8 is Retis continuation, the actual game, Morphys opponent played 24...Qg2
Black's move ...h5 is hilarious. Talk about desperation.

Yes, a brilliant game. First Re8, then QxR, then Qxg7+! knowing that the Bishops will own.

pp

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a brilliant IM named Greg Shahade (curtains on ICC and a chessvideos.tv celebrity) says he would beat Morphy in a blitz match, and I think he's right. 🙂

He actually says he thinks he can beat all world champions until Capablanca, with a little hesitation about Lasker.

all somewhere in here: http://www.chessvideos.tv/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5841

rc

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Originally posted by philidor position
a brilliant IM named Greg Shahade (curtains on ICC and a chessvideos.tv celebrity) says he would beat Morphy in a blitz match, and I think he's right. 🙂

He actually says he thinks he can beat all world champions until Capablanca, with a little hesitation about Lasker.

all somewhere in here: http://www.chessvideos.tv/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5841
he would have his a$$ handed to him on a platter and sent back home to play with his sisters dolls. Fischer, probably the greatest chess player ever to have graced the board, held Morphy in the highest esteem, who are we to believe, the I.M, or the legendary Fischer?

The main difference with Morphy which seems so strange to today's players, can be summed up in Nigels Shorts words, 'Modern Chess is too much concerned with things like Pawn structure. Forget it, Checkmate ends the game'.

h

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Do you think they could play Blitz with those clocks?

http://www.schaakkunst.nl/images/images_expo/schaakklok.jpg

(let alone the board & pieces)

rc

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Lol, i doubt it, however , it must be noted, that Sargent, in his famous book on Morphy, states, that he was a very quick player. here for your enjoyment, is another piece of pure art. played in Paris, 1859.



notice once again, the deflection of the queen! stunning game.

rc

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this has to be one of my favourites. Paulsen v Morphy, New York, 1857.



17...Qf3, a much celebrated sacrifice! Apparently Morphy took an age of twelve minutes, to work out that he did, have indeed, a forced win.

greenpawn34

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Robbie you are posting his games from the Sergeant book.

Dig out one of Morphy's Blindfold brilliancies.
Your jaw hits the deck when you consider he produces gems like
these whilst giving a Blindfold simul.

Meanwhile here is his only known composition.

White to play and mate in 2 (P.Morphy. New York Clipper - 1856)

pp

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Originally posted by robbie carrobie
he would have his a$$ handed to him on a platter and sent back home to play with his sisters dolls. Fischer, probably the greatest chess player ever to have graced the board, held Morphy in the highest esteem, who are we to believe, the I.M, or the legendary Fischer?

The main difference with Morphy which seems so strange to today's players, can s is too much concerned with things like Pawn structure. Forget it, Checkmate ends the game'.
those kind of arguments never make much sense to me, you know, having a practitioner as reference and say "who're you to know better then him", as if we are actually practicing (playing chess). we are not playing chess, we are discussing about chess. anyway.

Fischer has said a LOT of things. So does Short.

greenpawn34

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I've never heard of this Greg Shickshak (or what ever his name is).

The fact is there would be no Greg Shickshak if it were not for
the wee genius from New Orleans.

pp

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Originally posted by greenpawn34
I've never heard of this Greg Shickshak (or what ever his name is).

The fact is there would be no Greg Shickshak if it were not for
the wee genius from New Orleans.
strong logic.

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