Paul Morphy

Paul Charles Morphy, born on June 22, 1837, in New Orleans, was an American chess player whose career peaked in the late 1850s. During that brief period, he was recognized as the world’s finest chess master, and later analysts have deemed him far ahead of his era. He died on July 10, 1884.

Early life

Morphy came from a prominent, wealthy family. His father, Alonzo Morphy—of Spanish and Irish descent—was a lawyer who served as a Louisiana state legislator, Attorney General, and a Louisiana State Supreme Court Justice. His mother, Louise Thérèse Felicitie Thelcide Le Carpentier, came from a distinguished French Creole family and was musically gifted. Paul grew up in a cultured, genteel home where chess and music were Sunday staples.

Accounts differ on how Morphy learned chess. His uncle Ernest claimed no one taught him; Paul simply picked it up by watching others. After Ernest and Alonzo abandoned a long game as a draw, young Paul declared that Ernest should have won.

When the men expressed surprise, he reset the pieces and demonstrated the missed victory. Biographer Frederick Milnes Edge dismissed this story as apocryphal. In 1845, Ernest served as second for Eugène Rousseau in a match against Charles H. Stanley, bringing Paul along.

Childhood victories

By age nine, in 1846, Morphy was considered one of New Orleans’ best players. That year, General Winfield Scott visited the city en route to the Mexican-American War and requested a chess game with a strong local opponent. When Morphy was presented as his opponent, Scott initially took offense, but after assurances that the boy was a prodigy, he agreed to play. Morphy defeated Scott in both games, ending the second by announcing a forced checkmate after six moves.

Between 1848 and 1849, Morphy played at least fifty games against Eugène Rousseau, then New Orleans’ strongest player, losing at most five. In 1850, Hungarian master Johann Löwenthal visited New Orleans. He accepted an invitation to Judge Morphy’s home to play the twelve-year-old. Löwenthal quickly realized his opponent’s strength; each good move made his eyebrows shoot up in a way Ernest called “comique.” Löwenthal played three games during his stay; sources record either two losses and a draw, or three losses.

From 1850 onward, Morphy focused on his education. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama, in 1854, writing a thesis on the logical limits of justifications for war and secession by southern states.

Schooling and the First American Chess Congress

He spent another year studying mathematics and philosophy, receiving a master’s degree with highest honors in May 1855. He then studied law at the University of Louisiana (now Tulane University), earning an LL.B. on April 7, 1857. It is claimed he memorized the entire Louisiana Civil Code during his studies.

Too young to practice law, Morphy had free time after graduation. He received an invitation to the First American Chess Congress in New York, held October 6 to November 10, 1857. He initially declined but changed his mind at the urging of Judge Alexander Beaufort Meek, a family friend. The tournament was a 16-man knockout event with short multi-game matches.

Strong German master Louis Paulsen, who openly predicted Morphy would win, also competed. During the tournament, Paulsen repeatedly said that if Morphy visited Europe, he could prove himself the greatest living player. As Paulsen foresaw, Morphy defeated James Thompson in the first round, Meek in the quarter-finals, German master Theodor Lichtenhein in the semifinals, and Paulsen in the finals, taking the grand prize.

Europe

After this victory, Morphy was hailed as the world’s greatest chess master. He then traveled to Europe, staying in England and France while challenging the continent’s top players. He played matches against most leading English and French players, as well as German Adolf Anderssen, winning all by large margins. In 1859, he returned to the United States, then abandoned competitive chess and withdrew from public view.