CWAP Game 1: Morphy-Lewis, Philadelphia 1859

Paul Morphy
1837-1884
World champion: Never, but it was Morphy who pretty much gave people the idea for a US championship (the 1857 First American Chess Congress was organized mostly to show that Morphy was clearly the best player in the US), and a world championship (had there been an official world championship in the 1850s, Morphy’s visits to Europe would not have been fruitless).

Game 1

[Event "Blindfold simul, 4b"][Site "Philadelphia, PA USA"][Date "1859.11.11"][White "P. Morphy"][Black "S. Lewis"][Result "1-0"]{ Click or tap on a move in the game text for a popout display board.[#]}1. e4 { The best way to study chess isn’t playing chess, but playing through a master game while covering the winner’s moves and guessing them as you go. Ordinarily, we ought to start guessing at move 12 or so, because predicting a master’s moves in the opening — with its unfathomable permutations and transpositions — will drive you nuts, and it’s only a little helpful. A chess teacher sharing Morphy-Lewis, Philadelphia 1859, should make an exception, and ask students to begin guessing at move 1. They’ll see Morphy give a complete lesson in opening play with his first four moves. } 1... b6 2. d4 Bb7 3. Bd3 { Students and club players invariably reach for 3. Nc3, but Morphy aims for the fastest kingside development. } 3... e6 4. Nh3 { Now with rapid kingside development in mind, students will go straight to 4. Nf3, but Morphy is looking ahead. Think about the middlegame. Before we can play a proper middlegame, we have to learn the endgame. You need the ability to discern a favorable or unfavorable endgame in order to play the middlegame. If there’s an endgame on the horizon, but you can’t tell if it’s good or bad for you, how can you know whether to steer toward it with exchanges, or avoid it by keeping pieces on the board? Similarly, we cannot play a thoughtful opening without knowing the middlegames that lie ahead. We aim to achieve one thing in the opening: a playable middlegame, with roughly equal control of the center, the same amount of piece mobility, and a similar level of king safety. If we emerge from the opening with — or during the middlegame, acquire — leads in center control, development, and king safety, the advantage and initiative are ours. We are then obliged to attack, said Steinitz, else we risk losing the advantage. Fine said: To attack the enemy king, open files for the heavy pieces. ( Purdy agreed in spirit, saying the real test of your opening is the play you get for your rooks in the middlegame. ) In the position at hand, White is assured of some kind of central advantage following 1. e4 plus 2. d4. As long as White develops pieces at move 3, 4, 5, and so forth, the mobility will be at least equal. And by castling as soon as possible, there’s White’s better king safety. So the thinking behind 3. Nh3 is that the f-pawn is left free to advance f2-f4-f5 to open that file. } 4... d5 5. e5 { Better center. } 5... Ne7 6. O-O { Better development and better king safety. } 6... Ng6 { …Ng8-e7-g6 just makes things more difficult for Black, presenting a target for f2-f4-f5. } 7. f4 Be7 8. f5 exf5 9. Bxf5 Bc8 { e5-e6 will disrupt Black’s kingside some, but it’s not so worrisome to call for undeveloping the pieces. } 10. Bxc8 { I also like this game for its illustration of this principle regarding exchanges: In an equal material exchange — pawn for pawn, rook for rook — the side who gets the better of that deal is the side whose pieces develop or improve with recaptures. } 10... Qxc8 { 10…Qxc8 is an instance of an unhelpful recapture, and it even enables White to develop with a threat because the queen moved away from her defense of d5. } 11. Nc3 c6 { 11…Qd7 and 11…Qe6 make sense for developing a piece while leaving c6 open for the knight ( to combine with …c7-c5 and maybe …Be7-c5 ) . } 12. Bg5 O-O { This time, …Qd7 or …Qe6 readies a recapture on e7 with the queen, so Black doesn’t have to undevelop his knight. } 13. Bxe7 Nxe7 14. Qh5 h6 { 15. Ng5 would’ve made a double threat. } 15. Rf3 Ng6 16. Raf1 Qe6 17. Ne2 { Each white piece took a first step into the game, and this knight’s second move heads toward the king. } 17... Nd7 { While the e5-pawn stands, this knight can’t get closer for helping the defense. } 18. Nef4 Nxf4 19. Nxf4 { A forward-going recapture. } 19... Qe7 20. Rg3 Kh7 21. Rff3 { The attack progresses in orderly fashion. Now White threatens 22. Rxg7+ Kxg7 23. Rg3+ Kh7 24. Rh3. } 21... Rg8 22. Nh3 g6 { [#] } 23. Ng5+ Qxg5 (23... Kg7 24. Nxf7 $18 ) 24. Rxf7+ Kh8 { 24… Rg7 25. Rxg5 shows both black pawns are pinned. } 25. Qxg5 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.