Paul Morphy: The Pride and Sorrow of Chess

by David Lawson

  The doubtful Medley game first appeared in the London Era of January 2, 1859, as a Medley–M game. Very evidently the “M” stood for Mongredien and not for Morphy, for Mongredien was mentioned in the notes to the game, and it never appeared on any list of Morphy games at the time.

  The Thomas W. Barnes game falls into a different category. This game was first published in the Stuttgart magazine Vom Fels zum Meer in October 1881 and was published elsewhere without question until James Mason annotated it for the British Chess Magazine for August 1893, preceding the game with a questioning of its authenticity. But it is to be noted in comparing the game score in both magazines that the game, as Mason presents it, varies from that originally published, as will be seen on inspection. Brentano’s Chess Monthly, in which it appeared in December 1881, copied the game exactly as given in Vom Fels zum Meer, and added the accompanying remarks:

  Among the many interesting games which Paul Morphy, the greatest Chess-player of recent times, has played, there are but few excellent examples which have not yet become generally known by publication. Through the kindness of Dr. Lange we are able to produce one of those few games, played between the American and an English master of the first rank in 1878. [The date was 1858; Barnes died in 1874.]

  “J.G.C.” examined the game a month after Mason in much greater detail in the same magazine, and agreed with Mason’s discrediting of the game. He called it “The Pseudo Barnes v. Morphy game,” possibly “made in Germany,” and comments:

  Let me put on record one fact which to my mind completely confirms Mr. Mason’s contention. The game first “went the rounds” about twelve years ago, but in its journey it took more than one shape. It was originally given to the world in the Stuttgart Magazine, and from that periodical it was copied into the Turf, Field and Farm, and thence into Brentano, where it will be found on pages 382-3, in the number for December, 1881. But before appearing there the editorial pen had evidently been at work, for moves were transposed, as if an attempt had been made to “doctor” the game up. The game given in the B.C.M. is the original version, and to enable your readers to see the amount of “doctoring” effected, I subjoin the two versions:—

  The first ten moves of each version are then given, and a diagram is added, but neither version arrives at the position diagramed.

  “J.G.C.” then proceeds to take the game apart, and adds, “A fair inference from a comparison of the two series of moves is that the later version [ Brentano’s] was an attempt at emendation with the intention of concealing Black’s [Morphy’s] weak play.” Also, both Mason and “J.G.C.” make the point that their “original” ends with move twenty-six “and Black forces mate in five moves.”

  Obviously neither Mason nor “J.G.C.” had actually seen the game in Vom Fels zum Meer, although “J.G.C.” writes as though he had seen it there, for the game score in Brentano’s is precisely that given in Vom Fels zum Meer, and furthermore both give the thirty moves to mate.

  Mason makes one favorable comment on Black’s move twelve—N-K4, “This is something like Morphy, certainly.” In The Chess Player’s Scrap Book of January 1907, Emanuel Lasker says of the move, “A combination of rare originality, which has several interesting variations.”

  P. W. Sergeant states in including the game as originally given in his Morphy’s Games of Chess (CLXXXVIII), that “although this game is put in the Appendix by M. L. [Max Lange] and Maróczy, it seems reasonable to accept its genuineness.” It was undoubtedly played in 1858 and is one of the twenty-six games Morphy is known to have played with Barnes at that time, of which only seven were previously known, and eighteen are still unknown.

  The British Chess Magazine for May 1898, in “The B.C.M. Guide to the Openings,” gives the game in its original form in illustration of “The Ruy Lopez Knight’s Game,” but does not mention Morphy’s opponent.

  In 1889, Andrés Fernandez Pozo came into possession of a game which he believed Morphy had played with Lowenthal, in which Morphy received the odds of Pawn and two moves, and he communicated with J. J.Machado of Havana, editor of La Revista de Ajedrez:

  Gijon, Feb. 18, 1889

  My much esteemed Friend—I have the pleasure of forwarding you for publication in your interesting journal, if you think proper, the score of a game of the great Paul Morphy, played in the year 1850 in New Orleans, when he was only thirteen years old, against the already famous master, Mr. Lowenthal. It is the only recorded game, in which our immortal chessist appears as receiving odds, and it is not to be found published in any magazine, nor in any collection of his games.

  Becoming possessor of this curious gem, which came to my hands through a fortunate occurrence, in order to satisfy myself that it was authentic, I forwarded it to the learned Dr. Max Lange, of Leipzig, asking him about it, and he replied to me that it was really genuine, and that the fact that it was not to be found in any collection or magazine was owing to an agreement entered into by both players not to publish, during their lives, the games they had played at that period; but that Morphy having died, this game had become the property of the chess world, and could, and should be published. Finally, that this game, without any doubt, must be one of the three to which Mr. Lowenthal referred in the Book of the New York Congress in 1857, page 394.

  I have then, the greatest pleasure in forwarding it to you, in order that our country should have the glory of having published it for the first time in your Review, the only one that sees the light in the language of Cervantes.

  Remaining as ever, your affectionate friend, etc.

  Andres Fernandez Pozo

  The above translation of the letter appeared in the New Orleans Times-Democrat of January 10, 1892, which continues with a refutation by Maurian:

  Along with this letter, there appears in the same magazine [ Havana Chess Review] a game at the odds of Pawn and Two Moves, in which Morphy, receiver of the odds, administers mate to Lowenthal on the forty-seventh move.

  In El Pablo Morphy (for November, 1891), a monthly chess review, now conducted with much talent by Sr. Andres Clemente Vasquez, in the city of Havana, a similar letter and the same game are recently published.

  Unquestionably, a game by Paul Morphy, even at the odds of Pawn and two, must be accounted a most interesting and valuable chess relic, were it only for the reason, as stated in the letter, that it is the sole game on record where Morphy appears in the role of odds receiver, and especially, we would add, in view of the fact that it affords the first intimation that Morphy, whose chess career has been so often dilated upon by chess writers and is so well known to persons still living, ever at any time received any odds from any known player.

  To the writer, who for years lived with him in daily companionship, who played chess with him almost daily, who talked chess with him almost constantly and heard from his own lips many a time all the details of this self-same encounter with Lowenthal in 1850;—to the writer, this game at odds is startling news indeed! I would, however, have had nothing to say, but for the fact that the question, being an historical one, assumes considerable importance to chess players, and, being thoroughly convinced that Mr. Pozo is entirely in error, and has been led astray by whomsoever gave him the information, I think the subject worthy of study with a view to its elucidation.

  Maurian then goes on for several pages of examination and elaboration of all circumstances bearing on its authenticity as a Paul Morphy game so convincingly that the game has never since been considered or even referred to as a possible Morphy game. He concludes by saying: I am convinced that the game was never played by Morphy, and that the editor of the review or magazine, whether English or American, in which Mr. Pozo saw the game about 1865 or 1867, was imposed upon, or that his informant was himself made the victim of a 1st of April hoax.

  Yours very truly, Chas. A. Maurian

  As it happens, convincing as Maurian was in demonstrating that Morphy never received odds from Lowenthal, the mystery of the odds game has been completely solved by finding the game
in which Lowenthal conceded the odds of Pawn and two moves. The game was played in 1855 before a Mr. Murphy went to China. The following appeared in Lowenthal’s chess column in the London Era, February 17, 1861:

  Mr. Murphy in London

  This gentleman, who must be well-known to our readers on account of the many interesting games which he played in London previous to his departure for China, has returned to his native land, and has paid a short visit to London. We are glad to find that he has still the same enthusiasm for Chess. The following is one of the games which the Editor had the pleasure of playing with him:—

  Then followed the game, the score of which Mr. Pozo and Dr. Lange had thought of as a Paul Morphy game. Apparently, someone seeing the game as played between M. and L. had assumed it to be a Paul Morphy game. The game was reprinted in the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin September 26, 1863, but this time as a game between a Mr. Murphy and Mr.Lowenthal.

  Another game of questionable authenticity has come to light in relatively recent years, and has been a subject of some discussion. The game first came to public attention in June 1935, when W. H. Watts inserted it as a last page in some copies of Morphy Gleanings by Sergeant:

  A NEW MORPHY GAME

  In the lengthy research conducted in America, on the Continent and in this country by Mr. P. W. Sergeant or on his behalf to collect new matter for inclusion in Morphy Gleanings, only three new games came to light. By great good fortune another new game which bears every evidence of being genuine has recently been discovered in America.

  The circumstances of its discovery are themselves interesting.

  Mr. Joseph P. Beck, of Brooklyn, purchased a second-hand copy of Lowenthal’s “Morphy,” and on the flyleaf was a statement in the handwriting of Mr. G. B. Ruggles as follows:—

  “Mr. Morphy was in poor health when I visited him, and it was with great reluctance that he consented to play a game of Chess with me, the score of which will be found among my effects.”

  The book and the game were both autographed by Paul Morphy himself. The book has been sold to a collector of Morphiana, but the score in the handwriting of Mr. John Ruggles was found in the book and a facsimile reproduction appears overleaf. As this may be a little difficult to follow, the game and the footnote are repeated here.

  The footnote reads: “The game was broken off here. Mr. Morphy has the best of it—it was never resumed. Played at New Orleans on March 24, 1869. Score recorded by John Ruggles.”

  In answer to an inquiry, J. F. S. Rumble supplied the game score to the British Chess Magazine, which published it for March 1969 and quoted some of the information accompanying the game in 1935. The following month, in the same magazine, Bruce Hayden discussed the game and under what circumstances it might have been played, if it had been played. As Hayden was careful to say, all was “based first on the assumption that the score and Morphy’s signature [on the score] are authentic.”

  There is no way of knowing whether a John Ruggles wrote the score of the game, but the Morphy signature is an obviously labored forgery as may be judged by comparison with those of Morphy. The game may be dismissed as the fabrication of one wishing to associate himself with Morphy.

  Franz Gutmayer has a section on Morphy and his games in many of the chess books he authored. The Deutsche Schachzeitung of September 1897 had the following notice about him:

  A new chess society under the name of the “Morphy Chess Society” has just been formed. The principal object of the Society is the collection and publication of all previously unknown or unpublished games, letters or other significant material on Paul Morphy’s life and work. The leader of the Society is Franz Gutmayer of Berlin. Any chess lovers or sponsors in the world may become members. Annual dues (which may be paid quarterly) 12 marks. We doubt that it will be possible for Dr. Max Lange to unearth something noteworthy about Paul Morphy.

  It is not known to what extent the society was successful in its collection of new games or information about Morphy, but it is possible that it was helpful to Géza Maróczy in his first edition of Paul Morphy in 1909, in which Maróczy gave a total of 407 games, some published for the first time.

  The following problem by E. B. Cook has often been falsely ascribed to Paul Morphy. It was first published under the initials “E.B.C.” by C. H. Stanley on October 23, 1852, in the New York Albion. Dr. H. Keidanz published it as number 15 in The Chess Compositions of E. B. Cook.

  To correct an erroneous statement by C. A. Buck in Paul Morphy, His Later Life that Paul Morphy “did very little of the work” on the Chess Monthly, D. W. Fiske prepared from notes on his copies of the magazine a list of the games Morphy had annotated. He sent the list, dated April 15, 1901, to James D. Seguin, chess editor of the New Orleans Times-Democrat, and mentioned other work Morphy had done for the Chess Monthly while editor. The following is a list of those games:

  Volume II (1858)—Games 84–98; 99–107; 109–112; 121–129; 133–135; 144–147; 152–153; 163–164; 169; 173–174; 180–181.

  Volume III (1859)—Games 182–198; 200–237; 239; 257; 262–266; 272–275.

  Volume IV (1860)—Games 283–286; 291–294; 299–302;309; 348; 354–355.

  Volume V (1861)—Games 1–2.

  Fiske did not list the two games in Volume 5, but Morphy initialed the notes. In three other instances, Fiske failed to list the games exactly, but they are identified elsewhere.

  H. E. Bird mentions in Modern Chess that Morphy provided the notes for games 49 and 50 with Harrwitz and Rivière as given in his (Bird’s) volume.

  In his New York Ledger column, Morphy annotated a total of fifty-seven games, of which thirty-five were Labourdonnais–M’Donnell games, while fourteen were his own. Games with his notes also appeared in the New Orleans Sunday Delta, the New York Clipper, the New York Sunday Press, and other newspapers. He provided the notes for all his games in The First American Chess Congress and played more match games than are generally known or credited to him, as will be seen in the following table and summation. (The London Match with Worrall was mentioned in the Chess Monthly of August 1859.)

  ______________

  FOOTNOTES

  * EDITOR’S NOTE: Some of the pictures Lawson included in this chapter, originally titled Trophies, Authenticity, and Morphy Pictures,� are included in the image gallery of this volume, while others have been eliminated.

  ** EDITOR’S NOTE: The whereabouts of the bust are now unknown, but are presumably still in the family of Fleming.

  * EDITOR’S NOTE: As previously mentioned, Lawson’s Morphy collection went to Dale Brandreth, who keeps much of its contents.

  APPENDIX

  1.

  Michael Morphy’s Letter to Thomas Jefferson of June 30, 1793

  Malaga, 30th June 1793

  Sir,

  I received the 20th instant by the Schooner Fredericksburg Packet of Philadelphia, Atkinson Anderson, Master, the honor of your letter dated the 2nd March, and also that of the Commission granted by the President and Senate as Consul of the United States of America at Malaga, and a copy of the Laws thereto appertaining which with that of a circular letter written to the Consuls and Vice Consuls the 26th August 1790, shall serve as my Standing Instructions.

  After returning my most grateful thanks to the President, Senate, and you, Sir, for this mark of distinction, I must beg leave to offer that I shall pay due regard to it by exercising the functions of my post with such circumspection and application to the Duties thereof, as will be necessary to promote the Interest of the trading Subjects of the United States in their Navigation and trade to this continent, guided by my experience and long residence in Spain of forty years, and for which purpose I forwarded my said Commission the 25th instant to William Carmichael, Esq., Chargé des Affaires from the States at the Court of Madrid for obtaining His Catholic Majesty’s exequator of approbation thereto for without it no Consul is allowed to act officially in the Sea Ports:

  I am extremely happy Sir, to learn the strict neutrality t
hat is likely to be kept by the United States during the present disturbances in Europe, on which account it is to be hoped that we shall be the carriers to and from those nations that are at War, except to the Eastward of Malaga on account of the great risk of meeting the Algereen Runners [pirates] that keep hovering on the coast of Spain, two of which captured on the 9th of last month the Schooner Lark of Marble Head, John Pattin, Master, coming from Cartagane [ sic] and bound to this Port, he was met about 29 Leagues to the Eastward and had the good luck to escape with his crew in the boat and landed at Aora, the Vessel had of us barrels of Beef and about one thousand Dollars on board which fell a prize with the Vessel.

  I beg leave to suggest that if a small naval force from America were to appear in the Mediterranean during these troublesome times for protecting their trade, that it might contribute much to bring about a speedier and easier Settlement with the States on the African Coast.

  The Portuguese Squadron Stationed at Gibraltar proves very Servicable [ sic]

  to those powers in war with the Algereens, for there is no instance of any of their Cruisers passing to the Westward of the Straights since the former laid the plan of keeping a naval force at that Port to cruise in the Straights.

  I have the pleasure to assure you Sir, that notwithstanding no Commercial treaty is known to have taken place between the United States and Spain, that the former Vessels, as well as Subjects sailing therein are received in the ports on this Continent with the same hospitality, privileges and regulations as are shown to those of other favored powers, and I beg leave to add that I shall make it my ardent duty to maintain the Same and to follow Strictly such instructions as you may honor me with and that may tend hereafter to the Publick Service.

  The trade of the Beligerant [ sic] Powers against the french nation, is feeling the hardships of war, and must continue so until a peace is happily brought about, the continued Successes of the Arms employed against france. It is expected, will soon put an end to the Contests especially as its Subjects are now divided and the party of the royalists becoming formidable—Lord Hood with the British fleet sailed from Gibraltar up the Mediterranean the 27th instant, inclosed [ sic] gives a correct list of the forces under his command; His Lordship is to join the Spanish fleet composed of twenty six sail of the Line besides several frigates Armed Vessels and Gun boats which are at sea aloft: what the operations of so formidable a force will be, only time can tell. The King of Sardinia only waits their arrival for commencing his operations with an Army of 80 [80,000] men—the Spanish Armys are making a great progress in the french territory near the frontier and will in all appearance be soon masters of all Rosellon: