Play Chess Against Paul Morphy

Paul Morphy (1837-1884), the New Orleans prodigy who humbled Europe's best masters at 21, sits across the board. Set the strength, clock, color and starting position, then press Start game.

Play Morphy now

Portrait of Paul Morphy — Paul Morphy, 1837-1884.

Black · Paul Morphy10:00

Choose the settings, then press Start game.

White · You10:00

Paul Morphyhistorical player

Preparing the board.

Set the game on the right. Start unlocks the board and starts the side-to-move clock.

Set up your game against Paul Morphy

Paul Morphy stays selected. Choose the playing strength, clock, color and starting position.

OpponentPaul MorphyStrength1500Clock10+5You playWhite

Opponent

Paul Morphy remains selected while you choose the settings for this game.

Paul Morphy1837-1884

Playing strength

Legend playing strength100-point steps

1500

1500Morphy, 1500 Elo target2600

Time control

The first number is the starting time in minutes. The second is the increment after each completed legal move.

Your color

Starting position optional

All chess legends

Start game locks these settings and begins the selected clock. Change setup unlocks them for a new game.

About Paul Morphy

Paul Morphy (1837-1884) was the first American to stand clearly above every master of his era. A New Orleans lawyer's son who picked up the moves by watching family games, he won the First American Chess Congress at 20, then crossed the Atlantic and beat the strongest players of Europe, Adolf Anderssen among them. His open games remain the standard model of fast development and punishment of the uncastled king. Within three years of his triumph he had walked away from chess for good.

Champion of America at 20Won the 1857 First American Chess Congress in New York, losing only one game

Beat Anderssen 7-2Won the celebrated 1858 Paris match with 7 wins, 2 losses and 2 draws

Blindfold pioneerPlayed 8 blindfold games at once in Paris in 1858, scoring 6 wins and 2 draws

Retired at 22Gave up serious chess by 1860 and never contested another match

1837
Born in New Orleans
Paul Charles Morphy was born on 22 June 1837 into a prominent Louisiana family and learned the moves by watching his father and uncle play.
1850
Beats a master at 12
Won two games and drew one against the visiting Hungarian master Johann Lowenthal, his first known success against a professional.
1857
First American Chess Congress
Won the New York tournament, beating Louis Paulsen 5-1 in the final and losing only one game in the whole event.
1858
Conquers Europe
With Howard Staunton avoiding a match, Morphy beat Johann Lowenthal and Daniel Harrwitz, then defeated Adolf Anderssen 7-2 with 2 draws in Paris.
1858
The opera box game
At the Paris Opera, against the Duke of Brunswick and Count Isouard, he produced the most famous attacking miniature ever played, still the first brilliancy most students meet.
1859
Hailed as world champion
Returned home to a hero's welcome, with American and European papers alike calling him champion of the world, a title no one had formally held.
1860
Walks away
Offered to give any master in the world pawn and move and found no takers. He withdrew from public play and turned to a law career.
1884
Death at 47
Died of a stroke in New Orleans on 10 July 1884. His games, above all the opera box brilliancy, are still taught to every generation of beginners.