Lavishly illustrated. 60 fully annotated memorable games.
About the tragic life of the American chessplayer Paul Morphy ( 1837-1884 ).
At the age of nine, Paul Morphy proved to be a chess prodigy.
At the age of twelve he beat the Hungarian master Löwenthal three games in a row.
Formal education played a larger rôle than chess, so it seems, in the years that followed and in 1857 Morphy graduated from law school. Too young, however, to practise law he partook in the 1st American Chess Congress, where he beat all his opponents, among whom Louis Paulsen. This feat was repeated when he travelled
to England to play against the leading English masters of the time ( Staunton wisely backed down ).Then on to Paris where, despite illness, he convincingly beat in a match Adolf Anderssen, the unofficial worldchampion of the time. By then Morphy was hailed as the new worldchampion. Het started playing several strong opponents simultaneously and with handicaps. Back in America, he toured the big cities on his way home in New Orleans. At home he surprisingly announced his retirement from chess and his desire to practise law. The outbreak of the civil war however prevented him from
setting up business and his antiwar stance may have frustrated his attempts to become successful in this line of business after the war. No official occupation was held by Morphy during the remainder of his life which ended in his bathtub at the age of 47.