Paul Morphy : his later life

iTER LIFE

i. BUCK.

i, 25 CENTS.

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PAUL MORPHY.

HIS LATER LIFE

C. A. BUCK.

• WILL. H. LYONS,
NEWPORT, KENTUCKY.
JANUARY, 1902.

PUBLISHERS PRFACE.

C. A. Buck of Toronto, Kansas is the

%

author of this interesting and comprehen-
sive biography of Paul Morphy.

Mr. Buck has gathered from authentic
sources facts and data in the later life of
Morphy that have never been published.
Several years were devoted to securing in-
formation; a month was then spent in New
Orleans verifying and adding to his store of
facts; Morphy's relatives and friends giv-
ing him great assistance. The matter first
appeared in a prominent Western news-
paper. With Mr. Buck's consent, I now
offer it in its present form. I have added
a portrait of Mr. Morphy from a photo-
graph taken immediately after his return
from Europe, also his autograph.

WILL H. LYONS.

PAUL MORPHY.

The chronicles of Chess, amplified as it is
by a literature richer than that of any other
game, offer to the student nothing to com-
pare with the career of Paul Morphy, the
game's greatest master. A number of cir-
cumstances conspire to make Paul Morphy
an unique and monumental character in
chess history. The two salient factors of
his fame were, of course, his wonderful
chess play and of his extreme youth during
the period of his active chess career. Inci-
dentally, the fact that he was the only
master of the first class that America had
produced up to his time augmented his
prestige; and then, too, his personality,
marked as it was by many graces of the
mind, added lustre to his fame. His later life,
during which he met with many disappoint-
ments and reverses, finally resulting in a
mild form of mania, adds a melancholy in-

6 PAUL MORPHY.

terest to his career. It was such a contrast
to what his j'outh gave promise of that it
seems almost tragic in its aspects.

It is curious to note that while the name
of Paul Morphy is known wherever chess is
played, and most every practitioner of the
game is familiar with his chess, yet there
are few players of to-day who know of his
later life, dating from his return from Europe
in 1859. A sketch of Morphy's later life,
however brief and fragmentary, should pro-
perly be prefaced by a review of his chess
career, not only in the interest of a har-
monious whole, but that the reader may
have a better understanding of some phases
of his character that developed with the
maturity of years.

Paul Morphy was born in New Orleans,
June 22, 1837. He learned chess at the age
of ten, graduated at Spring Hill college, near
Mobile, Ala., in 1854, studied law and was
admitted to the bar in April, 1857. He was
gifted with a wonderful mind, its precocious

PAUI, MORPHY. 7

powers being revealed not only in chess but
in his studies as well. It should be noticed
that before he was twenty years old he had
graduated at college and at a law school,
his learning embracing fluency in four lan-
guages and ability to recite from memory
nearly the entire Civil Code of Louisiana.

Morphy's chess practice during his child-
hood was mainly with his father and his
uncle, Ernest Morphy. He gave evidence
of a keen aptitude for the game and was
soon able to defeat them both, although his
uncle especially was a strong player. His
natural capacity for chess was shown in his.
seeming divination of the proper moves in
the openings before he had ever studied them.
Ernest Morphy wrote to Kieseritzky in
October, 1849, that his nephew, then a little
over twelve years old, had never opened a
chess treatise but that "in the openings he
plays the 'coups justes' asif by inspiration."
As a matter of fact, Morphy did not at any
time have the benefit of chess books in the

8 PAUI, MORPHY

sense of keeping a number of them at hand
for study and reference. What few books
he made use of he went through quickly as
possible, and after having mastered the con-
tents he gave them away. James McCon-
nel, the elder, of New Orleans, has a book
of the tournrment of 1851 which Morphy
gave him when fifteen years old. The book
had been issued but a short time when
Morphy secured this copy. He soon played
over all the games and then gave it to his
friend. The volume is especially interesting
on account of numerous marginal notes in
Moprhy's own handwriting by which he
expressed his opinion of the games and cer-
tain moves. As is well known, this book
was edited by Staunton, and young Morphy,
like a child of genius, made a captious com-
ment on Staunton' s chess play by writing
on the title page to make the authorship
read like this: "By H. Staunton, Esq.,
author of the Hand-book of Chess, Chess-

PAUIy MORPHY. 9

Player's Companion, etc. (and some devilish
bad games)."

Paul Morphy first showed the genius of a
coming master in the three games he played
with L,owenthal, the distinguished Hunga-
rian player, in May, 1850, when he was not
quite thirteen years old. Of these games he
won two and drew the other. His encount-
ers, about this time, with Eugene Rousseau,
a native of France but then a resident of
New Orleans, further showed a surpassing
mastery of chess for a boy just entering his
teens. Rousseau's rating as a chess player
may be judged by the games he played with
Kieseritzky on even terms, of which there
were more than one hundred, the latter win-
ning a bare majority. Morphy and Rousseau
played over fifty games during the years
1849 and 1850, and Morphy won nine-tenths
of them.

Regarding the games with Lowenthal,
it is a curious circumstance that five years
after Morphy 's death there appeared in the

10 PAUL MORPHY.

Chess Review of Havana an apochryphal
game wherein Morphy accepted the odds of
pawn and move, the claim being made that
the game was the third one of the scries
played with L,owenthal in 1850. The game
had previously been submitted to no less a
chess scholar than Max L,ange who pro-
nounced it genuine. There were several
things, so it was claimed, that clothed this
bogus game with verisimilitude, chiefly the
fact that of three games played the scores
of only two were preserved. Fortunately,
however for Morphy 's reputation, Charles
A. Maurian, than whom no one is better
qualified to pass an opinion on anything
pertaining to Morphy, has proved that Mor-
phy did not accept odds on that occasion.
The claim, notwithstanding Max Lange's
support of it, has been utterly exploded.
From his thirteenth to his twentieth year
Morphy was devoted to his studies, but dur-
ing his vacations, which were spent for the
most part at home in New Orleans, he

PAUL MORPHY. 1 1

played chess with the strong amateurs of
the city and with such players of force who
were sojourning there. Hence, when the
first American chess congress convened in
New York in October, 1857, n^s renown as
a chess player had preceded him and he was
the cynosure of the chess enthusiasts. He
won the first prize in this event, and after
the tournament he issued a challenge to play
a match with any New Vork player and
yield the odds of pawn and move This
was accepted by C. H. Stanley, who was
one of the foremost players of his time, hav-
ing defeated Rousseau in a match by a score
of 15 to 8 . The proposed match was for
seven games up, but Stanley resigned after
five games had been played, Morphy win-
ning four and Stanley one. This challenge
at the odds of pawn and move was also lev-
eled at James Thompson, a player of some
force, who participated in the main tourna-
ment of the congress. Morphy and Thompson
had played as many as eight games together

12 PAUL MORPHY.

on even terms, including the games in the
tournament, and Morphy had won all of
them, yet Thompson was not prepared to
admit that the disparity of pawn and move
existed between them. As Thompson would
not accept the odds in casual play Morphy
sought to tempt him with the odds in a
match. Referring to this matter in a letter
home at the time Morphy observes that "he
seems to fancy that it is beneath his dignity
to accept odds of a player who has won
every game contested with him. My im-
pression is that I can give him the odds and
make even games." But Thompson did
not accept the challenge. Attention is
called to the chess vanity that prevented
Thompson from playing Morphy and take
the odds of pawn and move, because after
Morphy 's return from Europe eighteen
months later he defeated Thompson decis-
ively at the odds of a knight ! Winning this
match at such odds against a player of

PAUIv MORPHY. 13

Thompson's ability is regarded by some as
Morphy's greatest achievement.

Before leaving New York Morphy amend-
ed his challenge to the New York players
to embrace any plaj^er in America. The
effect of this was to offer the odds of pawn
and move to Louis Paulsen of Iowa, the
second prize winner of the congress — a play-
er who, like Morphy, made his first appear-
ance before the chess world at this congress,
and who, with Morphy eliminated, would
have been the most conspicuous player there.
No result came of the challenge however.

Morphy w^ent to England in June, 1858,
to play Staunton, the representative of Eng-
lish chess, but failed to meet him in a match
owing to default by Staunton. They did
meet however, in consultation play, Mor-
phy's ally being Thomas Wilson Barnes and
Staunton' s confere being Rev. J. Owen
("Alter" in chess circles). Two games
were played, and Morphy and Barnes won
both. Morphy played a match with L,ow-

14 PAUL MORPHY.

enthal, and won by a score of nine games to
three, with two draws ; also a match with
Rev. J. Owen, at odds of pawn and move,
winning five games and losing none, with
two draws. In France he played three
matches, winning against Anderssen, 7 to 2,
and two draws; against Harrwitz 5 to 2,
and one draw; Mongredien 7 to o. While
in Europe Morphy gave four seances in
blindfold play, at Birmingham, at the Lon-
don Chess club, at the St. George's Chess
club (London), and at Paris. In each
contest he played eight games, and made
the unique record of losing only one game,
although several were drawn, six by agree-
ment. His performance at Paris, consider-
ing the strength of his adversaries, is held
by some critics to be the crowning achieve-
ment in blindfold play. Morphy never
regarded this form of chess seriously ; he
remarked one time that "it proves nothing."
He held to the opinion that a player's

PAUL MORPHY. 15

strength was measured by his play against
single adversary across the board.

After his sojourn in Paris, Morphy
returned to London and played many
informal games with the strongest English
players, notably with S. S. Boden and
Thomas Wilson Barnes. Morphy regarded
Mr. Boden as the strongest English player.

The consensus of opinion seems to be that
Morphy's chief claim to preeminence in
chess rests upon his victory over Anderssen,
winner of the world's tournament in Lon-
don in 1851, and admittedly the best player
in Europe. In addition to the match games,
Morphy and An4erssen played six informal
games, of which the Prussian master scored
only one. The informal and match games
made a total of seventeen games played by
these masters, of which Morphy won twelve,
and Anderssen three, and two were drawn.
Such a result was so overwhelming as to
cause consternation in European chess cir-
cles, and the chess writers of the time

1 6 PAUL MORPHY.

sought to sustain the shattered prestige of
their master by explaining that Anderssen
was in poor health and out of practice at
the time. As to the question of practice,
Anderssen himself felt that he could play
good enough to win the match, and as to
his health, he was well enough to travel
from Breslau to Paris in order to play. On
the other hand, Morphy had been ill in bed
for several weeks before the match, was
still confined to his bed when Anderssen
arrived, and was unable to sit up for several
days thereafter. His physician finally per-
mitted him to play the match in the hotel
and thus avoid the fatigue incident to play-
ing in public at the Cafe de la Regence.

It was while in Paris, during the month
of December, 1858, that Morphy 's so-called
aversion to chess began to manifest itself,
and his feelings in this particular became so
aggravated in later years as to create the
general belief that he grew to positively dis-
like the game. This is a mistake. His

PAUL MORPHY. 17

experience in European chess circles was a
revelation to him. It should be remember-
ed that he was a boy, inspired by the ardor,
enthusiasm and high ideals of youth ; and
loving chess as he did, he wras shocked and
disgusted at the sordid conventionalities of
chess practice that was in vogue. The taint
of professionalism was repellant to him, and
when he saw how the game was madt- a
business of, his disgust led him to forsake
the haunts of chess. Morphy's idea regard-
ing the morals of chess is not suggested for
the purpose of making any invidious com-
parisons, but simply to establish the fact
that it was not chess that he grew to dislike,
but the practice of it by those who would
make a living by it. As Morphy was fated
to be in a way an involuntary victim of his
fame as a chess player, his ideas in this re-
spect are important as explaining a peculiar
phase of his character.

Morphy returned to America in May,
1859, and was greeted with all the enthu-

1 8 PAUL MORPHY.

siasm due a. conquering hero. In the presence
of a vast assembly in the chapel of the
University of New York he was presented
with a testimonial in the shape of a mag-
nificent set of gold and silver chess men,
with board to match, the most costly, per-
haps, that were ever wrought. The
festivities of this occasion were unhapily
marred by a dramatic episode that showed
Morphy's growing sensitiveness to the
' 'profession of chess. ' ' Colonel Charles D.
Mead, president of the American Chess
association, was chairman of the reception
committee which greeted Morphy, and in
his address of welcome he made an allusion
to chess as a profession, and referred to
Morphy as its most brilliant exponent.
Morphy took exception to being character-
ized as a professional player, even by
implication, and he resented it in such a
way as to overwhelm Colonel Mead with
confusion. Such was his mortification at
this untoward event that Colonel Mead

PAUL MORPHY. 19

withdrew from farther participation in the
Morphy demonstration. The Union Chess
club of New York presented Morphy with
a superb sterling silver wreath as a token
of victory over all. In Boston, also, Mor-
phy was given a banquet, at which
Longfellow, Holmes, Lowell, Agassiz and
many others eminent citizens were present
to tender him their congratulations.

So great an interest did Morphy 's
achievements create in chess in this country
that Robert Bonner, the enterprising pub-
lisher of the New York Ledger, started a
chess column in his paper, and secured for
it at once widespread popularity by engag-
ing Morphy as chess editor at a salary of
$3.000 a year, paid in advance. The feature
of the Ledger column was the publication
of about fifteen of the games between De La
Bourdonnais and MacDonnell, annotated by
Morphy. Morphy intended to publish all
the games between these two masters, as he
considered them the finest specimens of

20 PAUL MORPHY.

chess on record.

.Shortly after reaching New Orleans
Murphy issued a final challenge, offering to
give the odds of pawn and move to any
player in the world, and receiving no re-
sponse thereto he declared his career as a
chess player finally and definitely closed, a
declaration to which he held with unbrok-
en resolution during the whole remainder
of his life.

Morphy made arrangements to practice
law soon after his return to his native city,
but his fame as a chess player was so over-
shadowing that it seemed people were
disinclined to regard him seriously in any
other capacity. His fellow citizens looked
upon him simply as a marvelous chess
player and nothing more, and this so irritated
him that he began to have an aversion to
playing the game even privately. In fact,
he became so morbid on the effect of chess
on his career as a lawyer that, in spite of
all the efforts of his friends and relatives,

PAUL MORPHY. 2 I

he gave up the work of chess editor of the
Ledger, and the contract for which he had
been engaged was completed by W. J. A.
Fuller. Morphy was associated with D. W.
Fiske in the publication of the American
Chess Monthly, and although his name was
carried on the publication as one of its
editors during the five years of its exist-
ence (1857-1861) it is known that lie
did very little of the work.

An incident may here be related as show-
ing how Morphy was often crucified on the
cross of his fame. He became enamored of
a wealthy and handsome young lady in
New Orleans and informed a mutual friend
of the fact, who broached the subject to the
lady, but she scorned the idea of marrying
a ' 'mere chess player. ' ' Small wonder that
he became morbid and abjured the practice
of chess.

During the year 1861 Morphj- visited
Richmond, Va., seeking to obtain an ap-
pointment in the diplomatic service of the

PAUL, MORPHY.

southern confederacy, but he did not suc-
ceed and returned to New Orleans. He
was there when the city was captured by
the federal forces. In October, 1862, he
went to Havana in a Spanish man-of-war,
the Blasco de Garay, and after remaining
there a few weeks he sailed for Cadiz. From
there he went to Paris by rail, where he re-
mained until the spring of 1865, when he
returned to New Orleans. In 1867 he again
went to Paris and remained about eighteen
months.

During the ten years following his return
from Europe in 1859 Morphy's practice of
chess was limited to casual games with in-
timate friends, chiefly with Charles A.
Marian of New Orleans and Arnous de
Riviere of Paris. It is thought the total
number of games played during these ten
years would not exceed 75. The complete-
ness of his abandonment of the game may
be inferred from the fact that although the
great International Chess Tournament of

PAUL MORPHY. 23

1867 was going on in Paris during his third
visit to that city he never once visited the
scene of its exciting and splendid contests.
Morphy played absolutely no chess with
anybody after the year 1869.

The mental derangement which over-
whelmed Morphy 's brilliant mind and
clouded his later life is a curious chapter
in his career, and has given rise to no little
wonder among chess players as to the cause
and conditions of his mania. Without go-
ing into the details of his mental troubles,
two conclusions stand out very clearly,
namely, that chess in no way contributed
to it, and that the reverses he experienced
in his material affairs did. The latter con-
clusion is borne out by the fact that his
mania took the form of a delusion that his
brother-in-law, Sybrant by name, adminis-
trator of his father's estate, had defrauded
him of his legacy. So intensively did this
delusion dominate him that his perverted
mind conjured up machinations on the part

24 PAUI, MORPHY.

of Sybrant to poison him in order to quiet
his proposed action at law to recover. Mor-
phy was perpetually in fear of being
poisoned, and as a precaution would eat
nothing except at the hands of his mother
or his unmarried sister, Helena. This pro-
posed action against his brother-in-law
absorbed Morphy's attention for many
years; being a lawyer himself he busied
himself with the details of his suit, and was
much about the law courts in consequence.
It should be stated, however, that Mr.
Sybrant discharged the obligations of the
trust entirely to the satisfaction of the court,
which is a matter of record.

It is difficult to fix the time when Mor-
phy's mind was noticeable unbalanced.
When the second American chess congress
was held in Cleveland in 1871 strenuous
efforts were made to secure Morphy's
attendance, but he persistently declined all
invitations that were urged upon him.
Rumors of his malady were abroad then ;

PAUL MORPHY. 25

some people who were in a position to know
aver that his mania was perceptible even
before that date. Morphy was never legally
declared insane; he was so harmless and reti-
cent, and lived in such quite retirement at
his home, that there was no need of putting
him under any restraint. In June, 1882,
his family did endeavor to place him in a
sanitarium in the hope that he would be
benefited. The institution was called the
Louisiana Retreat, located near New Or-
leans, and under the patronage of the Cath-
olic church. Those in the party that
accompanied Morphy were his mother his
brother Ed\vard, and his intimate friend
C. A. Maurian. When they reached the
asylum Morphy protested against his deten-
tion with such evident sanity, and discussed
his civil rights with such a learned knowl-
edge of the law, that the Sisters in charge
were afraid to assume the responsibility, and
he was taken back home.

During all these years of misfortune

26 PAUI, MORPHY.

Morphy still loved chess, and kept run of
the current news of the game down to his
death. But he was annoyed, and at times
even enraged, at the mention of it. This
may seem rather contradictory but it should
be remembered that his experience and
environments were peculiar. It may be
worth while to relate an episode that dis-
closes Morphy 's feelings regarding chess
better than anything else. Under the
pretense of assisting him with his suit
against his brother-in-law, a lawyer of New
Orleans examined the papers in the case and
gave his opinion in Morphy 's favor. He
gained confidence to such an extent that
Morphy ate a piece of rock candy, first
seeing that the lawyer himself had eaten a
piece. The lawyer then suggested that he
would like, at some convenient time, to play
a game of chess with him. Morphy seemed
alarmed; made sure that no one was in
hearing, and then replied : "I dearly love

PAUL MORPHY. 2J

chess, but not now, not now — when we win
the case."

When Steinitz was in New Orleans in
1883 he persistently tried to see Morphy,
and Morphy persistently avoided him.
After four failures to effect an interview
between these two celebrated chess pla\rers,
friends of Morphy finally secured the prom-
ise to meet Steinitz on condition that chess
would not even be alluded to. This condi-
tion was adhered to, and the interview
lasted about ten minuses, but was mutually
embarrassing on account of the forbidden
subject. When Morphy was first approach-
ed by a friend in regard to meeting Steinitz,
the remark was made that "Steinitz is in
the city," to see what effect it would have
on Morphy. He replied: "I know it," and
after a pause he continued. "His gambit
is not good." There is a world of meaning
in these words to one who is familiar with
all the particulars to which the words may
apply. Morphy was then asked if he kept

28 PAUL MORPHY.

a board and men at hand to play over games,
and he admitted lie did, but he could not be
induced to talk further on the subject of
chess.

It is said by those most qualified to speak
that Morphy's mutual derangement did not
impair his chess powers in the least; that at
any time during his later years he could
have played with all his pristine brillianc}r
and accuracy.

When Dr. Zukertort was in New Orleans
in 1882 he met Morphy on Canal street and
handed him his card. Morphy put the
card in his pocket without looking at it and
then greeted the doctor by name speaking
in French. Zukertort was amazed, and
exclaimed: "Why, how7 is it you know my
name without looking at my card ? And
how did you know I speak French? "Morphy
satisfied his curiosity by remarking: "I met
you in Paris in 1867, and you spoke French
then. ' '

Paul Morphy died suddenly at his home

PAUL MORPHY. 29

in New Orleans July, 10 1884. He had
indulged in a long walk during the heat of
the day, and on his return home went to
the bath room to bathe. It is supposed the
shock of the cold water on his overheated
body caused congestion of the brain, for he
was found dead in the bath tub shortly
afterward.

After his death his trophies were sold at
auction. The silver service, consisting of
a pitcher, four goblets and a salver, being
the first prize won at the chess congress,
was bought for $400 by Mr. Samory at New
Orleans; the set of gold and silver chessmen
was taken by Walter Denegre, acting for
the Manhattan Chess club of New York,
price $1,550; and the silver wreath sold for
$250, also bought by Mr. Samory.

An engaging pastime of chess writers and
critics of late years has been that of com-
paring the latter-day masters with Morphy,
but so far the most flattering comparisons
have never exceeded that of equality with

30 PAUL MORPHY

the immortal Morphy. None have claimed
that he has been surpassed by his success-
ors. It is safe to venture the opinion,
however, that a great majority of chess
players award Morphy the palm of superior-
ity over players of all times. Certainly,
taking into consideration the fact that he
was in no sense a chess student, that he re-
garded the game solely as a pastime and
himself as an amateur; not forgetting his
extreme youth when he achieved his won-
derful victories, nor the fact that his chess
career covered a period of less than two
years — remembering all these facts in addi-
tion to his sublime chess play and then
comparing him with the seasoned veterans
of the checkered field, who have devoted
years to the analysis and practice of the
game, it would not seem beyond the
bounds of moderation and reason to regard
Paul Morphy as the greatest chess player
that ever lived.

Unive

So

L