Chess is not like life ... it has rules!
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[Event "First American Congress"]
[Site "Huntsville"]
[Date "1857.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Paulsen, Louis"]
[Black "Morphy, Paul"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Hayes, David"]
[BlackElo "unknown"]
[ECO "C48"]
[TimeControl "0"]
[WhiteElo "unknown"]
{ The personalities of Paul Morphy and Bobby Fischer were as different as the
times they lived, but in many ways the meteoric rise of Paul Morphy in the
late 1850s was eerily similar to the world champion Bobby Fischer in the
1970s. Both were child prodigies. Both were Americans. And, both dropped out
of chess early in their lives at the height of their power and success to the
disappointment of their many fans.|Morphy's dominance of the game of chess
was legendary. He was known to face up to 8 opponents at a time without sight
of the board (blindfold chess). He crushed Lowenthal, Harowitz, and Anderssen
in a series of individual matches. If the world champion title had existed in
that day, then he would have been its holder.|In this game we see the 20
year old Morphy defeat the German master Louis Paulsen to win the first
American Chess Congress held in New York in 1857. It should be noted that
Paulsen was a very good chess player, and is credited with having invented
the Dragon Variation of the Sicilian Defense; a very popular system even to
this day. } 1. e4 { C48: Four Knights: 4 Bb5, replies other than 4...Bb4 } 1... e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Bc5 5. O-O O-O 6. Nxe5 { This capture begins a well
known combination called the Fork Trick which could continue 6... Nxe5 7. d4
forking two pieces. Black wisely declines to play into white's line. } 6... Re8 7. Nxc6 dxc6 8. Bc4 { This move sets up a trap for black. Now 8... Nxe4 is
refuted by 9. Bxf7+ Kxf7 10. Nxe4 with the threat of Qf3+ winning e4. } 8... b5 { Of
course white does not consider the prophylactic 9. Bd3 in this position even
though it may appear to save the e-pawn for the moment. Black could then
choose to launch an attack via Qd6 and Ng4, or win the pawn via 9... Bg4 10.
Qe1 Bf5. } 9. Be2 { If white kept the pressure on f7 by 9. Bb3 then black can
regain the e4 pawn with initiative by 9... Bg4 10. Qe1 b4 dislodging the
knight, and crushing white's center. Also, black can launch an attack given
that white no longer has a knight defending his king side. The attack would
include such as Qd6, Ng4, and possibly Bh3, etc. } 9... Nxe4 10. Nxe4 Rxe4 11. Bf3 Re6 12. c3 { A serious strategic error creating a hole on d3. Better is 12.
d3. } 12... Qd3 { The queen is a bone in white's throat as it dominates the center of
the board. } 13. b4 Bb6 14. a4 bxa4 15. Qxa4 Bd7 16. Ra2 { Another serious
strategic error. Perhaps white wanted to put his queen on c2 to challenge
black's queen. It is not too late for 16. Qa6 to immediately challenge the
black queen. Now the white rooks are uncoordinated and out of communication.
White is not fully developed. } 16... Rae8 { Black completes his positional
development with this strong move that threatens mate. } 17. Qa6 { The only
other alternative is a passive 17. Qd1, but after 17... c5 the threat of Bb5
is winning. } 17... Qxf3 { The shock of this queen sacrifice is a beautiful release
of power in this position. How is it justified? Let's see. } 18. gxf3 Rg6+ 19. Kh1 Bh3 20. Rd1 { Now there is no defense against mate. Still don't see
it? White can try 20. Qd3 planning to return the queen sacrifice for the
rook on g6 in the coming attack, but 20... f5! would block that plan. Why
not 20. Rg1 to reduce the pressure on the file? The following beautiful
variation ends in mate 20... Bg2! 21. Rxg2 Re1 22. Rg1 Ranyxg1#. } 20... Bg2+ 21. Kg1 Bxf3+ 22. Kf1 Bg2+ 23. Kg1 Bh3+ 24. Kh1 Bxf2 25. Qf1 { Returning the queen
to take pressure off white's king. } 25... Bxf1 26. Rxf1 Re2 27. Ra1 { Putting the
rook back where it belongs. } 27... Rh6 28. d4 Be3 { White resigns. There might have
followed... } 29. Bxe3 ( 29. Rf2 Rxf2 30. Bxe3 Rfxh2+ 31. Kg1 Rh1+ 32. Kf2 Rf6+ 33. Ke2 Rxa1 { Black wins with a large material advantage. } ) 29... Rhxh2+ 30. Kg1 Reg2# 0-1