.

It is not certain then that Emma met Edward's weird old uncle Paul.

Thanks

The number of good chessplayers increases as we move forward through history, making it difficult to compare ancient players with modern ones.

"THE DAGUERREOTYPE was invented in 1838 by Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre and was the first practical photographic process. Also known as 'The mirror with a memory', the daguerreotype method of photography was by mercury vapour development of silver iodide exposed on a copper plate. The photographs on metal, mostly quite small, are now very collectable and they appear regularly in Ireland. After an exhibition by Daguerre in 1839 they became very popular. In 1845 half a million plates were sold in Paris alone. And by 1853 in America over three million daguerreotypes were being exposed annually. More than one thousand New Yorkers worked as photographers and 95 per cent of daguerreotypes were portraits. The subjects can be fascinating to the viewer and will show how much things have changed - or not - over a century and a half. An 1840s daguerreotype of a blacksmith could have been taken at any time, but another of an 1850s Anglican bishop shows the typical garments with their voluminous white shirt sleeves worn by such churchmen of the time. In the photography catalogues of auction sales the description of daguerreotypes is often preceded by the title 'Daguerreian unknown'. And just as often the subject of the daguerreotype is also unknown. This can leave interesting opportunities for research. A quarter-plate by an unknown daguerreian appeared at a recent auction, illustrating a lady handing a younger woman a small case. Titled 'Youth Forewarned' and dated 'May 27, 1853, San Francisco', the beautiful younger woman bears a striking resemblance to the infamous actress and dancer Lola Montez. Based on research, it is known that Lola Montez played a deaf mute inYelva, orThe Orphan Girl of Russia in San Francisco, a role one could easily believe she is representing in this image. A contemporary San Francisco reviewer voiced the opinion that, 'The drama ofYelva is made effective and interesting by the graceful and impressive pantomime of the actress, who relates in dumb show a more thrilling scene of suffering than perhaps language could express.' Lola Montez (1818-1861), or Maria Dolores Eliza Gilbert, was a Scottish-Creole dancer who became the mistress of King Ludwig I of Bavaria. At least three films have been made about her life. The research into the Lola Montez daguerreotype paid off as it sold for $16,000 against a fairly high estimate of $4,000-6,000. The instant likeness achieved by the photographic portrait can never be duplicated by a painting or drawing, and the clarity of those mid 19 century daguerreotypes is astonishing. A half-plate daguerreotype, circa 1857, of Paul Morphy (1837-1884), the chess champion, sold for $5,500 (est. $2,200). Morphy started his brief but illustrious career as a chess genius in New Orleans when, in 1850, just before his thirteenth birthday, he defeated the Hungarian chess master Jacob Lowenthal. Besides excelling at chess, Paul Morphy graduated at law school with the highest honours ever bestowed on an individual by Spring Hills College in Alabama. In 1857, he won first prize in the National Chess Congress of America in New York, and in Europe beat the most renowned chess professionals. Always considering chess as no more than a game, he found it difficult to adapt to the pressures brought by fame. He died in 1884, sad and alone."

150 years ago tomorrow, April 30, Morphy would be boarding the Persia and bidding England farewell.

Includes a Morphy position not in the DB. Can you find the winning move?

J Schulten vs Morphy, 1857
Not 27 ... Rd8xNd5?! first 27 ... e3-e2! *then* 28 ... Rd8xNd5

http://www.gothicchess.com/checkers...

(: Bishop Berkeley :)