chessgames.com
Members · Prefs · Laboratory · Collections · Openings · Endgames · Sacrifices · History · Search Kibitzing · Kibitzer's Café · Chessforums · Tournament Index · Players · Kibitzing

Chessgames premium membership fee will increase to $39 per year effective June 15, 2023. Enroll Now!

 
Morphy 1859 New York
Compiled by Calli
--*--

On April 27, Paul Morphy and his brother-in-law John Sybrandt left Liverpool in England aboard the steamship Persia. They arrived in New York City on May 11 and checked into the St Nicholas Hotel.

May

May 11 - Morphy played 4 knight odds games with Perrin that night at the NYCC, winning 3-1. http://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper%... May 12 - First Match game with Perrin (Harper's Weekly, May 28) http://www.chessarch.com/excavation... May 14 - Afternoon - Played 5 knight odds games with Dr. J.W. Stone of Boston at the St Nicholas Hotel. Chess Monthly V3: http://books.google.com/books?id=KT... DBC - too many moves http://books.google.com/books?id=KT... DBC - Locale/Event May 14 - Evening - Morphy visited the Union CC, sometimes called the German CC and defeated Isidor and Benneke two games each at knight odds. May 16 - Morphy's 2nd Match game with Perrin. Reported as lasting 2 hours in the Brooklyn Eagle. http://www.chessarch.com/excavation... The third game, a draw, was also played on this day. (Lawson page 204) May 17 - Played Dr Horace Richardson of Boston at the St Nicholas, winning two knight odds games. http://books.google.com/books?id=KT... May 19 - Beat Thompson at knight odds. A match was then arranged.(Lawson, page 205) May 21 - Beat Perrin three straight games to win the match 5-0-1. (Lawson page 205) May 23 - The first game of the Morphy-Thompson match. http://www.chessarch.com/excavation... MAy 25 - New York Testimonial Dinner May 28 - Left NYC and arrived in Boston. Played Richardson and Broughton at Knight odds. May 30 - Played Broughton again at Knight odds. May 31 - Boston Dinner with Oliver Wendell Holmes

"The Boston Traveller of the 30th says: Paul Morphy was waited upon Saturday afternoon at the Revere House, by the committee of the Chess Club, and escorted to the rooms of tbe Club, where the formal reception took place. A large number of gentlemen had assembled, nearly every member being present. Each person in the room had a formal introduction to Mr. Morphy, and a short time was spent in conversation with him. He then played a game with Dr. Horace Richardson, President of the Club, who played the "Sicilian Defense," Mr. Morphy giving him the odds of a Knight. The game was won by Mr. Morphy on the 24th move. Mr. W. R. Broughton, one of the strongest players of the Club, then played a game at the same odds, which was won by Mr. Morphy on the 57th move." - NY Evening Post Tuesday, May 31 http://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper%...

The 2nd Broughton game on the 30th began at 8:30 and lasted 90 minutes. Corrected the dates according to this report, i.e., the 57 move game was played on Saturday the 28th, the 37 mover was on the 30th.

June

June 2 - DBC - Boston consulting game Hammond, Ware, Rabuski, Stone and W. Everett http://books.google.com/books?id=KT... June 3 - Morphy left Boston for NYC where he checked into the Brevoort House. June 6 - 2nd and 3rd games of the Thompson match were played. June 8 - The 4th game was scheduled (The Evening Post: New York, June 7, 1859 June 12 - Dined with Robert J. Walker, one-time Senator from Mississippi and Governor of Kansas in Hoboken. June 15 - Newspapers reported that six games had been played. June 16 - TCM vol 3 has a typo "Thursday June 6" for Morphy's visit to the Brooklyn Chess Club. He actually played Knott (2-0) and Marache(1-0) on June 16th which, indeed, was a Thursday (Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 1859.06.17). http://www.chessarch.com/excavation... DBC the Knott game should be knight odds. Brooklyn CC was at the corner of Remsen and Court streets according to Chadwick http://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper%... June 17 - The ninth and last game of the Thompson match was played. See Game Collection: Morphy's Knight Odds Match vs Thompson June 18 (approx.) - played G.C. Cheney two Knight odds games. Lawson, page 223, claims the games were played within "a day or two" of Morphy's birthday(June 22). However, the game appeared in the Syracuse Daily Standard on June 23. Unless Cheney played it on the 20th and left for Syracuse by the next day, Lawson's statement seems unlikely. http://www.chessarch.com/excavation...

-

July

July xx - Defeated Colonel Charles Mead in three games at Knight odds. Game - http://books.google.com/books?id=KT... Scorecard - http://books.google.com/books?id=KT... July xx - Played 6 rook odds games with MD Conway at the Brevoort House. Conway claimed one draw, but Fiske published the score as a 6-0 sweep at knight odds(?). This was a mistake as one of the games was published in the same magazine at rook odds. Conway's 1905 recollection http://books.google.com/books?id=Gi... Morphy's scorecard http://books.google.com/books?id=KT... Late July - Played ten Knight odds games with Lichtenhein, winning 6-3 with 1 draw. Lichtenhein disputed this, claiming some games just tested opening lines. He gave the score as 3-0-1 in his favor. Lawson (page 232) says Morphy lost the first two games. 6 games of the match survive. July 21 Played Lichtenhein at Knight Odds at the NYCC http://books.google.com/books?id=KT... July 2x Draw with Lichtenhein. New York Spirit of the Times 1859.07.30 http://www.chessarch.com/excavation... July 30 - The Saturday Press reports that Morphy attended three dinners that week. http://www.chessarch.com/excavation... Morphy was also sitting for an oil portrait by Charles Elliot about this time. The same article reported that Morphy would leave for the White Mountains in a few days.

-

August

August - The Saturday Press of August 20 reported that Morphy left NYC "last Saturday" or August 13. He would go to Newport, R.I. and return in three weeks. http://www.chessarch.com/excavation...

-

September

Sept xx - Morphy returned to the NYC early in the month. Two rook odds games were published in The Chess Monthly in the February 1860 issue: http://books.google.com/books?id=eC... I have not found the original publication of the third game. The opponent is probably W.J.A. Fuller. The scorecard shows only one other player, Anderson, at those odds. He is likely C.E. Anderson of the NYCC and he only played three games and was even 1 won, 1 loss and 1 draw. Sept 10 - The NYT reported that Morphy won all of his games against A.B. Meek and W.J Fuller http://www.chessarch.com/excavation... The Chess Monthly gives the scores as 2-0 vs Meek at Knight odds. 4-0 vs Fuller at rook odds. http://books.google.com/books?id=KT...

-

October

Sept-Oct - The games with Perrin, Bryan, W.W. Montgomery and Ware were played in the fall of 1859 but lack precise dates. Ware - http://books.google.com/books?id=eC... DBC W.W. Montgomery - http://books.google.com/books?id=eC... Oct xx - The Thompson games may have all been played October but we can only date one of them definitely on the authority of Lawson. 1859 page 376 http://books.google.com/books?id=KT... page 18 http://books.google.com/books?id=eC... page 20 http://books.google.com/books?id=eC... page 49 http://books.google.com/books?id=eC... page 81 http://books.google.com/books?id=eC... Le Sphinx 1865 http://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.3343... Oct 27 - Played "Arthur Napolean" two games. One was published by Lichtenhein in "The Gambit". His account is quoted here: http://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper%... Oct 30 Morphy left NYC for Philadelphia. (Lawson, page 238)

-

Games that don't belong

The Julien game was played in 1857. A mistake made by Max Lange in 1894! See http://www.chessarch.com/excavation...

The last game is an even game played January 2, 1859 in Paris against an "Amateur". See game 51 Lawson in the BCM Aug 1978, page 366. Will put in another collection. What was Lawson's source?

Played the day Morphy arrived, May 11th.
Morphy vs F Perrin, 1859 
(000) Chess variants, 20 moves, 1-0

1st match game played May 12th
Morphy vs F Perrin, 1859 
(000) Chess variants, 42 moves, 1-0

Played May 14 at the St Nicholas Hotel 2 many moves
Morphy vs J W Stone, 1859 
(000) Chess variants, 24 moves, 1-0

Played May 14th
Morphy vs J W Stone, 1859 
(000) Chess variants, 30 moves, 1-0

Played May 17th
Morphy vs H Richardson, 1859 
(000) Chess variants, 43 moves, 1-0

1st Match game played May 23rd
Morphy vs J Thompson, 1859 
(000) Chess variants, 31 moves, 0-1

Revere House Boston Saturday May 28th
Morphy vs H Richardson, 1859 
(000) Chess variants, 24 moves, 1-0

Boston Saturday the 28th
Morphy vs W Broughton, 1859 
(000) Chess variants, 57 moves, 1-0

Boston, Monday May 30
Morphy vs W Broughton, 1859 
(000) Chess variants, 37 moves, 1-0

Played June 2 in Boston
Morphy vs Allies, 1859 
(C70) Ruy Lopez, 22 moves, 1-0

2nd Match game played June 6, 1859
Morphy vs J Thompson, 1859 
(000) Chess variants, 46 moves, 0-1

4th Match game likely played June 8, 1859
Morphy vs J Thompson, 1859 
(000) Chess variants, 31 moves, 1-0

5th Match Game, played approx. June 10, 1859
Morphy vs J Thompson, 1859 
(000) Chess variants, 34 moves, 1-0

6th Match game, played approx. June 13, 1859
Morphy vs J Thompson, 1859 
(000) Chess variants, 51 moves, 1-0

7th match game played mid-June 1859
Morphy vs J Thompson, 1859 
(000) Chess variants, 29 moves, 0-1

Thursday, June 16th at the Brooklyn CC DBC: N odds
Morphy vs H Knott, 1859 
(000) Chess variants, 27 moves, 1-0

Thursday, June 16th at the Brooklyn CC
Morphy vs N Marache, 1859  
(000) Chess variants, 24 moves, 1-0

Played approx. June 18
Morphy vs G Cheney, 1859 
(000) Chess variants, 46 moves, 0-1

Played in July
Morphy vs C Mead, 1859 
(000) Chess variants, 31 moves, 1-0

Played in July
Morphy vs C Mead, 1859 
(000) Chess variants, 27 moves, 1-0

played July 21
Morphy vs T Lichtenhein, 1859 
(000) Chess variants, 26 moves, 1-0

played late July
Morphy vs T Lichtenhein, 1859 
(000) Chess variants, 43 moves, 1/2-1/2

played late July
Morphy vs T Lichtenhein, 1859 
(000) Chess variants, 43 moves, 0-1

played late July
Morphy vs T Lichtenhein, 1859 
(000) Chess variants, 24 moves, 0-1

played late July
Morphy vs T Lichtenhein, 1859 
(000) Chess variants, 31 moves, 1-0

played late July
Morphy vs T Lichtenhein, 1859 
(000) Chess variants, 27 moves, 1-0

TCM vol 4 Feb 1960, page 50 - Early Sept
Morphy vs NN, 1859 
(000) Chess variants, 25 moves, 1-0

TCM vol 4 Feb 1960, page 51 - Early Sept
Morphy vs NN, 1859 
(000) Chess variants, 20 moves, 1-0

Need original publication - Early Sept?
Morphy vs NN, 1859 
(000) Chess variants, 33 moves, 1-0

Played October 27 at the New York CC
Morphy vs Napoleao dos Santos, 1859 
(000) Chess variants, 34 moves, 1-0

Unknown date TMC Vol 3, page 376, Game CCLXXIII
Morphy vs J Thompson, 1859 
(000) Chess variants, 38 moves, 1-0

Likely October; TMC Vol 4, page 18, Game CCLXXXV
Morphy vs J Thompson, 1859 
(000) Chess variants, 30 moves, 0-1

Likely October; TMC Vol 4, page 49, Game CCXCIII
Morphy vs J Thompson, 1859 
(000) Chess variants, 16 moves, 1-0

Likely October; TMC Vol 4, page 81, Game CCCII
Morphy vs J Thompson, 1859 
(000) Chess variants, 24 moves, 1-0

Likely October; TMC Vol 4, page 20, Game CCLXXXVI
Morphy vs J Thompson, 1859 
(000) Chess variants, 17 moves, 1-0

Oct- Lawson, game 52, page 368
Morphy vs J Thompson, 1859 
(000) Chess variants, 26 moves, 1-0

Likely October La Sphinx 1865
Morphy vs J Thompson, 1859 
(000) Chess variants, 32 moves, 0-1

September-October
Morphy vs F Perrin, 1859 
(000) Chess variants, 30 moves, 1-0

September-October
Morphy vs T J Bryan, 1859 
(000) Chess variants, 23 moves, 1-0

September-October; TMC Vol 4, page 81, Game CCCI
Morphy vs P Ware, 1859 
(000) Chess variants, 28 moves, 1-0

September-October; TMC Vol 4, page 21, Game CCLXXXVII
Morphy vs W Montgomery, 1859 
(000) Chess variants, 28 moves, 1-0

Wrong year
Morphy vs D Julien, 1857 
(000) Chess variants, 19 moves, 1-0

Paris 1859
Morphy vs NN, 1859 
(C51) Evans Gambit, 23 moves, 1-0

43 games

 » View all game collections by Calli PGN Download
 » Search entire game collection library
 » Clone this game collection (copy it to your account)
 » FAQ: Help with Game Collections
Home | About | Login | Logout | F.A.Q. | Profile | Preferences | Premium Membership | Kibitzer's Café | Biographer's Bistro | New Kibitzing | Chessforums | Tournament Index | Player Directory | Notable Games | World Chess Championships | Opening Explorer | Guess the Move | Game Collections | ChessBookie Game | Chessgames Challenge | Store | Privacy Notice | Contact Us

Copyright 2001-2023, Chessgames Services LLC