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Paul Morphy vs James Thompson
Knight Odds match (1859) (unorthodox), New York, NY USA, rd 4, Jun-??
Chess variants (000)  ·  1-0

8
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1
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White to move.
ANALYSIS [x]
Notes by Stockfish 11 (minimum 6s/ply)better is 5...e6 6.Be2 c5 7.O-O Nc6 8.c4 Be7 9.d3 O-O 10.Na3 = -0.10 (21 ply)better is 6.Bb5+ Nc6 7.Bxc6+ bxc6 8.d3 g6 9.b3 Bg7 10.Bb2 O-O ⩲ +0.57 (30 ply)better is 6...Nc6 7.Bb5 Rc8 8.Bb2 e6 9.O-O Be7 10.Bxc6+ Rxc6 = 0.00 (33 ply)better is 7.Bb5+ Nc6 8.Bxc6+ bxc6 9.O-O Bd6 10.Bb2 O-O 11.d3 ⩲ +0.51 (30 ply)better is 7...a6 8.g4 Nc6 9.Bg2 Nb4 10.Qd1 Qc7 11.a3 Nc6 12.Nc3 = 0.00 (30 ply) ⩲ +0.73 (31 ply) after 8.Bb5+ Nd7 9.Bxd7+ Qxd7 10.d3 Nd6 11.g4 f6 12.Nd2 9.c4 Nf6 10.cxd5 Nxd5 11.Nc3 Qd7 12.Kb1 O-O-O 13.Be2 ⩲ +0.99 (33 ply)better is 9...Nb4 10.Ba1 Nf6 11.a3 Nc6 12.g4 d4 13.Qf2 Nd5 14.exd4 = -0.18 (32 ply)= +0.48 (29 ply)better is 10...Nb4 11.a3 Na2+ 12.Kd2 Qb6 13.Ke1 Be7 14.Bxg7 Bh4+ = 0.00 (36 ply) 11.exd4 cxd4 12.c4 a5 13.Qf2 a4 14.Bg2 axb3 15.axb3 Be7 ⩲ +0.61 (30 ply) 11...Nb4 12.a4 Na2+ 13.Kd2 Be7 14.exd4 Bf6 15.Ke2 cxd4 = -0.31 (30 ply) 12.c4 O-O-O 13.Qe2 h5 14.Na3 dxe3 15.Qxe3 Be7 16.Kb1 Qb6 ⩲ +1.04 (30 ply) 12...Nb4 13.a3 Na2+ 14.Kd2 Qb6 15.Ke2 Be7 16.exd4 cxd4 = +0.14 (31 ply) 13.exd4 cxd4 14.Na3 Be7 15.Qf2 O-O 16.Kb1 b5 17.f5 Bg5 ⩲ +1.05 (33 ply) 13...dxc3 14.Nxc3 Be7 15.f5 O-O 16.Qf4 Nb4 17.a3 Qb6 = +0.11 (30 ply) 14.f5 Be7 15.Qxc6+ Qxc6 16.Bxc6+ Rxc6 17.exd4 cxd4 +- +2.89 (34 ply)better is 14...Qb6 15.f5 Be7 16.Qg3 dxe3 17.Bxc6+ Rxc6 18.fxe6 O-O -+ -3.61 (31 ply) 15.f5 Be7 16.fxe6 f6 17.Qxc6+ Qxc6 18.Bxc6+ Rxc6 19.exd4 ∓ -2.39 (35 ply)better is 15...Nxd4 16.Bxd4 cxd4 17.c5 Qxc5 18.Rc1 Qb6 19.f5 Be7 -+ -4.41 (36 ply) 16.f5 Be7 17.cxb5 Nxb5 18.Rc1 Nba7 19.fxe6 f6 20.Re2 O-O ∓ -2.15 (34 ply)-+ -4.23 (33 ply) 18...Bb4 19.Rec1 Bc3 20.Bxc3 dxc3 21.R1xc3 Qb6 22.Rc2 -+ -4.59 (36 ply) ∓ -1.73 (38 ply) 19...Be7 20.Rxc6 Rxc6 21.Rxc6 Qxc6 22.Qxc6+ Nxc6 ∓ -1.88 (37 ply)= 0.00 (34 ply) 23.Bxg7 Rhg8 24.Bc3 Rxc6 25.Qxc6+ Ke7 26.Qa6 Qxf4 = 0.00 (43 ply) 23...Rxc6 24.Qxc6+ Ke7 25.fxe6 fxe6 26.Bc5+ Bxc5 ⩱ -1.45 (37 ply)= -0.11 (33 ply) after 24.Rc4 a4 25.fxe6+ fxe6 26.Kc2 g6 27.Qe4 Qb5 28.h4 Qd5 25.Rc4 Rf8 26.Qe4 g6 27.Be3 Rxc4 28.dxc4 Qc7 29.Bh6 Rf7 = -0.30 (37 ply) 25...Qb4 26.Bc3 Qxc3 27.Rxc3 Rxc3 28.Qb7+ Kd6 29.Qb6+ ⩱ -1.45 (45 ply)better is 26.Qf7+ Re7 27.Qf2 Bd6 28.Bf8 Qe5 29.Bxe7 Bxe7 30.Qa7+ ⩲ +1.15 (38 ply) 26...Bd6 27.Qb6 Ke7 28.Qa7+ Rc7 29.Rxc7+ Bxc7 30.Bc6 Rd8 ⩲ +0.64 (36 ply)+- +11.61 (33 ply)31...Re7 32.Bxd6 Ke8 33.Qh8+ Kd7 34.Bxc7 Kxc7 35.Qc8+ +- mate-in-191-0

rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/R1BQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1
FEN COPIED

Annotations by Stockfish (Computer).      [35437 more games annotated by Stockfish]

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Kibitzer's Corner
Jun-27-05  OJC: Morphy was down +0 -3 =0 when this game was played in the Q-knight odds match vs. James Thompson.

Final score of the match: +5 -3 =1 for Morphy.

Morphy decided to switch strategy for this game and opened with 1.f4. Evidently it unsettled Thompson who did not play nearly as well as in the first 3 games.

Morphy opened 1.f4 in the next two games (he was always white) and won both of them as well. Unfortunately the last three games were not recorded except for the ending of one of Morphy's remaining wins.

Thompson was a fairly strong player so Morphy's match victory at knight odds is most impressive.

Jan-05-08  JimmyVermeer: According to Philip Sergeant, White's 31st move was Be5, not Be4. Can anyone verify which is correct? Be5 would seem to make more sense as it wins both of Black's rooks.
Jan-05-08  Calli: Yes. 31.Be5 is correct. Originally published by Morphy himself in The Chess Monthly for July 1859. In the old notation, the move is given as "31. Q. B. to K. fifth".
Jan-28-09  WhiteRook48: was 1. f4 meant to surprise Black?
Feb-08-09  WhiteRook48: it would be funnier if White did not take off the knight. Morphy would actually be playing Bird's Opening!
Feb-15-09  WhiteRook48: 2. e3 is also shocking
May-17-09  Calli: Thompson lets the advantage slip away until finally 25...Qh2?? loses. He still has a wonderful save with 25...Qb6! The Q can't be taken (if Rxb6?? Rc1 mate) and he threatens Qg1+.


click for larger view

May-19-09  YoungEd: 20. ♗xd4 is the move which gets White back in the game, it seems. If Black plays 20. ...♘xd4, then 21. ♕b7+ puts Black in a difficult spot. Black correctly retreats with 21. ...♕b8 to protect the a7-♘, but White's game is much more active then. Gotta love Bird's opening, even in odds games!
May-19-09  AnalyzeThis: <whiterook48: was 1. f4 meant to surprise Black? >

I think the idea was that it is a slow buildup, which keeps a lot of pieces on the board. That gives his opponent a chance to make a mistake.

May-19-09  mig55: Calli, how does Morphy saves himself out this after Qb6!! I dont see it.
May-19-09  ARival: 26.Bb2 Qg1+ 27.Kc2 is that any good?
May-21-09  Calli: <mig55> White does have Bf1 on Qg1+, so I thought 25..Qb6! 26.Rc4 and if 26...Qg1+ Bf1, but didn't really analyze the position at that point. Unclear?
Jun-05-21  paulmorphy1969: OJC:There is a real confusion regarding the match with Thompson, if the published game where there is only the final position in Chess Montley and declared as 3rd game,The Chess Monthhly Vol 3, July 1859, pages 221 https://www.google.it/books/edition... then Morphy has lost the first 2 games and not the first 3 then the continuation this could also be as reported by member Calli May 23 to June 17 1859
Morphy 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 ½ 1 - 5
Thompson 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 ½ 0 - 3

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