I actually had a hard time thinking of anyone I'd played who played Karpov. Like you, I lost a tournament game to Alexander Ivanov, who played Kasparov but apparently not Karpov. All I can come up with is Bisguier, who played Karpov twice, and to whom I lost two simul games when I was a college freshman. Bisguier might also be my only route to a Fischer 2. He's probably also one of two routes I have to a Morphy 4 - he played Tartakower, who played James Mortimer, who is said to have played many games with Morphy - though none were recorded. (I also drew an Internet 15-minute game with Barden, who played Mieses, who played Bird, who played Morphy.)

It's something else to have a Mieses 2, and hard for me to even imagine. There's a witty story he was supposed to have told in his dotage, but I don't recall it. Maybe someone like <jess> will pass by and enlighten us.

< T.H. George of Essex, England may have been the last surviving player with a Morphy number of 2. The British Chess Magazine wrote in his 1971 obituary, "Essex chess players suffered a severe loss with the death of T.H. George on April 19th at the age of 85. He was the doyen of Essex chessplayers . . . . He was rather proud of having played a man who had played Morphy. This happened in his young days when he beat Jas. Mortimer in a club match; Mortimer had played friendly games with Morphy in Paris in the early sixties of the last century." British Chess Magazine, July 1971, p. 249. The claim that Mortimer played Morphy is corroborated by Chess Monthly, which had an article about Mortimer (1833-1911) in 1892. "In 1853, he was appointed attaché of the United States Legation in Paris, where he had an opportunity of renewing his acquaintance with Paul Morphy. The two countrymen thus became intimate friends. Both being passionately fond of chess, many hundreds of games were played by the master and pupil . . . ." Chess Monthly, Sept. 1892, p. 66.> http://chicagochess.blogspot.com/20...

Winning connections can be a bit tougher. I've just found a useful one through a win over Erich Watkinson Marchand, who beat Herman H Hahlbohm, who beat Jackson Whipps Showalter, who beat both Lasker and Steinitz among others.

For Steinitz and Lasker I may not be able to do better than 3, going through E.S. Jackson and Janowski.

I talked to Melvin Chernev (one of the very few living Lasker 1s) on the phone. He mentioned that he played chess on the Internet. I offered to play him a game, but he politely declined.

And then again, maybe Karpov wins anyway.

Because he was able to navigate our "unusual, tactical opening"? Yes, this seems quite likely. =)

Don't I know it.

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