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John Morphy

Number of games in database: 25
Years covered: 1881 to 1897
Overall record: +7 -11 =7 (42.0%)*
   * Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games.

Repertoire Explorer
Most played openings
C45 Scotch Game (5 games)
C50 Giuoco Piano (4 games)
D37 Queen's Gambit Declined (2 games)


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JOHN MORPHY
(born Nov-12-1860, died Dec-15-1912, 52 years old) Ireland (federation/nationality United States of America)
[what is this?]

John Morphy, from Dublin, Ireland.

Member of the St. Patrick's Chess Club, Dublin, from at least January 1881-May 1894 and of the Brooklyn Chess Club, 1894-1898. Proprietor of the Chess Divan and Cafe, 79 Grafton street, Dublin (est. July 1888).

Last updated: 2024-05-13 17:15:12

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 page 1 of 1; games 1-25 of 25  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
1. Steinitz vs J Morphy  ½-½511881Steinitz Simul 16b, DublinC38 King's Gambit Accepted
2. J A Porterfield Rynd vs J Morphy  ½-½3118851st Irish Chess AssociationC45 Scotch Game
3. W Pollock vs J Morphy  1-02818851st Irish CA Congress C48 Four Knights
4. J Morphy vs W Pollock  0-15418851st Irish CA Congress C50 Giuoco Piano
5. J Morphy vs R F Bradford  0-1301894Casual gameC65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense
6. J Morphy vs A J Souweine  1-0341895Bachelors Team MatchC51 Evans Gambit
7. J D Elwell vs J Morphy  1-0421895Casual gameC62 Ruy Lopez, Old Steinitz Defense
8. J Morphy vs A J Souweine  0-1461895Souweine - MorphyC25 Vienna
9. A J Souweine vs J Morphy  1-0221895Souweine - MorphyC45 Scotch Game
10. J Morphy vs A J Souweine  ½-½231895Souweine - MorphyC45 Scotch Game
11. A J Souweine vs J Morphy  ½-½321895Souweine - MorphyD37 Queen's Gambit Declined
12. J Morphy vs A J Souweine  ½-½231895Souweine - MorphyC50 Giuoco Piano
13. A J Souweine vs J Morphy  0-1861895Souweine - MorphyB01 Scandinavian
14. J Morphy vs A J Souweine  ½-½321895Souweine - MorphyA21 English
15. A J Souweine vs J Morphy  0-1351895Souweine - MorphyC42 Petrov Defense
16. J Morphy vs W E Napier  0-1301895Morphy Simul 12b, BrooklynC45 Scotch Game
17. Pillsbury vs J Morphy  1-0331895Pillsbury Simul 12b, BrooklynD37 Queen's Gambit Declined
18. H Helms vs J Morphy  0-1201895Brooklyn CC Championship 1895/96C10 French
19. J Morphy vs S R Rocamora  0-1621895Brooklyn CC Championship 1895/96C20 King's Pawn Game
20. J Morphy vs Showalter  1-0461895Brooklyn CC Championship 1895/96C50 Giuoco Piano
21. J Morphy vs E Delmar  0-1361895Brooklyn CC Championship 1895/96C50 Giuoco Piano
22. H Barrett vs J Morphy  0-1451896Brooklyn CC Championship 1895/96C45 Scotch Game
23. S Ruth vs J Morphy  ½-½451896Brooklyn CC Championship 1895/96C02 French, Advance
24. J D Elwell vs J Morphy  0-1351896Brooklyn CC Championship 1895/96D35 Queen's Gambit Declined
25. J Morphy vs E J Clarke 0-1361897Rapid Transit Handicap TournamentC49 Four Knights
 page 1 of 1; games 1-25 of 25  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | Morphy wins | Morphy loses  

Kibitzer's Corner
Mar-14-11
Premium Chessgames Member		  Phony Benoni: Possibly the same "Mr. Morphy from Dublin" who got clobbered in an offhand game while visiting the Brooklyn Chess Club in 1894:

Morphy - Bradford,R
Offhand Game (Brooklyn CC) Brooklyn, NY, 1894
[BDE, 1894]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Nbd2 d6 6.Nf1 0-0 7.Ne3 Ng4 8.0-0 f5 9.exf5 Bxf5 10.Nxf5 Rxf5 11.h3 Nxf2 12.Rxf2 Bxf2+ 13.Kxf2 Nd4 14.Bc4+ d5 15.Bb3 c6 16.Kg1 Nxf3+ 17.gxf3 Qh4 18.Kg2 Raf8 19.c4 e4 20.dxe4 dxe4 21.f4 R5f6 22.Qf1 Rg6+ 23.Kh1 Qg3 24.Bd2 Rh6 25.Qg2 Rxh3+ 26.Kg1 Qd3 27.Be1 Rxf4 28.Rd1 Qe3+ 29.Bf2 Rxf2 30.c5+ Rf7+ 0-1

He had several cousins who played some chess now and then: John Lasker, John Capablanca, John Alekhine, John Botvinnik, John Fischer, and John Kramnik.

May-13-24
Premium Chessgames Member		  jnpope: I found a naturalization card for John Morphy:

Date of Birth: Nov-12-1860
Date of Arrival: June-2-1894
Date of Naturalization: Aug-8-1904
Occupation: Restaurant Keeper
Address: 187 St. Marks Ave, Brooklyn, NY

As I can place our John Morphy in Dublin in May 1894 and then in Brooklyn in June 1894, I suspect this is our man.

An obituary for John Morphy in the Brooklyn <Daily Standard Union>, 1912.12.18, p3 gives "John Morphy at one time proprietor of a restaurant in Flatbush avenue and lately employed as a clerk by Gimbel Brothers, Manhattan, died last Sunday at his home, 189 St. Marks avenue.... and is survived by a widow, Dorothy, one daughter, Mrs. Dora Cameron, and two sons, William and Edward... the remains will be buried in Greenwood Cemetery.

Find a Grave shows "John Murphy" at Green-Wood Cemetery, with a birth date of 12 Nov 1858 (which I believe is an error as the 1910 Census lists him as 50 years of age which aligns with the Naturalization paperwork indicating he was born in 1860), and date of death as 15 Dec 1912 (which matches the obit).

May-15-24  SecretSanta: Here's a mystery from Porterfield Rynd's column in the Evening Herald (Dublin) - Saturday 01 November 1913 p.5 with the heading,

'ONE OF OUR SIMULTANEANTS'

[Event "Simul"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Morphy, John"]
[Black "Rynd, James Alexander Porterfield"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C52"]
[Opening "Evans gambit: Sanders-Alapin variation"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 6. O-O d6 7. d4 Bd7 8. dxe5 dxe5 9. a4 Bb6 10. Ba3 Qf6 11. Ra2 Nge7 12. Bxe7 Qxe7 13. Rd2 O-O-O 14. Bd5 Na5 15. Qe2 Bg4 16. h3 Bxf3 17. Qxf3 f6 18. Rfd1 g6 19. Kh2 c6 20. Ba2 Rhf8 21. Qg4+ f5 22. exf5 gxf5 23. Rxd8+ Bxd8 24. Qe2 e4 25. Qb2 Bc7+ 26. g3 f4 27. Qe2 fxg3+ 28. fxg3 Rf3 29. Rg1 Qe5 30. Qe1 e3 31. Rg2 Rf2 32. Kg1 Qe4 33. Be6+ Kb8 'and wins this, as he did all the games.' Evening Herald (Dublin) - Saturday 01 ♘ovember 1913 p.5 0-1

I wonder if he had just heard of Morphy's death or was celebrating his anniversary.

May-15-24  SecretSanta: Another posthumous simul game:

[Event "Simul"]
[Site "Dublin Chess Club"]
[Date "1887"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Morphy, John"]
[Black "Pollock , William Henry Krause"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C57"]
[Opening "Two knights defence"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 Nxe4 5. Nxf7 Qh4 6. O-O Bc5 7. Nxh8 Nxf2 8. Rxf2 Qxf2+ 9. Kh1 d5 10. Bxd5 Bg4 11. Bf3 Bxf3 12. gxf3 Nd4 13. Qg1 Qxf3+ 14. Qg2 Qd1+ 15. Qg1 Qxg1+ 16. Kxg1 Nxc2+ 17. Kf1 Nxa1 ♘orthern Whig - Thursday 08 February 1917 p.3 0-1

May-20-24  SecretSanta: Morphy takes part in unusual format tournament, it's not stated what odds Helms gave him.

[Event "Quick-Play Handicap K. O."]
[Site "Brooklyn C. C."]
[Date "1896.02.01"]
[Round "Final"]
[White "Morphy, John"]
[Black "Delmar, Eugene"]
[Result "0-1"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "


click for larger view

"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 c5 3. Nf3 d5 4. exd5 exd5 5. Bb5+ Bd7 6. Bxd7+ Nxd7 7. O-O Be7 8. dxc5 Ngf6 9. Nc3 Nxc5 10. Be3 O-O 11. Ne2 Ng4 12. Ng3 Ne6 13. Nd4 Nxe3 14. fxe3 Qb6 15. b3 Bg5 16. Rxf8+ Rxf8 17. Qd3 Bxe3+ 18. Qxe3 Nxd4 19. Qd3 Nxb3+ 20. Kh1 Nxa1 ♗rooklyn Standard Union 1896.02.03 0-1

[Event "Quick-Play Handicap K. O."]
[Site "Brooklyn C. C."]
[Date "1896.02.01"]
[Round "Semi-Final"]
[White "Helms, Hermann"]
[Black "Morphy, John"]
[Result "0-1"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "


click for larger view

"]

1... Qc3+ 2. Kb1 Rd2 3. Rxd2 exd2 4. Qd1 Qc1+ 5. Qxc1 dxc1=Q+ 6. Rxc1 Bxc1 7. Kxc1 bxc6 8. Bxc6 Re8 ♗rooklyn Standard Union 1896.02.03 0-1

May-20-24  SecretSanta: Two Brooklyn Chess lub championship games

[Event "Club Championship"]
[Site "Brooklyn C. C."]
[Date "1896.02.04"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Elwell, John Duryea"]
[Black "Morphy, John"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D35"]
[Opening "QGD: Harrwitz attack"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bf4 a6 5. e3 c5 6. Nf3 cxd4 7. exd4 Nc6 8. Bd3 Be7 9. O-O O-O 10. a3 dxc4 11. Bxc4 b5 12. Ba2 Bb7 13. d5 exd5 14. Nxd5 Rc8 15. Nxe7+ Nxe7 16. Re1 Ng6 17. Bd6 Bxf3 18. gxf3 Re8 19. Qd4 Qd7 20. Bc5 Qf5 21. Rxe8+ Rxe8 22. Qc3 Qg5+ 23. Kh1 Nf4 24. Rg1 Qxg1+ 25. Kxg1 Ne2+ 26. Kg2 Nxc3 27. bxc3 Re2 28. Bb3 Rb2 29. Bd1 Nd5 30. Bd4 Ra2 31. Bb3 Nf4+ 32. Kg3 Ne2+ 33. Kg4 Rxa3 34. Bd5 Nxd4 35. cxd4 Rd3 ♘ew York Evening ♙ost 1896.02.05 p.12 0-1

[Event "Club Championship"]
[Site "Brooklyn C. C."]
[Date "1896.01.28"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Ruth, Stephen Griffith Gassaway"]
[Black "Morphy, John"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C02"]
[Opening "French: advance variation"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Nd7 4. Qg4 c5 5. c3 Qc7 6. Be3 Ne7 7. Bd3 Qb6 8. Qe2 c4 9. Bxc4 dxc4 10. Na3 Qc6 11. Nxc4 Nf5 12. f4 Nxe3 13. Nxe3 Be7 14. Nf3 Nb6 15. O-O O-O 16. c4 Bd7 17. d5 exd5 18. Nd4 Qc8 19. cxd5 Bc5 20. Rac1 Nxd5 21. Nxd5 Bxd4+ 22. Kh1 Qd8 23. Rcd1 Bb6 24. f5 Kh8 25. Nxb6 axb6 26. e6 Re8 27. Qf3 fxe6 28. fxe6 Rxe6 29. Rxd7 Qf6 30. Qxf6 gxf6 31. a3 Re2 32. Rb1 Rc8 33. Rd3 Rxb2 34. Rbd1 Rc7 35. h3 Rbc2 36. Rd8+ Kg7 37. R8d7+ Kg6 38. Rxc7 Rxc7 39. Rd6 Rc1+ 40. Kh2 Rb1 41. Rd7 h5 42. Rxb7 h4 43. a4 Rb4 44. Ra7 Kf5 45. Ra8 Ke5 ♗rooklyn Standard Union 1896.02.08 p.7 1/2-1/2

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