Opera game
Encyclopedia
The chess
game played in 1858 at an opera house in Paris
between the American
chess master
Paul Morphy
and two strong amateurs, the German
noble Duke Karl of Brunswick and the French aristocrat Count Isouard, is among the most famous chess games. Duke Karl and Count Isouard consulted together, playing as partners against Morphy. The game is often used by chess instructors to demonstrate the importance of rapid development of one's pieces, and other lessons.
Morphy was extremely fond of music and opera and was eager to see Norma
, which played on his first visit. Unfortunately, his host had seen Norma countless times, and Morphy found himself forced to play chess, even seated with his back to the stage.
As the game progressed, the two allies conferred loudly enough with each other, debating their moves against the American genius, that it attracted the attention of the opera performers. Madame Penco, who had the role of the Druidic priestess in Norma, kept looking into the Duke's box, to see what all the fuss was about, even as she was performing the opera. Then the performers who were the Druids, marched about, "chanting fire and bloodshed against the Roman host, who, they appeared to think, were in the Duke's box", Edge recounted.
It is doubtful if the distracted opera singers had a good enough view of what was going on. Comically, Morphy created this brilliant game while spending his time trying to overcome his blocked view of the opera, while the performers tried to catch glimpses of what was going on in the Duke's box.
Paris 1858
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6
3. d4 Bg4?
4. dxe5 Bxf3
5. Qxf3 dxe5 6. Bc4 Nf6
7. Qb3 Qe7 (see diagram)
8. Nc3
8. ... c6 9. Bg5 b5?
10. Nxb5!
10... cxb5?
11. Bxb5+ Nbd7 12. 0-0-0
12... Rd8 (see diagram) 13. Rxd7 Rxd7
14. Rd1
14... Qe6
15. Bxd7+ Nxd7
16. Qb8+!
16... Nxb8 17. Rd8#
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
game played in 1858 at an opera house in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
between the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
chess master
Chess master
A chess master is a chess player of such skill that he/she can usually beat chess experts, who themselves typically prevail against most amateurs. Among chess players, the term is often abbreviated to master, the meaning being clear from context....
Paul Morphy
Paul Morphy
Paul Charles Morphy was an American chess player. He is considered to have been the greatest chess master of his era and an unofficial World Chess Champion. He was a chess prodigy...
and two strong amateurs, the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
noble Duke Karl of Brunswick and the French aristocrat Count Isouard, is among the most famous chess games. Duke Karl and Count Isouard consulted together, playing as partners against Morphy. The game is often used by chess instructors to demonstrate the importance of rapid development of one's pieces, and other lessons.
Circumstances
The Duke frequently invited Morphy to the Italian Opera House in Paris, where the former kept a private box which was, according to Morphy's associate Frederick Edge, so close to the stage that one "might kiss the prima donna without any trouble", and which always contained a chess set, the Duke being a keen player as well as an opera lover.Morphy was extremely fond of music and opera and was eager to see Norma
Norma (opera)
Norma is a tragedia lirica or opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini with libretto by Felice Romani after Norma, ossia L'infanticidio by Alexandre Soumet. First produced at La Scala on December 26, 1831, it is generally regarded as an example of the supreme height of the bel canto tradition...
, which played on his first visit. Unfortunately, his host had seen Norma countless times, and Morphy found himself forced to play chess, even seated with his back to the stage.
As the game progressed, the two allies conferred loudly enough with each other, debating their moves against the American genius, that it attracted the attention of the opera performers. Madame Penco, who had the role of the Druidic priestess in Norma, kept looking into the Duke's box, to see what all the fuss was about, even as she was performing the opera. Then the performers who were the Druids, marched about, "chanting fire and bloodshed against the Roman host, who, they appeared to think, were in the Duke's box", Edge recounted.
It is doubtful if the distracted opera singers had a good enough view of what was going on. Comically, Morphy created this brilliant game while spending his time trying to overcome his blocked view of the opera, while the performers tried to catch glimpses of what was going on in the Duke's box.
The game
White: Paul Morphy Black: Duke of Brunswick and Count IsouardParis 1858
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6
- This is the Philidor DefencePhilidor DefenceThe Philidor Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves:It is named after the famous 18th-century player François-André Danican Philidor, who advocated it as an alternative to the common 2...Nc6...
(ECO C41). It is a solid opening, but slightly passive, and it ignores the important d4-square.
3. d4 Bg4?
- Though 3...Bg4 is considered an inferior move today, this was standard theoryChess theoryThe game of chess is commonly divided into three phases: the opening, middlegame, and endgame. As to each of these phases, especially the opening and endgame, there is a large body of theory as how the game should be played...
at the time. Today 3...exd4 or 3...Nf6 are usual. 3...f5 is a more aggressive alternative.
4. dxe5 Bxf3
- If 4...dxe5, then 5.Qxd8+ Kxd8 6.Nxe5 and WhiteWhite and Black in chessIn chess, the player who moves first is referred to as "White" and the player who moves second is referred to as "Black". Similarly, the pieces that each conducts are called, respectively, "the white pieces" and "the black pieces". The pieces are often not literally white and black, but some...
wins a pawnPawn (chess)The pawn is the most numerous and weakest piece in the game of chess, historically representing infantry, or more particularly armed peasants or pikemen. Each player begins the game with eight pawns, one on each square of the rank immediately in front of the other pieces...
and Black has lost the ability to castleCastlingCastling is a special move in the game of chess involving the king and either of the original rooks of the same color. It is the only move in chess in which a player moves two pieces at the same time. Castling consists of moving the king two squares towards a rook on the player's first rank, then...
. Black, however, did have the option of 4...Nd7 5.exd6 Bxd6, when he's down a pawnPawn (chess)The pawn is the most numerous and weakest piece in the game of chess, historically representing infantry, or more particularly armed peasants or pikemen. Each player begins the game with eight pawns, one on each square of the rank immediately in front of the other pieces...
but has some compensation in the form of better development.
5. Qxf3 dxe5 6. Bc4 Nf6
- This seemingly sound developing move runs into a surprising refutation. After White's next move, both f7 and b7 will be under attack. Better would have been to directly protect the f7-pawn with the queenQueen (chess)The queen is the most powerful piece in the game of chess, able to move any number of squares vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. Each player starts the game with one queen, placed in the middle of the first rank next to the king. With the chessboard oriented correctly, the white queen starts...
), making White's next move less potent.
7. Qb3 Qe7 (see diagram)
- Black's only good move. White was threatening mateCheckmateCheckmate is a situation in chess in which one player's king is threatened with capture and there is no way to meet that threat. Or, simply put, the king is under direct attack and cannot avoid being captured...
in two moves, for example 7...Nc6 8.Bxf7+ Ke7 9.Qe6#. 7...Qd7 loses the rookRook (chess)A rook is a piece in the strategy board game of chess. Formerly the piece was called the castle, tower, marquess, rector, and comes...
to 8.Qxb7 followed by 9.Qxa8. Notice that Qe7 saves the rook with this combination: 8.Qxb7 Qb4+ forcing a queen exchange and saving the rook. Black is forced to move the queen to e7 which blocks the f8 bishopBishop (chess)A bishop is a piece in the board game of chess. Each player begins the game with two bishops. One starts between the king's knight and the king, the other between the queen's knight and the queen...
and more importantly impedes kingside castling.
8. Nc3
- White prefers fast development to material. He declines to win a pawn with 8.Qxb7 Qb4+ 9.Qxb4, or to win two with 8.Bxf7+ Kd8 (or 8...Qxf7 9.Qxb7 and now Black cannot avoid loss of the rook) 9.Qxb7, preferring to mass his forces for a quick checkmate and get back to the opera.
8. ... c6 9. Bg5 b5?
- Though ostensibly this drives the bishop away and steals the initiativeInitiative (chess)Initiative in a chess position belongs to the player who can make threats that cannot be ignored. He thus puts his opponent in the position of having to use his turns responding to threats rather than making his own. A player with the initiative will often seek to maneuver his pieces into more and...
, it allows Morphy a sensational sacrificeSacrifice (chess)In chess, a sacrifice is a move giving up a piece in the hopes of gaining tactical or positional compensation in other forms. A sacrifice could also be a deliberate exchange of a chess piece of higher value for an opponent's piece of lower value....
to keep the initiative.
10. Nxb5!
- Morphy chooses not to retreat the bishopBishop (chess)A bishop is a piece in the board game of chess. Each player begins the game with two bishops. One starts between the king's knight and the king, the other between the queen's knight and the queen...
, which would allow Black to gain time for development. Black's move 9...b5 loses but it is difficult to find anything better; for example 9...Na6 10.Bxf6 gxf6 11.Bxa6 bxa6 12.Qa4 Qb7 and Black's position is in shambles.
10... cxb5?
- Black could have played 10...Qb4+ forcing the exchange of queensQueen (chess)The queen is the most powerful piece in the game of chess, able to move any number of squares vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. Each player starts the game with one queen, placed in the middle of the first rank next to the king. With the chessboard oriented correctly, the white queen starts...
(11.Qxb4 Bxb4+ 12.Nc3), although White would retain a clearly won game being a pawn up.
11. Bxb5+ Nbd7 12. 0-0-0
- The combination of the bishop's pinPin (chess)In chess, a pin is a situation brought on by an attacking piece in which a defending piece cannot move without exposing a more valuable defending piece on its other side to capture by the attacking piece...
on the knightKnight (chess)The knight is a piece in the game of chess, representing a knight . It is normally represented by a horse's head and neck. Each player starts with two knights, which begin on the row closest to the player, one square from the corner...
and the open file for the rook will lead to Black's defeat.
12... Rd8 (see diagram) 13. Rxd7 Rxd7
- Removing another defender.
14. Rd1
- Compare the activity of the white pieces with the idleness of the black pieces. At this point, Black's rook is not able to be saved, since it is pinned to the kingKing (chess)In chess, the king is the most important piece. The object of the game is to trap the opponent's king so that its escape is not possible . If a player's king is threatened with capture, it is said to be in check, and the player must remove the threat of capture on the next move. If this cannot be...
and attacked by the rook, and though the knight defends it, the knight is pinned to the queen.
14... Qe6
- Qe6 is a futile attempt to unpin the knight (allowing it to defend the rook) and offer a queen trade, to take some pressure out of the white attack. Even if Morphy did not play his next crushing move, he could have always traded his bishop for the knight, followed by winning the rook.
15. Bxd7+ Nxd7
- If 15...Qxd7, then 16.Qb8+ Ke7 17.Qxe5+ Kd8 18.Bxf6+ gxf6 19.Qxf6+ Kc8 20.Rxd7 Kxd7 21.Qxh8 and White is clearly winning. Moving the king leads to mate: 15...Ke7 16.Qb4+ Qd6 (16...Kd8 17.Qb8+ Ke7 18.Qe8#) 17.Qxd6+ Kd8 18.Qb8+ Ke7 19.Qe8# or 15...Kd8 16.Qb8+ Ke7 17.Qe8#
16. Qb8+!
- Morphy finishes with a stylish queen sacrificeQueen sacrificeIn chess, a queen sacrifice is a move giving up a queen in return for tactical or positional compensation.-Queen sacrifice: real versus sham:...
.
16... Nxb8 17. Rd8#
External links
- The game on chessgames.com
- Edward WinterEdward Winter (chess historian)Edward Winter is an English journalist, archivist, historian, collector and author about the game of chess. He writes a regular column on that subject, Chess Notes, and is also a regular columnist for ChessBase.-Chess Notes:...
, Morphy v the Duke and Count - Le mat de l'opéra (in French), variations of the game's final in other chessproblems and games, 2 July 2008