today, I will go over a famous game by the great Paul Morphy as he played this offhand game in an Opera House against Duke Karl and Count Isouard, It is a very instructive as far as the power of superior development and efficiency of an attack.
I hope you enjoy!
As always, any comments, suggestions good, bad or indifferent are encouraged and read and thought on !
WHITE: Paul Mporphy
BLACK: Duke Karl and Count Isouard
PHILIDOR's DEFENSE
1. e4 A favorite of Morpthy's. , e5
2. Nf3, d6 This is Philidorls Defense , popular at the time and not played as much now due to it's restrictions in space, vut some strong Gm's and Masters do use it time to time...
3. d4. Bg4?! Already a mistake, as the pin on the Knight is innefective and a waste..beter is simply 3...Nd7 or even 3...exd4.
[pgn=6][Event "gameofweek"]
[Site "net-chess.com"]
[White "Morphy"]
[Black "Duke Isouard"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteTimeLeft "000d 00:00:00"]
[BlackTimeLeft "000d 00:00:00"]
[Game "gameofweek"]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Bg4 4.dxe5 Bxf3 5.Qxf3 dxe5 6.Bc4 Nf6 7.Qb3 Qe7 8.Nc3 c6 9.Bg5 b5 10.Nxb5 cxb5 11.Bxb5+ Nbd7 12.O-O-O Rd8 13.Rxd7 Rxd7 14.Rd1 Qe6 15.Bxd7+ Nf6xd7 16.Qb8+ Nxb8 17.Rd8#[/pgn]
4. dxe5 Clarifying the situation in the Center. Bxf3
5. Qxf3, dxe5
Lets have a look at the situation now...Both sides have exchanged and the position looks close to equal, but there are somethings to notice...1) Black's F7 square is weak and open to attack, he is not developed at all and although Whites only developed piece is his Queen, his position is much more comfortable.
Have a look as Morphy exploits this lead in development and the F7 square~!
6. Bc4 Immediately attacking F7 and threatening win of paterial, 6...Nf6
7. Qb3 Moving the Queen again , BUT targeting the weak F7 square AND the B 7 pawn!, 7...Qe7 Defending the F7 square and letting the B pawn go enprise.
8. Nc3 Again, Morphy sinply develops, the B pawn is not so important at the moment and the Knight can go to D5 soon and really make havoc on black's Kingside! 8...c6 Holding on to the D5 square, a good idea.
9. Bg5! Simple development but look at Black;s position, he is almost in a state of zugzwang (compulsion to move) his Q night cannot be dewvelipmed becasue of the hanging B pawn, the Knight is pinned ( the Queen), and his K Bishop is unable to develop... all in all., this gives White a huge plus early in the game! 9...b5!? to kick the Bishop off of C4 but it meets with a very strong refutation!
10. Nxb5! A very justified sacrifice, as it will seal the Black King in the center of the board and makes it an easy target; watch as Morphy whips up an irresistible attack so fast! 10...cxb5
11. Bxb5+, Nbd7 The best choice, it does not take much to see that black is in real dire means here!
[pgn=22][Event "gameofweek"]
[Site "net-chess.com"]
[White "Morphy"]
[Black "Duke Isouard"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteTimeLeft "000d 00:00:00"]
[BlackTimeLeft "000d 00:00:00"]
[Game "gameofweek"]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Bg4 4.dxe5 Bxf3 5.Qxf3 dxe5 6.Bc4 Nf6 7.Qb3 Qe7 8.Nc3 c6 9.Bg5 b5 10.Nxb5 cxb5 11.Bxb5+ Nbd7 12.O-O-O Rd8 13.Rxd7 Rxd7 14.Rd1 Qe6 15.Bxd7+ Nf6xd7 16.Qb8+ Nxb8 17.Rd8#[/pgn]
12. 0-0-0 Now Morphy's King is safe and the Rook joins the attack! 12...Rd8 protecting the Knight on D7.
13. Rxd7! An excellent clearance sacrifice, Morphy has already seen he will get back the material but more importantly, weave a tight Mating net around the Black king. 13...Rxd7 forced.
14. Rd1 another hammer shot, the Black rook is pinned so this is the beginning of the end for him...and SO fast! 14...Qe6 In a wish that Morphy will exchange Queens and Black can suffer in an endgame, but Morphy will have none of that.
15. Bxd7 +, Nxd7 Forced again...
16. Qb8+!! A beautiful clearance sacrifice ~! 16...Nxb8 Can you see checkmate...Take your time and give the position a long look, it is right there !:)
17. Rd8 CHECKMATE!!
This is truly a classic. The ease that Morphy developed his attack and completed his development was a singularity in that time period ( around 1850-) Morphy was a real pioneer and his games always showed off superior development and lightning fast and devastating attacks. Id look at and really study Morphy's games to see how the Open Game really came into light and how simple development and good sight of the board wins miniatures like this !
I hope you enjoyed this game and the Net-Chess Game of the week will be up soon!
Thanks for your time and comments!!
Joshua