S1 E16 Paul Morphy v NN (1855) - Rook Odds

Considered to be an Unofficial World Champion of his time, 
Paul Morphy was one of America's greatest flash-in-the-pan chess players. 
Nicknamed "The Pride and Sorrow of Chess", Morphy learned chess by watching his father. 
By age 9, he was one of the best players in New Orleans. 
At the age of 12, he beat the Hungarian Master Johann Lowenthal (one of the top players of the 1850's) in a 3 game match. 
Morphy graduated with his law degree at the age of 20 he was too young to legally practice, so he took to chess in his free time. 
He played in the First American Chess Congress in New York City in 1857, starting only a 2 year journey to the top of the world.
Winning most of his games in New York City (the then - chess hub of the United States), he went to Europe in 1858. 
Over the course of a year, he beat every strong European chess player with ease. 
There were attempts to coordinate a match with European champion Staunton but that never materialized. 
In 1859, Morphy returned to New Orleans - retiring from competitive chess at the age of 22 and tried to open a law firm. 
The law firm struggled during the American Civil War from 1861-1865.
He tried to open the lawfirm again after the war, but most of his potential clients only wanted to discuss chess and not legal items. 
Coming from a wealthy family, Morphy transitioned out of working and opted for a life of idleness, 
never returning to chess despite pleads from the world's best players. 

One of Morphy's most famous games is the 'Opera Game', I highly recommend studying that game. 

However, today, we will be looking at games in which Morphy gave his opponent odds. That means - at the start of the game he played down material. 

The first game we are looking at - Morphy is playing rook odds. So in the starting position - Morphy does not have the a1 rook. 

Morphy versus No-Name (1855). 

Now, if we're ready, let's begin. 

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https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1238151
Morphy v NN 

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Bc5 6.d4 exd4
7.cxd4 Bb6 8. O-O d6 9.Nc3 Na5 10.Bd3 Bg4 11.Be3 Qf6 12.Nd5
Qd8 13.h3 Bxf3 14.Qxf3 Nf6 15.Bg5 Bxd4 16.e5 Bxe5 17.Re1 O-O
18.Rxe5 dxe5 19.Nxf6+ gxf6 20. Bxf6 1-0

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Morphy

http://cassidynoble.com/