Paul Morphy: Chess

Paul Morphy was American chess player. Explore interesting quotes on chess.

Paul Morphy: 32 quotes0 likes

“It [chess] is not only the most delightful and scientific, but the most moral of amusements.”

As quoted in Testimonials to Paul Morphy: Presented at University Hall, New York, May 25, 1859

“Paul Morphy was the greatest chess player that ever lived. Every student of the game, who has delved into the stories of the past, realizes that no one ever was so far superior to the players of his time, or ever defeated his opponents with such ease, and no one ever offered knight odds to the men who considered themselves his equal.”

Paul Morphy

As quoted in Lasker's Chess Magazine
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“Chess never has been and never can be aught but a recreation. It should not be indulged in to the detriment of other and more serious avocations.”

Paul Morphy

As quoted in Testimonials to Paul Morphy: Presented at University Hall, New York, May 25, 1859 https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=aEZAAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&hl=en&pg=GBS.PA3

“It [chess] is eminently and emphatically the philosopher's game.”

Paul Morphy

As quoted in Testimonials to Paul Morphy: Presented at University Hall, New York, May 25, 1859

“After the passage of a century, Morphy still remains the most glamorous figure that has ever appeared in the chess world.”

Paul Morphy

Edward Lasker (in The Adventure of Chess, 2nd Edition, New York, 1959)
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“I am more strongly confirmed than ever in the belief that the time devoted to chess is literally frittered away. It is, to be sure, a most exhilarating sport, but it is only a sport; and it is not to be wondered at that such as have been passionately addicted to the charming pastime should one day ask themselves whether sober reason does not advise its utter dereliction.”

Paul Morphy

From Morphy's letter to Daniel Fiske, February 4, 1863 https://web.archive.org/web/20150722050734/http://www.edochess.ca/batgirl/Morphy_to_Fiske_Feb4.html

“Genius is a starry word; but if there ever was a chess player to whom that attribute applied, it was Paul Morphy.”

Paul Morphy

Andrew Soltis (in Golombek's Encyclopedia of Chess, New York, 1977)
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“It has been truly said that Morphy was at once the Caesar and the Napoleon of chess. He revolutionized chess. He brought life and dash and beauty into the game at a time when an age of dullness was about to set in and he did this at a stroke. Then he quit forever. Only two years from the beginning to the end. The negotiations for some modern matches have taken that long!”

Paul Morphy

J. A. Galbreath (American Chess Bulletin, October, 1909)
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“What was the secret of Morphy's invincibility? I think it was a combination of a unique natural talent and brilliant erudition. His play was the next, more mature stage in the development of chess. Morphy had a well-developed 'feeling for position', and therefore he can be confidently regarded as the 'first swallow”

Paul Morphy

the prototype of the strong 20th century grandmaster."
Garry Kasparov (2003). On My Great Predecessors. Gloucester Publishers plc. Vol. 1, p. 43. ISBN 1857443306.
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