The Exploits and Triumphs, in Europe, of Paul Morphy, the Chess ChampionEdge, Frederick Milnes
History
The Exploits and Triumphs, in Europe, of Paul Morphy, the Chess Champion
Edge, Frederick Milnes
Chess; Morphy, Paul Charles, 1837-1884
This was Anderssen's first visit to the French metropolis, and I
immediately offered to show him some of the lions. So forth we sallied. He
was desirous of going to the Régence; but two hours would elapse before
anybody would be there, and in the mean time he could see a few public
buildings. The first place I took him to was, of course, the Louvre, and,
as it had rained copiously the night before, I walked him across the
_Place du Carrousel_, in order to soil his boots with the mud. Most of his
attention was taken up with keeping that portion of his attire clean; but,
when that had become no longer possible, his leisure was entirely devoted
to sight-seeing. Of course, we could not altogether avoid talking about
the main object of his visit; he told me he had only seen a few of
Morphy's games, and asked me what was the opinion of the Régence in
reference to his style of play. I replied that it was the opposite of what
they thought in England and America, characterizing it as sound rather
than brilliant; but that there was a reason for this, inasmuch as the
French players persisted in playing close openings. He replied, "No
wonder; no man would willingly expose himself to Morphy's thundering
attacks," [attaques foudroyantes.]
On returning to the Régence, we found Harrwitz, who, by-the-bye, is a
fellow-townsman of Anderssen, and they were at the same school together.
The latter knew that Harrwitz stated that he beat him the majority of
games, and he was most desirous of proving the fallacy of the assertion,
and immediately proposed an encounter. This was accepted, and out of six
games, played on five different occasions, Anderssen won three, Harrwitz
one, and two were drawn. After that, little doubt existed as to which was
the stronger player, and when, just before leaving Paris, Anderssen was
complimented on this result, he said, "Oh, there is but one Morphy in the
world."
On the day of Anderssen's arrival, Morphy told his medical adviser that he
must get him well enough to commence the match on the following Monday.
The doctor said it all depended upon his feeling sufficiently strong to
undergo the fatigue, when his patient replied, that what he feared was a
hard battle exhausting him too much to continue the struggle next day. On
the doctor's advice, he consented to play the match in the hotel, so as
not to undergo the fatigue of moving, and it was arranged that only such
as were specially invited should be present, but that the moves should be
forwarded every half-hour to the Régence.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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