Paul Morphy - 25 Games to Memorise

Paul Morphy – 25 Games to Memorise

The legend of Paul Morphy (1837-1884) needs little introduction. Famed for his brilliant attacking play, tactical vision and his preference for rapid development, he was far and away the best player of his age. His games often feature instant and immediate punishment of his opponents’ mistakes. This makes him an essential subject of study.

This collection features 25 of his most famous and notable games ordered from shortest (just 12 moves) to the longest (29 moves). 25 is an ideal number of games to commit to memory – enough to capture the essence of the best of Morphy and also a perfectly manageable amount for the busy chess player. Study one or two a week or more, as memorising with the Chessable platform is already made easy.

Games in this collection include ‘The Opera Game,’ (of course) the brilliant Queen sacrifice against Paulsen, two quick memorable kills against Anderssen, not one, but two amazing games ending in smothered mate, some crazy odds game wins (including the 0-0# mate against his father!) and many more wonderful games, all of them gems and instructive in their own right.

All games have been annotated along with short opening summary and closing analysis, indicating the main theme of the game which I hope is useful. However, this book is not intended to provide in-depth analysis of each game with lengthy alternative variations. The main objective is to quickly absorb the winning ideas from these brilliant games and move on to the next. If further study of a position is required, then it is easy to open up the analysis board and explore in greater detail as and when required.

This collection of 25 games have been carefully hand-selected from over 450+ known Morphy games. They have been selected on the basis of quality, for those offering different illustrative critical themes and also for maximum fun and enjoyment! They have been engine checked for my own accuracy but the commentary has been written from a human point of view and with consideration for the period the games were played in.

These 25 key Morphy games are useful for the beginner and expert alike as they are a constant source of joy for all.