A Paul Morphy Brilliancy

I do like these ancient games even if the defense wasn’t great.

[Event "Alabama "]   [Date "1855"]   [Round "?"] [White "Morphy, Paul"] [Black "Meek, Alexander Beaufort"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C38"] [PlyCount "35"] [EventDate "1855"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceDate "1998.11.10"]   1. e4 e5 2. f4 {The King's Gambit was a popular opening at the time this game was played. These days it's considered something of a rarity.} exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. Bc4 Bg7 5. h4 g4 {5... h6 was a more solid approach.} 6. Ng5 Nh6 7. d4 f6 8. Bxf4 fxg5 $2 {A serious mistake after which White is doing well. 8... Qe7 {was the right move after which White should just castle.} 9. Bxg5 Bf6 10. Qd2 {10. Bxh6 would have been simpler and better but Morphy is playing for the attack.} 10... Bxg5 11. hxg5 Nf7 $6 {It was better to retreat to g8. Now White comes flowing through.} 12. Bxf7+ Kxf7 13. Qf4+ Kg8 14. O-O Qe7 15. Nc3 c6 16. Rae1 d6 17. Nd5 $1 { A most elegant sacrifice.} cxd5 18. exd5 {There is no defence against the combined power of White's major pieces on the e- and f-files.} 1-0

Author: NigelD

Nigel Davies is an International Chess Grandmaster living in St. Helens in the UK. The winner of 15 international tournaments he is also a former British U21 and British Open Quickplay Champion and has represented both England and Wales on several occasions. These days Nigel teaches chess through his chess training web site, Tiger Chess, which has articles, recommendations, a monthly clinic, videos and courses. His students include his 15 year old son Sam who is making rapid progress with his game. Nigel has written a number of chess books that are available at Amazon: View all posts by NigelD