Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Louis Paulsen – Paul Charles Morphy
1st American Chess Congress; New York, November 3, 1857
Four Knights Game C48

Before the 6th game, the game involving Morphy’s most famous Queen sacrifice, Morphy and Fuller were dining together and Fuller recounted: “... His patience was worn out by the great length of time Paulsen took for each move. His usually equable temper was so disturbed, that he clenched his fists and said, ‘Paulsen shall never win another game from me while he lives’. And he never did”.

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Bc5 5. 0-0 0-0 6. Nxe5 Re8! Garry Kimovich Kasparov recommends 6. ... Nxe5 7. d4 Bd6 8. f4 Nc6 9. e5 Be7! with roughly equal chances. 7. Nxc6!? Theoretically speaking, sounder is 7. Nf3! Nxe4 8. d4 Nxc3 9. bxc3 Bf8! 10. d5 Ne5 11. Nxe5 Rxe5 12. Bf4 with a slight plus for White, but the text is also playable. 7. ... dxc6 8. Bc4!? More prudent would have been 8. Be2 Nxe4 9. Nxe4 Rxe4 10. d3 Re8 11. c3 followed by d3-d4. 8. ... b5!? A fancy move! Clearly not 8. ... Nxe4? on account of 9. Nxe4 Rxe4 10. Bxf7+!, “But Black has another resource”, writes Philip W. Sergeant in his book “Morphy’s Games of Chess”, New York, Dover Publications, 1957, p. 57. “A correspondence game in 1909 between Messrs. H. Erskine and C. E. C. Tattersall continued 8. ... Ng4, and Black obtained a winning attack”. 9. Be2. Not 9. Bb3? Bg4 10. Qe1 b4 when White is in trouble. 9. ... Nxe4 10. Nxe4. Not 10. Bf3?? Nxf2! 11. Rxf2 Qd4 and wins. 10. ... Rxe4 11. Bf3. 11. d3 followed by c2-c3 and d3-d4 was worth considering. 11. ... Re6 12. c3. “A somewhat elaborate process for so simple an object. First, 12. d3 was the proper play”, Dr. Emanuel Lasker wrote in his book “Common Sense in Chess”, New York, Dover Publications, 1965, p. 73. 12. ... Qd3! A paralyzing move! 13. b4?! “One more inaccuracy, the immediate 13. Re1 Rxe1+ 14. Qxe1 was better. Kasparov gives the following continuation: 14. ... Bf5! 15. Bxc6 (15. Qe2 Rd8! according to Kasparov, but after 16. Qxd3 Bxd3 17. Bxc6 Rd6 18. b4 Black’s advantage would be slight) 15. ... Rd8 16. Qe5 Qc2 17. Bf3 Bd6 18. Qxb5 Bd3 19. Qc6 Kf8! (Kasparov) 20. h3 Re8 when White is worse; but this variation is not forced for White”, Valeri Beim wrote in his book “Paul Morphy Una Prospettiva Moderna”, Roma, Prisma Editori, 2008, pp. 62-63. 13. ... Bb6 14. a4 bxa4 15. Qxa4 Bd7? As Géza Maróczy later demonstrated, correct was 15. ... Bb7! (preventing Qa4-a6) as after 16. Ra2 Rae8 17. Qd1 Ba6 White would have been forced to give up the Exchange. 16. Ra2? Intending Qa4-c2, but called by Wilhelm Steinitz “A silly move”. White had to play the immediate 16. Qa6 as after 16. ... Qf5 17. d4 Rae8 18. Be3 c5 19. bxc5 Bxc5 20. Qe2 (not 20. Qa5? Qxf3! and Black’s attack triumphs) 20. ... Bb6 21. Bg4 Rxe3 22. Bxf5 Rxe2 23. Bxd7 Rd8 the ending appears quite even (Lasker’s analysis). 16. ... Rae8. Threatening ... Qd3xf1+. 17. Qa6. Too late, but 17. Qc2 is refuted by 17. ... Qxf1+! and mate next move, while if 17. Qd1 there follows 17. ... c5! and Black is defenceless against ... Bd7-b5.

17. ... Qxf3!! A superb Queen sacrifice! 18. gxf3 Rg6+ 19. Kh1 Bh3 20. Rd1. Not 20. Rg1 Rxg1+ 21. Kxg1 Re1+ and mate next move. If, instead, 20. Qf3 then 20. ... f5! 21. Qc4+ Kf8! (preventing Qc4-f7) 22. Qf4 Bxf2! and wins. 20. ... Bg2+ 21. Kg1 Bxf3+ 22. Kf1 Bg2+. The “indirect” 22. ... Rg2! would have forced mate in three moves, as Johannes Hermann Zukertort then showed: 23. Qd3 Rxf2+ 24. Kg1 Rg2+ 25. Kh1 Rg1#. 23. Kg1 Bh3+. As Johann Hermann Bauer later pointed out, the most forcing line was 23. ... Be4+! 24. Kf1 Bf5! 25. Qe2 Bh3+ 26. Ke1 Rg1#. 24. Kh1 Bxf2 25. Qf1. What else? 24. ... Bxf1 26. Rxf1 Re2 27. Ra1. “Total demoralization. Black would still have had to do some heavy lifting after 27. Rb2”, writes Valeri Beim (op. cit., p. 64). Black would have won easily after 27. ... Be1. 27. ... Rh6 28. d4 Be3! 0 : 1. For if 29. Bxe3 then 29. ... Rhxh2+ 30. Kg1 Reg2#. “Time, four hours. A record of the time consumed was only kept through a portion of the game. The first player’s longest move was his sixteenth, thirty-eight minutes. None of the second player’s moves exceeded five minutes, except his seventeenth, on which he considered twelve minutes”, writes Daniel Willard Fiske in his “The Book of the First American Chess Congress”, New York, Rudd & Carleton, 1859, p. 255.

First American Chess Congress, New York, 1857. Morphy (right) seated playing Paulsen (left). Photo: Cleveland Public Library Special Collections Department.