Yes We Can

Paul Charles Morphy – Pierre Emile Bonford
Blindfold simultaneous exhibition; New Orleans, March 24, 1858
Evans Gambit C52

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4!? Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 6. d4 exd4 7. 0-0 dxc3 8. Ba3!? According to chess theory the best move is 8. Qb3 – obviously well-known to Morphy. Given the circumstances, he probably wanted to try something different. 8. ... d6. Here 8. ... Qf6 9. e5 Qg6 10. Qb3 Nge7 11. Nxc3 b5 is another interesting modus vivendi, Blydenstein – Zukertort, London 1874. 9. Qb3 Nh6 10. Nxc3 Bxc3 11. Qxc3 0-0 12. Rad1 Ng4. Preventing e4-e5. 13. h3 Nge5 14. Nxe5 Nxe5 15. Be2! A move which shows Morphy’s deep understanding of positional concepts. The stereotyped 15. Bb3 after 15. ... Be6 leads nowhere for White. 15. ... f5? Black unwisely opens up the position – in particular the diagonal a1-h8 – while behind in development. Géza Maróczy recommends 15. ... f6 eventually followed by ... Ne5-g6. 16. f4 Nc6 17. Bc4+ Kh8 18. Bb2 Qe7. 18. ... Rf6 loses to 19. e5 Rg6 20. Bf7 (Maróczy’s analysis). 19. Rde1 Rf6 20. exf5 Qf8

21. Re8! More solito, Morphy’s refutation offers the highest standard of aesthetic pleasure. 21. ... Qxe8 22. Qxf6! Qe7. Taking the Queen runs into mate with two Bishops: 22. ... gxf6 23. Bxf6 mate. 23. Qxg7+! Of course White can win prosaically by 23. Qxe7 Nxe7 24. Re1, but Morphy, in his search of the Holy Grail, always looked for a masterpiece. 23. ... Qxg7 24. f6 Qxg2+. Desperation; if 24. ... Qf8 then 25. f7+ Ne5 26. fxe5 would crown Morphy’s grandiose attack, e.g. 26. ... h5 (or 26. ... Kg7 27. e6+ Kh6 28. e7 and wins) 27. e6+ Kh7 28. Bd3+ Kh6 29. Rf6+ Kg5 (or 29. ... Kg7 30. Rg6+ Kh7 31. Rg8+ Kh6 32. Bc1 mate) 30. Rg6+ Kf4 31. Kf2! and mate next move. 25. Kxg2 Bxh3+ 26. Kxh3 h5 27. Rg1 1 : 0.

Simultaneous blindfold chess exhibition, given by Paul Charles Morphy at the Café de la Régence in Paris on September 27, 1858. Courtesy of the John G. White Collection, Special Collections, Cleveland Public Library. Photograph by the Cleveland Public Library Photoduplication Service.