NEW ORLEANS From Bienville to Bourbon Street to bounce. 300 moments that make New Orleans unique. WHAT HAPPENED Paul Morphy 1718 ~ 2018 won the first American Chess Congress 300 in 1857. TRICENTENNIAL “ Genius is a starry word; but if there ever was a chess player to whom that attribute applied, it was Paul Morphy,” according to American chess Grandmaster Andrew Soltis. Morphy was a child chess prodigy who grew up in New Orleans, the son of a Louisi- Paul Morphy took on Louis ana Supreme Court justice who learned chess Paulsen in the first American Chess Congress in 1857. simply by watching the game. At the age of 12, he won two games and had one draw against a famous Hungarian chess player. The next year, Morphy went to Spring Hill College in Mo- bile, Alabama, and then attended Loyola Law School, finishing his law degree when he was One of Paul Morphy’s 20, one year shy of being able to practice law. moves against opponent While he waited to practice law, he became Adolf Anderssen in a series of games played in determined to beat all the great chess players Paris in 1858. Morphy won in the United States and Europe. He won the the series. first American Chess Congress in New York ‘Paul Morphy in 1857 and received a prize from Oliver Wen- - The Chess Champion’ dell Homes. He traveled to England to play illustration Howard Staunton, considered the best player from Ballou’s in Europe. Staunton, however, refused to meet Pictorial, 1859. Morphy. Morphy defeated every other comer Paul Morphy, left, and a friend who would play him, including in a blindfold in a photo that tournament in which he defeated eight op- appeared in the full- length biography ponents in another room. Morphy returned of Morphy, ‘Paul to New Orleans a celebrity. He attempted to Morphy: The Pride and Sorrow of start a law practice, but it was said he was un- Chess’ by David able to get his clients to talk about anything Lawson, published but chess. He died of a stroke in 1884. In 1964, in 1976. Chess great Bobby Fischer said of Morphy: “In a set match, Morphy would beat anybody alive today … Morphy was perhaps the most accu- THE HISTORIC NEW ORLEANS COLLECTION The childhood home of Paul Morphy, 417 Royal rate chess player who ever lived.” St., is now Brennan’s Restaurant..