1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:03,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:13,520 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,560 --> 00:00:16,080 Speaker 1: I'm to bling a chocolate boarding and I'm fair and 4 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:19,639 Speaker 1: I have been knee deep in chess research this week, 5 00:00:19,680 --> 00:00:22,640 Speaker 1: of all things, inspired by a listener named Brandon who 6 00:00:22,680 --> 00:00:26,160 Speaker 1: is an avid chess player, and he wanted a podcast 7 00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:28,960 Speaker 1: about chess, anything to do with chess. He didn't really 8 00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:31,280 Speaker 1: seem too picky about what the exact topic was, as 9 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:34,480 Speaker 1: long as it was chess related. Of course, in his email, 10 00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:37,080 Speaker 1: Bobby Fisher's name did come up. And when you start 11 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:40,519 Speaker 1: researching the greatest chess players of all time, all signs 12 00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:42,320 Speaker 1: do kind of point to him. Even if you don't 13 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:46,080 Speaker 1: know anything about chess, you know Bobby Fisher exactly. After all, 14 00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:48,760 Speaker 1: he did become the youngest grandmaster in history at age 15 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:51,840 Speaker 1: fifteen and nineteen fifty eight, and he's also the first 16 00:00:51,920 --> 00:00:54,800 Speaker 1: native born American to hold the title of world champion 17 00:00:54,840 --> 00:00:58,160 Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy two. But what really sparked our interest 18 00:00:58,280 --> 00:01:01,279 Speaker 1: is that chess prodige you the Bobby Fisher. It was 19 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:04,240 Speaker 1: there was someone else that Fisher himself referred to as 20 00:01:04,280 --> 00:01:07,880 Speaker 1: the greatest chess genius in history. And that was another American, 21 00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:11,800 Speaker 1: a New Orleans native named Paul Morphy. Yeah, and like Fisher, 22 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:15,160 Speaker 1: Morphy was kind of a child prodigy, and he had 23 00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:18,280 Speaker 1: made his mark on chess at a very early age, 24 00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:21,760 Speaker 1: of surprisingly early age. And he also completely went against 25 00:01:21,760 --> 00:01:24,880 Speaker 1: the old ways of playing chess, which is what really 26 00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:26,759 Speaker 1: made him stand out, and it's what I found really 27 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:31,760 Speaker 1: interesting about this subject. But strangely, his illustrious chess career 28 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:35,080 Speaker 1: only lasted two years, something that makes him even more 29 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:37,920 Speaker 1: amazing that he had such an impact, such an effect 30 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:41,480 Speaker 1: in so short a span of time. Yeah, just when 31 00:01:41,560 --> 00:01:44,240 Speaker 1: he seemed poised to do bigger and better things, he 32 00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:47,000 Speaker 1: sort of faded into obscurity. So it was kind of strange. 33 00:01:47,440 --> 00:01:50,840 Speaker 1: Nowadays only aficionados know much about him, even though in 34 00:01:50,840 --> 00:01:53,120 Speaker 1: the day he was really well known to people even 35 00:01:53,120 --> 00:01:56,640 Speaker 1: outside of the chess community, the Bobby Fisher of his day, right, 36 00:01:56,720 --> 00:01:58,760 Speaker 1: So we want to look into that mystery a little bit. 37 00:01:58,800 --> 00:02:02,160 Speaker 1: What's the real story behind why Morphy abandoned chess so 38 00:02:02,240 --> 00:02:05,080 Speaker 1: abruptly even though he was so well suited for it, 39 00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:07,360 Speaker 1: so good at it, And why is he called the 40 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:10,440 Speaker 1: Pride and Sorrow of Chess the title of our podcast. 41 00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:13,000 Speaker 1: But Of course, before we get into all of that, 42 00:02:13,040 --> 00:02:16,160 Speaker 1: we need to talk about how Paul Morphy got into 43 00:02:16,280 --> 00:02:18,880 Speaker 1: chess in the first place, because New Orleans is not 44 00:02:18,960 --> 00:02:22,520 Speaker 1: really known as being the center of the American chess scene, 45 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:26,120 Speaker 1: or it certainly wasn't back in eight thirty seven June 46 00:02:26,120 --> 00:02:30,040 Speaker 1: two when he was born, and his family wasn't the 47 00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:32,760 Speaker 1: type that would drive their son into some sort of 48 00:02:32,800 --> 00:02:36,920 Speaker 1: professional chess career either. His father, Alonzo Morphy, was a 49 00:02:37,120 --> 00:02:40,360 Speaker 1: successful lawyer and he served in the Louisiana House of 50 00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:43,520 Speaker 1: Representatives and later went on to become the state's Attorney 51 00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:46,520 Speaker 1: general and serve on its Supreme Court. Well. His mother 52 00:02:46,760 --> 00:02:49,840 Speaker 1: was this prominent member of the New Orleans Creole society, 53 00:02:49,919 --> 00:02:53,600 Speaker 1: so his family was very wealthy, they were influential. He 54 00:02:53,720 --> 00:02:56,640 Speaker 1: seemed more destined for a career as a lawyer, not 55 00:02:56,720 --> 00:02:59,600 Speaker 1: a chess player, and that's exactly what his family, especially 56 00:02:59,639 --> 00:03:02,400 Speaker 1: his move or, really wanted him to do. Chess was 57 00:03:02,560 --> 00:03:04,840 Speaker 1: always kind of in the background of this, though. His 58 00:03:04,919 --> 00:03:08,680 Speaker 1: father and grandfathers taught Paul how to play, and Paul's uncle, 59 00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:11,480 Speaker 1: Ernest Morphy played and was also a pretty well known 60 00:03:11,560 --> 00:03:15,040 Speaker 1: chess analyst of the time, but by around age nine, 61 00:03:15,240 --> 00:03:18,200 Speaker 1: Paul had his own sort of reputation. He had a 62 00:03:18,200 --> 00:03:21,120 Speaker 1: local reputation as an accomplished player, and by age twelve, 63 00:03:21,160 --> 00:03:24,840 Speaker 1: he was considered New Orleans strongest player. Yeah, but his 64 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:28,480 Speaker 1: greatest feeder. His first great feat came in eighteen fifty. 65 00:03:28,760 --> 00:03:31,360 Speaker 1: He had just turned thirteen and he played a three 66 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:36,000 Speaker 1: game match against the Hungarian chess master janos Ja Lowenthal. 67 00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:38,960 Speaker 1: And this guy was considered to be one of the best, 68 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:41,480 Speaker 1: one of the top ten players in the world, and 69 00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:45,320 Speaker 1: this little thirteen year old kid defeated him in all 70 00:03:45,440 --> 00:03:48,440 Speaker 1: three games, and it was just an amazing feat for 71 00:03:48,520 --> 00:03:51,640 Speaker 1: the chess world at the time. But between eighteen fifty 72 00:03:51,640 --> 00:03:54,720 Speaker 1: and eighteen fifty seven, Paul actually took a little break 73 00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:57,280 Speaker 1: from chess. He went to spring Hill College in Mobile, 74 00:03:57,360 --> 00:04:01,160 Speaker 1: Alabama and graduated from there with honors at age seventeen. 75 00:04:01,560 --> 00:04:03,920 Speaker 1: Then he went on to finally earn that law degree 76 00:04:04,080 --> 00:04:07,040 Speaker 1: as planned from the University of Louisiana in eighteen fifty 77 00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:11,240 Speaker 1: seven at age twenty. So he apparently had this amazing 78 00:04:11,360 --> 00:04:13,480 Speaker 1: memory which came in handy and studying law, and he 79 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:17,200 Speaker 1: could recite the entire Louisiana Civil Code by heart. But 80 00:04:17,320 --> 00:04:19,440 Speaker 1: unfortunately he wasn't allowed to take the bar yet and 81 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:24,200 Speaker 1: practice law until he came of age. Maybe not so unfortunately, 82 00:04:24,680 --> 00:04:27,280 Speaker 1: but that amazing memory is remember that part because it's 83 00:04:27,320 --> 00:04:29,320 Speaker 1: going to come into play a little later. But in 84 00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:32,120 Speaker 1: the meantime, while he's waiting to get old enough to 85 00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:36,080 Speaker 1: actually practice law, he got thrown back into the world 86 00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:40,160 Speaker 1: of chess. And the first American Chess Championship tournament was 87 00:04:40,360 --> 00:04:44,200 Speaker 1: being organized that summer in New York City, and Morphy's 88 00:04:44,240 --> 00:04:47,279 Speaker 1: friends convinced him, well, you're really good at chess, maybe 89 00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:50,040 Speaker 1: you should enter this tournament. Yeah, and at that time 90 00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:53,159 Speaker 1: Morphy was pretty much an unknown on the national scene, 91 00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:55,480 Speaker 1: but that didn't last very long at all, because he 92 00:04:55,520 --> 00:04:58,920 Speaker 1: walked away with first prize in this tournament after finally 93 00:04:58,960 --> 00:05:02,520 Speaker 1: defeating Lou Paulson, who was one of America's premier chess 94 00:05:02,520 --> 00:05:05,360 Speaker 1: players at the time, in the first game of their match, 95 00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:09,320 Speaker 1: though Morphy actually lost because of Paulson's extremely slow style 96 00:05:09,360 --> 00:05:12,760 Speaker 1: of play. Paulson would apparently take up to two hours 97 00:05:12,880 --> 00:05:16,560 Speaker 1: between moves, sounds like an agonizing amount of time to wait. 98 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:19,839 Speaker 1: Having to wait this long actually frustrated Morphy into making 99 00:05:19,839 --> 00:05:22,720 Speaker 1: a mistake, but fortunately he came back and he won 100 00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:25,919 Speaker 1: five games over Paulson to take the championship, which I 101 00:05:25,960 --> 00:05:29,720 Speaker 1: think this sort of illustrates even my trouble with chess today, 102 00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:32,279 Speaker 1: Like it just takes a really long time between moves, 103 00:05:32,279 --> 00:05:35,360 Speaker 1: but the idea of two hours, I cannot get over that. 104 00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:38,200 Speaker 1: But it's a good point to to stop a little 105 00:05:38,200 --> 00:05:41,520 Speaker 1: and talk about Morphy's style of play, because we mentioned 106 00:05:41,760 --> 00:05:44,000 Speaker 1: in the introduction that he did sort of put a 107 00:05:44,040 --> 00:05:47,039 Speaker 1: new spin on the game. And the game was quite 108 00:05:47,120 --> 00:05:49,280 Speaker 1: old though, so putting a new spin on it in 109 00:05:49,360 --> 00:05:53,800 Speaker 1: the eight hundreds was a pretty revolutionary thing to do. Yeah, 110 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:56,320 Speaker 1: the game had been around since the sixth century a d. 111 00:05:56,640 --> 00:05:59,080 Speaker 1: And if you need a little background on this, we 112 00:05:59,120 --> 00:06:01,400 Speaker 1: actually have an article goal on our website called house 113 00:06:01,480 --> 00:06:04,080 Speaker 1: Chess Works and it will give you us illustration it does, 114 00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:05,800 Speaker 1: and it can teach you the rules of the game 115 00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:07,200 Speaker 1: and also give you some of this history that we're 116 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:09,320 Speaker 1: going to give you right now. So it started way 117 00:06:09,400 --> 00:06:12,159 Speaker 1: back then an Indian and gradually spread to the rest 118 00:06:12,160 --> 00:06:15,159 Speaker 1: of Asia, the Middle East into Europe. The rules and 119 00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:18,760 Speaker 1: the playing style, however, developed really slowly. They experienced the 120 00:06:18,800 --> 00:06:22,080 Speaker 1: most growth over the last couple of centuries actually, and 121 00:06:22,120 --> 00:06:25,040 Speaker 1: around the time of our story. Competitors would still display 122 00:06:25,080 --> 00:06:30,160 Speaker 1: a lot of reserve and deliberation during sometimes two hours worth, 123 00:06:30,640 --> 00:06:33,839 Speaker 1: and they fought really for every chess piece. Yeah, and 124 00:06:33,880 --> 00:06:37,080 Speaker 1: Morphy took a different approach. He didn't fight for every piece. 125 00:06:37,120 --> 00:06:40,120 Speaker 1: He was willing to sacrifice them. He played quickly, and 126 00:06:40,520 --> 00:06:45,000 Speaker 1: often he made unconventional sacrifices, so it would seem like 127 00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:48,320 Speaker 1: he was starting out badly and then he would suddenly recover. 128 00:06:48,800 --> 00:06:50,960 Speaker 1: And just to give you an idea of a few 129 00:06:50,960 --> 00:06:53,360 Speaker 1: of his tactics, if you even have a basic understanding 130 00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:56,320 Speaker 1: of chess, this will resonate. So he would often give 131 00:06:56,440 --> 00:06:59,960 Speaker 1: up his center ponds and then develop the stronger piece, 132 00:07:00,160 --> 00:07:03,880 Speaker 1: so put each chessman at its best advantage, instead of 133 00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:06,760 Speaker 1: bringing those into play later in the game, playing with 134 00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:08,800 Speaker 1: the ponds first and trying to keep them all or 135 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:11,080 Speaker 1: as many people did at the time. Yeah, but he 136 00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:14,160 Speaker 1: avoided premature attacks. So just because he's trying to bring 137 00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:16,720 Speaker 1: the stronger pieces into the game earlier doesn't mean he's 138 00:07:17,400 --> 00:07:19,880 Speaker 1: being reckless with them once they are in the game, right, 139 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:22,320 Speaker 1: And he never took more than twelve minutes to ponder 140 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:24,320 Speaker 1: a move, So I think he would have preferred watching 141 00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:27,240 Speaker 1: him as a chess partner for him. Yeah, so these 142 00:07:27,240 --> 00:07:29,400 Speaker 1: strategies may not seem so radical today, but at the 143 00:07:29,520 --> 00:07:33,040 Speaker 1: time they really threw Morphe's opponents off their game. So 144 00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:35,720 Speaker 1: he not only won this national championship, he then went 145 00:07:35,760 --> 00:07:39,200 Speaker 1: on to play nine seven unofficial games with his competitors 146 00:07:39,200 --> 00:07:42,440 Speaker 1: and he won eighty five of them, which is truly remarkable. 147 00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:46,640 Speaker 1: And at that point he's considered America's best, so his 148 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:49,560 Speaker 1: supporters started thinking, well, what is the next move he 149 00:07:49,600 --> 00:07:52,880 Speaker 1: can make? And morph he thought this himself started thinking, well, 150 00:07:53,600 --> 00:07:56,280 Speaker 1: if he's America's best, then it's time to take on 151 00:07:56,520 --> 00:07:59,320 Speaker 1: the best in the world, and so he sent a 152 00:07:59,400 --> 00:08:03,720 Speaker 1: challenge to England's Howard Staunton, who proved to be kind 153 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:06,760 Speaker 1: of an interesting character himself. He was at the time 154 00:08:06,760 --> 00:08:10,239 Speaker 1: there wasn't really an official world chess championship, but Staunton 155 00:08:10,400 --> 00:08:13,480 Speaker 1: was considered the best because he had beaten the French champion. 156 00:08:14,240 --> 00:08:16,800 Speaker 1: He also wrote a regular chess column for the Illustrated 157 00:08:16,840 --> 00:08:20,080 Speaker 1: London News, and he had created this chess player's handbook 158 00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:24,040 Speaker 1: that he had published. Another kind of unrelated, unchess related 159 00:08:24,200 --> 00:08:26,880 Speaker 1: side note, he was also a Shakespearean scholar and that 160 00:08:26,920 --> 00:08:29,800 Speaker 1: was kind of his excuse for not taking Morphy's challenge 161 00:08:29,840 --> 00:08:32,440 Speaker 1: to come to America and face him. He had a 162 00:08:32,440 --> 00:08:34,839 Speaker 1: gig annotating Shakespeare plays at the time, so he was 163 00:08:34,840 --> 00:08:38,040 Speaker 1: a little busy. But he did say, Hey, if you 164 00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:41,640 Speaker 1: come over here instead, then I might play you. So 165 00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:45,040 Speaker 1: Morphy hopped on a ship in June eight and went 166 00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:48,120 Speaker 1: to Europe. Yeah, but once he was there, Staunton wasn't 167 00:08:48,160 --> 00:08:50,320 Speaker 1: willing to play. This kind of reminded me if you've 168 00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:53,480 Speaker 1: ever seen that documentary King of Kong. There's a lot 169 00:08:53,480 --> 00:08:56,120 Speaker 1: of drama and the people refusing to play. But to 170 00:08:56,240 --> 00:08:59,560 Speaker 1: really make things worse, Staunton didn't just refuse to play 171 00:08:59,880 --> 00:09:02,720 Speaker 1: or sort of dodge the challenge. He have so bad 172 00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:06,240 Speaker 1: mouthed Morphy and its Chess column, saying that Morphy was 173 00:09:06,280 --> 00:09:10,520 Speaker 1: only interested in winning money. And this really really offended 174 00:09:10,679 --> 00:09:13,720 Speaker 1: Morphy because he had always said that he just played 175 00:09:13,800 --> 00:09:15,920 Speaker 1: chess for the enjoyment of the game. He didn't see 176 00:09:15,920 --> 00:09:18,720 Speaker 1: it as a profession. He had a profession. This was 177 00:09:18,760 --> 00:09:22,040 Speaker 1: not it. Yeah, So he waited around for Staunton in 178 00:09:22,080 --> 00:09:24,880 Speaker 1: England for three months and then finally moved on to Paris. 179 00:09:24,880 --> 00:09:27,680 Speaker 1: He was really disappointed, not just because of the insults, 180 00:09:27,679 --> 00:09:30,720 Speaker 1: because he really actually wanted to play Staunton, but he 181 00:09:30,840 --> 00:09:33,600 Speaker 1: left August thirty one and he stayed in Paris for 182 00:09:33,679 --> 00:09:37,480 Speaker 1: six months after that, taking on several distinguished chess players there. 183 00:09:37,720 --> 00:09:39,760 Speaker 1: And it's there that he really got to display those 184 00:09:39,800 --> 00:09:43,439 Speaker 1: awesome memory capabilities that we mentioned back in his school days. 185 00:09:44,040 --> 00:09:46,400 Speaker 1: He became the first chess player at this time to 186 00:09:46,400 --> 00:09:50,000 Speaker 1: put on blindfolded exhibitions, so late that September, he took 187 00:09:50,040 --> 00:09:53,560 Speaker 1: on eight opponents simultaneously. He would sit on a chair 188 00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:55,800 Speaker 1: with his back to the chess boards, and he called 189 00:09:55,840 --> 00:09:58,880 Speaker 1: out his moves in order, speaking in French. At the time, 190 00:09:58,920 --> 00:10:02,160 Speaker 1: he was fluent in French, and he would make instantaneous 191 00:10:02,240 --> 00:10:06,160 Speaker 1: responses when his opponent's moves were announced. So again, just 192 00:10:06,200 --> 00:10:08,960 Speaker 1: an amazing feat of memory. He had to not only 193 00:10:08,960 --> 00:10:11,360 Speaker 1: remember the moves he made, but also remember all the 194 00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:13,520 Speaker 1: moves that all eight of his opponents had made and 195 00:10:13,760 --> 00:10:16,520 Speaker 1: visualize everything on the board. He had juggle all these 196 00:10:16,559 --> 00:10:18,760 Speaker 1: games at the same time. Yeah, it took more than 197 00:10:18,840 --> 00:10:24,600 Speaker 1: ten hours, mostly interestingly enough because of his opponents taking 198 00:10:24,640 --> 00:10:27,520 Speaker 1: so long to make their decisions, not him. And he 199 00:10:27,559 --> 00:10:30,400 Speaker 1: won six of these games, and he drew two of them, 200 00:10:30,480 --> 00:10:34,600 Speaker 1: So again just an amazing example of his analytical skills, 201 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:36,680 Speaker 1: his memory skills, and it made him something of a 202 00:10:36,720 --> 00:10:40,480 Speaker 1: hero in Paris, I would imagine a celebrity. Pretty impressive display. 203 00:10:40,640 --> 00:10:44,160 Speaker 1: But the most notable matchup that occurred while he was 204 00:10:44,200 --> 00:10:47,480 Speaker 1: in Paris was was not one of these blindfolded displays. 205 00:10:47,480 --> 00:10:50,440 Speaker 1: It was a match against Carl Ernest Adolph Anderson, who 206 00:10:50,520 --> 00:10:54,480 Speaker 1: was considered Europe's best chess player, and Morphy had the 207 00:10:54,559 --> 00:10:57,400 Speaker 1: flu when he was supposed to play Anderson, and he 208 00:10:57,480 --> 00:11:00,280 Speaker 1: was getting the common treatment at the time, which sounds 209 00:11:00,280 --> 00:11:03,200 Speaker 1: like it would make matters a lot worse. Leeches were 210 00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:06,400 Speaker 1: sucking out four pints of his blood. He was laid 211 00:11:06,480 --> 00:11:09,600 Speaker 1: up in bed, but he still played Anderson in his 212 00:11:09,679 --> 00:11:14,439 Speaker 1: hotel in one seven games to two, so pretty remarkable. 213 00:11:14,840 --> 00:11:18,000 Speaker 1: He I guess he didn't feel lightheaded enough to to 214 00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:20,760 Speaker 1: have any confusion. Yeah, apparently he was able to stay 215 00:11:20,760 --> 00:11:24,439 Speaker 1: clearheaded enough to win this match and convince people, as 216 00:11:24,480 --> 00:11:26,360 Speaker 1: you might imagine, that he was the best player in 217 00:11:26,360 --> 00:11:29,439 Speaker 1: the world by the time he left for America again 218 00:11:29,480 --> 00:11:32,119 Speaker 1: in April eighteen fifty nine. That's what he was considered, 219 00:11:32,559 --> 00:11:36,480 Speaker 1: even by non chess players like people like Oliver Wendell Holmes, 220 00:11:36,679 --> 00:11:40,400 Speaker 1: Henry Wats, with longfellow Samuel F. B. Morse, who invented 221 00:11:40,400 --> 00:11:43,880 Speaker 1: the telegraph. Even President Van Buren's son John, All these 222 00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:47,280 Speaker 1: people celebrated him and honored him as the chess champion 223 00:11:47,320 --> 00:11:50,160 Speaker 1: of the world. Yeah, so the New York Ledger asked him, well, 224 00:11:50,200 --> 00:11:52,760 Speaker 1: why don't you write your own chess column. But his 225 00:11:52,840 --> 00:11:56,920 Speaker 1: stand there only lasted about six months, and by December 226 00:11:57,080 --> 00:11:59,640 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty nine, he was back to New Orleans. And 227 00:11:59,679 --> 00:12:04,920 Speaker 1: then the real shocker came early eighteen sixty he announced 228 00:12:04,920 --> 00:12:08,960 Speaker 1: that he would never play chess competitively for money again. 229 00:12:09,400 --> 00:12:12,200 Speaker 1: And at the same time, though, he issued this challenge 230 00:12:12,280 --> 00:12:15,160 Speaker 1: that he would meet any player in the world at 231 00:12:15,280 --> 00:12:18,920 Speaker 1: any time and give the other player the odds of 232 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:21,920 Speaker 1: pawn and move, which means that he would remove one 233 00:12:21,960 --> 00:12:24,640 Speaker 1: of his pawns from play at the start of the game, 234 00:12:24,720 --> 00:12:27,000 Speaker 1: and then he'd also give his opponent the white pieces, 235 00:12:27,040 --> 00:12:31,599 Speaker 1: which always get the first move. So this remarkable retirement 236 00:12:31,640 --> 00:12:34,960 Speaker 1: and challenge issued at the exact same time. Yeah. No 237 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:37,079 Speaker 1: one ever took him up on that challenge, though, so 238 00:12:37,200 --> 00:12:41,760 Speaker 1: he really never played chess officially competitively again. He only 239 00:12:41,760 --> 00:12:45,720 Speaker 1: played casual games with friends and acquaintances after that, he 240 00:12:45,800 --> 00:12:48,320 Speaker 1: tried to establish a law practice, since that was his 241 00:12:48,440 --> 00:12:51,360 Speaker 1: chosen career, but he never really had any success with it, 242 00:12:51,400 --> 00:12:55,640 Speaker 1: possibly because of the Civil War starting or his lack 243 00:12:55,679 --> 00:12:58,040 Speaker 1: of participation in the Civil War was another thing. He 244 00:12:58,240 --> 00:13:00,760 Speaker 1: decided not to fight in the Civil War and a 245 00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:03,440 Speaker 1: lot of people in his native New Orleans didn't like 246 00:13:03,559 --> 00:13:05,880 Speaker 1: that very much. Um, so they didn't really want to 247 00:13:05,880 --> 00:13:08,079 Speaker 1: become his clients. Well, and then there was just the 248 00:13:08,160 --> 00:13:12,720 Speaker 1: issue of his being a famous chess player, which maybe 249 00:13:12,960 --> 00:13:15,240 Speaker 1: that wasn't what people were looking for in their lawyer 250 00:13:15,320 --> 00:13:17,440 Speaker 1: at the time. Yeah, and I think you also get 251 00:13:17,600 --> 00:13:19,880 Speaker 1: maybe people are just walking through your door because you 252 00:13:19,920 --> 00:13:24,000 Speaker 1: are this with you. So he spent the war years 253 00:13:24,000 --> 00:13:26,480 Speaker 1: in Havannah and in Paris with his mother and his sister, 254 00:13:26,640 --> 00:13:28,920 Speaker 1: but eventually returned and lived the rest of his life 255 00:13:28,920 --> 00:13:31,520 Speaker 1: in New Orleans and his family home on Royal Street, 256 00:13:31,600 --> 00:13:33,600 Speaker 1: which if you have ever been to New Orleans or 257 00:13:33,600 --> 00:13:36,240 Speaker 1: know anything about it, it's the building where Brennan's restaurant 258 00:13:36,280 --> 00:13:38,960 Speaker 1: is now located. And he eventually died there of a 259 00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:44,199 Speaker 1: stroke while taking a bath July four So that leaves 260 00:13:44,240 --> 00:13:46,600 Speaker 1: this with a question, though, why did he give up 261 00:13:46,679 --> 00:13:49,720 Speaker 1: chess so so suddenly what happened? I mean, it surely 262 00:13:49,840 --> 00:13:52,440 Speaker 1: wasn't just so he could devote himself fully to his 263 00:13:52,679 --> 00:13:55,760 Speaker 1: legal career. There are a few furies out there about 264 00:13:55,960 --> 00:13:58,920 Speaker 1: why he left the game. Yeah. One is that Morphy 265 00:13:59,120 --> 00:14:02,679 Speaker 1: was deeply hurt by Staunton's insults and refusal to play him, 266 00:14:02,679 --> 00:14:04,560 Speaker 1: and that affected him so much that he wanted to 267 00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:08,360 Speaker 1: give up the game. Another theory suggests that it involves 268 00:14:08,400 --> 00:14:12,240 Speaker 1: his failed law practice somehow. And still other people think 269 00:14:12,320 --> 00:14:14,520 Speaker 1: that he gave up chess in pursuit of a woman 270 00:14:14,800 --> 00:14:17,760 Speaker 1: who wasn't interested in being with quote a mere chess player. 271 00:14:18,920 --> 00:14:22,960 Speaker 1: But today a lot of experts think that maybe mental illness, 272 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:28,640 Speaker 1: specifically paranoia, had some part in this abrupt quitting of chess. 273 00:14:28,760 --> 00:14:32,520 Speaker 1: And there's no concrete evidence, just recollections of his behavior, 274 00:14:32,560 --> 00:14:35,600 Speaker 1: but his behavior does start to seem kind of strange. 275 00:14:35,640 --> 00:14:38,000 Speaker 1: His attitude started changing by the time he got back 276 00:14:38,040 --> 00:14:41,640 Speaker 1: from Europe, and he was just increasingly moody. And then 277 00:14:41,760 --> 00:14:43,600 Speaker 1: later in life he thought that people were out to 278 00:14:43,640 --> 00:14:46,800 Speaker 1: get him. He would take these long walks along Canal 279 00:14:46,880 --> 00:14:50,160 Speaker 1: Street and sometimes forget who he was entirely and asked 280 00:14:50,240 --> 00:14:53,040 Speaker 1: people to lend him money. Up to two hundred dollars 281 00:14:53,080 --> 00:14:56,320 Speaker 1: worth of money, and his paranoia might have made him 282 00:14:56,320 --> 00:15:00,240 Speaker 1: partly shunned by society, and he himself stayed secluded from 283 00:15:00,280 --> 00:15:03,120 Speaker 1: his friends, so he seemed like a different man. Yeah, 284 00:15:03,120 --> 00:15:05,720 Speaker 1: But the main thing that his paranoia seemed to hone 285 00:15:05,760 --> 00:15:09,280 Speaker 1: in on, seemed to focus on, was chess. By the 286 00:15:09,320 --> 00:15:13,000 Speaker 1: early seventies, he started to develop these ideas that he 287 00:15:13,040 --> 00:15:15,360 Speaker 1: didn't want to be associated with the game. He basically 288 00:15:15,400 --> 00:15:18,320 Speaker 1: refused to be whenever anyone wanted to sort of name 289 00:15:18,400 --> 00:15:23,000 Speaker 1: him an association or interview him for something as the 290 00:15:23,040 --> 00:15:26,080 Speaker 1: world's best chess player. He kind of wanted to shrug 291 00:15:26,160 --> 00:15:28,200 Speaker 1: that identity off. He didn't want to be a part 292 00:15:28,200 --> 00:15:32,320 Speaker 1: of it. Ironically, though, it's exactly for that reason that 293 00:15:32,360 --> 00:15:35,640 Speaker 1: he's remembered. It's for the game of chess. People still 294 00:15:35,680 --> 00:15:39,280 Speaker 1: study his games. Late chess master Fred Hinfield put it 295 00:15:39,360 --> 00:15:43,720 Speaker 1: like this, Morphy was the memorable genius who wrenched chess 296 00:15:43,760 --> 00:15:46,000 Speaker 1: out of the rut in which it had sluggishly dawdled 297 00:15:46,040 --> 00:15:49,520 Speaker 1: for a thousand years. So it's why he still admired. Yeah, 298 00:15:49,520 --> 00:15:52,000 Speaker 1: I think you mentioned me earlier that people still leave 299 00:15:52,240 --> 00:15:55,520 Speaker 1: chess pieces on his grave. Yeah, people visit his grave 300 00:15:55,560 --> 00:15:57,920 Speaker 1: and they leave chess pieces there. And you know, I've read, 301 00:15:58,640 --> 00:16:01,440 Speaker 1: you know, different pieces of research and blogs about this, 302 00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:03,480 Speaker 1: and some people wonder what would he think of that? 303 00:16:03,640 --> 00:16:06,280 Speaker 1: Since he wanted to not be identified as a chess player, 304 00:16:06,320 --> 00:16:08,160 Speaker 1: what would he think of would rather have the legal 305 00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:11,000 Speaker 1: code on his grave? And there are some obvious parallels 306 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:13,480 Speaker 1: here to Bobby Fisher, who we talked about an introduction 307 00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:17,160 Speaker 1: to this podcast. He's also thought to have been paranoid um. 308 00:16:17,200 --> 00:16:19,640 Speaker 1: And actually there was a story in Time magazine from 309 00:16:19,640 --> 00:16:22,680 Speaker 1: two thousand five by Charles kraut Hammer, and he was 310 00:16:22,760 --> 00:16:26,240 Speaker 1: kind of exploring that connection between madness and genius and chess. 311 00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:29,800 Speaker 1: Does it make you crazy? Well? And that question out 312 00:16:29,840 --> 00:16:33,040 Speaker 1: there we can one up that question. We really can't. Well, 313 00:16:33,160 --> 00:16:34,920 Speaker 1: we can say we don't know the answer that question. 314 00:16:34,960 --> 00:16:37,520 Speaker 1: I don't know if anyone truly does. I mean, it 315 00:16:37,560 --> 00:16:41,000 Speaker 1: does seem kind of coincidental that there that connection comes 316 00:16:41,080 --> 00:16:43,240 Speaker 1: up a lot. But what we do know is that 317 00:16:43,680 --> 00:16:47,720 Speaker 1: chess will not make your head explode, Thank goodness, Thank goodness. Yeah. 318 00:16:47,760 --> 00:16:49,760 Speaker 1: And if you're wondering why were you bringing this crazy 319 00:16:49,800 --> 00:16:53,040 Speaker 1: thing up? I when I was researching this week, Julie 320 00:16:53,080 --> 00:16:56,720 Speaker 1: Douglas from Stuff to blow your mind. Mentioned she was like, oh, well, 321 00:16:56,720 --> 00:16:59,080 Speaker 1: did you know that there was this urban legend a 322 00:16:59,120 --> 00:17:01,920 Speaker 1: few years ago that chess players had exploded? And sure enough, 323 00:17:02,480 --> 00:17:05,479 Speaker 1: there was a story in the Weekly World News that 324 00:17:05,520 --> 00:17:08,080 Speaker 1: a chess players had exploded during a match because of 325 00:17:08,119 --> 00:17:14,399 Speaker 1: a rare electrical imbalance. Luckily, though, snowstot Com dispelled the 326 00:17:14,440 --> 00:17:17,760 Speaker 1: smith and they said that, no, that does not happen. 327 00:17:18,440 --> 00:17:20,320 Speaker 1: Although you know, I think that if I had to 328 00:17:20,359 --> 00:17:23,560 Speaker 1: wait two hours for my opponent, my head might implode 329 00:17:23,720 --> 00:17:27,240 Speaker 1: while I was sitting there. It's got a boredom. Yeah, 330 00:17:27,240 --> 00:17:29,080 Speaker 1: you might want to bring a book or something with you, 331 00:17:29,119 --> 00:17:31,600 Speaker 1: but don't think too hard. Because Snopes had this little 332 00:17:31,920 --> 00:17:35,359 Speaker 1: excerpt from kind of an Internet rendition of the myth, 333 00:17:35,560 --> 00:17:37,240 Speaker 1: and one of the quotes from it that was my 334 00:17:37,280 --> 00:17:40,639 Speaker 1: favorite was doctors urged people to take it easy and 335 00:17:40,680 --> 00:17:44,520 Speaker 1: not think too much for long periods of time. So 336 00:17:44,600 --> 00:17:46,880 Speaker 1: don't listen to too many podcasts in a row. Don't 337 00:17:46,920 --> 00:17:50,359 Speaker 1: do it. So, in order to not make you guys 338 00:17:50,400 --> 00:17:53,040 Speaker 1: think anymore, we're going to end our discussion of Chester 339 00:17:53,040 --> 00:17:56,439 Speaker 1: Were for your own safety, but we will encourage you 340 00:17:56,440 --> 00:17:58,479 Speaker 1: guys to write to us um. You can reach us 341 00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:01,480 Speaker 1: at History podcast at how stuff Works dot com or 342 00:18:01,560 --> 00:18:03,639 Speaker 1: you can look us up on Twitter at Myston History 343 00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:05,600 Speaker 1: or on Facebook. Yeah, and if you want to learn 344 00:18:05,640 --> 00:18:08,080 Speaker 1: a little bit more about chaff, we do have that 345 00:18:08,240 --> 00:18:10,520 Speaker 1: article that we mentioned, how chefs Work, if you can 346 00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:13,720 Speaker 1: find it on our homepage by searching for chess at 347 00:18:13,800 --> 00:18:20,639 Speaker 1: www dot how stuff works dot com. Be sure to 348 00:18:20,720 --> 00:18:23,520 Speaker 1: check out our new video podcast, Stuff from the Future. 349 00:18:23,840 --> 00:18:26,160 Speaker 1: Join how Stuff Work staff as we explore the most 350 00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:30,720 Speaker 1: promising and perplexing possibilities of tomorrow. The How Stuff Works 351 00:18:30,720 --> 00:18:33,960 Speaker 1: iPhone app has a rise. Download it today on iTunes.