With luck I will just post a copy of the Opera House game that I grabbed from lichess and a simple mate problem in two and sign the post with my name – well the name I intend to use for blogging. I will hopefully delete this after a month or so.
Paul Morphy
Karl II, Duke of Brunswick + Comte Isouard de Vauvenargues
Opera House Game: Chapter 1
1858 – Paris
Annotated by https://lichess.org/@/NEVED123
1.e4e52.Nf3d6Philidor Defense3.d4Bg4This is an inaccuracy – it gives white a developing advantage if black does not want to lose a pawn. Bobby Fischer called this move “weak”4.dxe5Bxf34…dxe55.Qxd8+Kxd86.Nxe55.Qxf3dxe56.Bc4Develops the bishop with the threat of checkmate6…Nf67.Qb3Forks the f7 and b7 pawns7…Qe7Defends the f7 pawn with the idea of forcing a queen trade after Qxb78.Nc3“Morphy is an artist, not a butcher” Qxb7 was definitely the strongest move, but Morphy was not a materialistic player – he much preferred development and attacking more than winning material8.Qxb7Qb4+9.Qxb4Bxb4+10.Bd2Bxd2+11.Nxd28…c68…h69.Qxb7Qb49.Bg5“Black is in a sort of Zugswang” – Bobby Fischer. This looks like an innocent developing move, but this move almost completely paralyzes black’s position, not allowing any useful developing moves such as Ne7, or g6 to develop the bishop – The rest of the pieces are too cramped to move anywhere useful or at all9…b59…Nbd710.Qxb7Qd89…Qb410.Bxf6gxf611.Bxf7+9…h610.Bh4g511.Bg3Bg712.O-O-OO-O9…Na610.Bxa6bxa611.Qc49…Kd810.Nxb5!Black has played reasonably so far, but has allowed Morphy to gain a large lead in development. This allows him to sacrifice a knight for two pawns, shredding the kings protection apart while still having enough pieces to continue the attack.10.Bd310…cxb511.Bxb5+Nbd712.O-O-ORd813.Rxd7Rxd714.Rd1Qe615.Bxd7+Nxd7White to move and mate in two16.Qb8+Nxb817.Rd8#1–0
This copy of the Opera House game was done using HTML mode
This is a simple mate-in-two done with the built-in editor