Classical Chess Games: A Morphy Massacre

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IM David Pruess brings us a Morphy classic in which Morphy, true to his style, sacrifices some pawns in order to achieve quick development, an initiative, and ultimately a crushing attack.

74 Comments

  1. Hi: I have a question: At 8:35, was not c3 a better defense than Kf1? How would black continue if white played c3, avoiding Nd4? Thanks!

  2. c3? hangs the pawn on d3. Notice the Bishop is pinned by the black rook.

  3. Thank you for a valuable lesson. You are a talented teacher. Keep up the good work. Best regards.

  4. If 11. h3 Qxd5 seems pretty good. So c4 is not that bad as you said, especially if c6, then h3 is then much better.

  5. Are the diamond member videos all on this channel???

  6. wow they werent even good enough to resign back then, the mate was clearly coming 

  7. I heard Morphy took a long time before losing his knight on f3, making sure the position was winnable no matter what white did. Morphy's sac's of pawns, rook, knight really confused this guy, I bet. I would have seen it all. not!

  8. but todays players would definitly attack his bishop on g4!!  for sure !

  9. Nice ending: if you've already forgot Im not going to tell you just go back to the beginning (and give me another view)

  10. Good video. Ok Chess.com & everyone, what's your list of top 10 players of all time in order, of course?

  11. To say morphy was a pretty good calculator is the understatement of the century. He was truly one of the best and most accurate players in the entire history of chess this was also repeated by Bobby Fischer .

  12. 10:15 Morphy was a calculator?? All this time I thought he was a person! Darn Machines!!! LOL

  13. At 6:00 you said "and white plays a really bad move c4". Funny thing is that was the EXACT move recommended by fritz and it was evaluating at + 1 for white there. At 8:00 best move is… Rb1 for white. White was ahead the whole time and the real 'bad move' that he makes is Kf1 at 9:03. The correct move was Bc3 at 9:03.

  14. that was one of the most amazing games I have ever seen. That or you explained it extremely well. Thank you. That was beautiful.

  15. Paul Morphy is a time traveler. How does one get that good with no resources. By far the most naturally gifted player ever.

  16. dude all our top 20 players now wouldnt have let morphy get that position in the the first 15 movesish!

  17. Morphy was way ahead of his time. Opponents were weak c

  18. Paul Morphy is the Sherlock Holmes of chess

  19. instead of …, Kh4 Nh6!! Morphy can also deliver …, Kh4 Ne3!! _ but this King values the life of his Knight

  20. great video but kinda wish you did the best part the checkmate a bit slower. even if no commentary just slow the ending down.

  21. I couldn't figure it out for a while but I think this is vs John Schulten in 1857

  22. Morphy in my opinion is stronger then even the best players to date…there are very few people that I can think of that couldve done well against morphy such as Tal or Booby Fischer…possibly spasky but idk I don't think he was as talented as many other great chess players. (meaning I think he was strong but a tad over rated)
    -but anyways white did not play very well in the first place…from move 3 he pretty much lost the game.
    8:02 white honestly has to play h3….white is just not playing so well this game to be honest ( edit – I was right white rlly needs to play h3 )

  23. c4 is not a bad move (Stockfish6) pawn takes C6 is the losing move

  24. "You can learn 4 Important things from this game. If you don't remember what they are, I'm NOT repeating it!"
    If we can learn 1 important thing from this video, it is to NEVER condescend or talk down to your audience! Good content creators love and appreciate, the audience that loves and appreciates them.

  25. why white never move h3 ????????????

  26. bobby joe young #2 because stephenG blocked me says:

    just let me watch the damn video without your obnoxious commentary sound stupid as hell oh he should have done this or that just stfu and let me watch

  27. "Morphy was already a pretty good calculator." Actually, Morphy was an AMAZING calculator, especially when he smelled blood. Good instructional video.

  28. "What I want you to look for in this game is I want you to look for" – goodbye.

  29. why do the chess pieces look so weird and ugly?

  30. why do the chess pieces look so weird and ugly?

  31. white is a bum i never would have done this opening off a kings gambit in this scenario Morphy played a bum

  32. Yes it's an amazing game. I think it would have been better if K didn't move

  33. I need to add skewer checkmates to my arsenal. Never seem to get these in my games.

  34. Paul morphy is by far the greatest chessplayer of all time

  35. That took sacrifice was genius…i would've never seen that

  36. I L-o-v-e! Chess I am a chess nerd I love your videos can you make more? Try Academic chess class for kids it is great!

  37. Great game but the commentary was a bit too opinionated for me.

  38. I laugh when people tell me "it's not that Morphy was so good but that his opponents were so bad." I think Morphy would have done just fine in modern times. He had no computers or chess schools and still gave move and piece odds and destroyed people.

  39. Paul Morphy and Bobby Fisher are the two greatest chess players ever. Your points are worth repeating.

  40. Morphy was the BEST !!!! 😁🖒🇺🇸💪

  41. Everbody know this game e3!! and dxc6?? ( don't open files when your king in center )
    10:20 0-1 white don't play move

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