CONTINUATION OF THE MATCH WITH HARRWITZ.
Morphy was at the Regence to the minute, but Harrwitz was not forthcoming.
At last we received a message from him that he objected to play any longer
in the public cafe, and requested Morphy to come up stairs into the rooms
of the Chess Club. It would be difficult to describe the excitement caused
by this announcement. Harrwitz's backers, of whom there were eight or ten,
were very angry; more especially as it was at his own particular desire
that the match was played in the cafe. The _pretext_ was, that the warm
atmosphere and noise of the crowd interfered with his game; the _real
fact_, because everybody, even the aforementioned backers, were favorable
to Morphy. What was to be done? Our hero, with his clear reasoning, soon
found the correct reply, and he sent back word that "The Chess Club being
a private association, it would be an impertinence on his part to use
their apartments without their permission." Harrwitz would not show
himself, and the entire affair was near being put a stop to, when certain
members of the _Cercle_ kindly opened the doors of their Club, and Morphy
went up stairs.
The two principals being again face to face, Harrwitz commenced with his
"same old two-and-sixpence" pawn to queen's fourth, and before he had got
past the twentieth move, Morphy had the attack, position, and every thing.
But, in process of administering the _coup de grace_, Morphy's feverish
state told upon him, and he committed an oversight which lost him a rook,
when within a move or two of winning. It was so stupid a mistake, that he
immediately burst out laughing at himself. Harrwitz picked off the
unfortunate rook with the utmost _nonchalance_, as though it were the
result of his own combinations, and actually told me afterwards, "Oh, the
game was a drawn one throughout." Morphy got a perpetual check upon him,
and it was the only "draw" in the contest.
What does the American Chess Monthly mean by calling this palpable
oversight "an imperfect combination?"
Again we had to wait some time for Mr. Harrwitz. It must not be supposed
that this gentleman used his frequent "leaves of absence" for the purpose
of recruiting that health which he represented as so bad. No, he came
daily to the _Regence_ at the usual hour, and played with anybody, but
Morphy, until past midnight. He sat down now, in front of his adversary,
for the eighth and last time, apparently in his ordinary health, and
fought as tough a battle as any in the contest. The game lasted to the
fifty-ninth move, and then Harrwitz resigned.
The score now stood, Morphy 5; Harrwitz 2; drawn 1. Next day Morphy
received a verbal message that "Mr. Harrwitz resigns the match, on account
of ill health." There was something like a row at the _Cafe de la Regence_
when this was known, for the Prussian amateur had not even deigned to
consult his backers, or even to inform them of his intention. Mr.
Lequesne, his stake-holder, was requested by him to hand over the
collected amount, two hundred and ninety francs, to our hero, and that
gentleman forthwith called on Morphy at his hotel. Of course we got the
fullest particulars from Mr. Lequesne. He informed us that Harrwitz's
backers were furious, and that they, like himself, were confident that
their principal was merely indisposed in the _morale_, not at all
physically. Morphy replied that it never was his desire to play for stakes
under any circumstances; and, taking into consideration the peculiar facts
of the case, he would certainly decline receiving the money.
Some time afterwards, Mr. Lequesne returned, and stated that not merely
were the different subscribers to the stakes desirous that Paul Morphy
should receive what had been won by him, but that Mr. Harrwitz would, for
the sake of appeasing his backers, play out the remainder of the match.
Morphy immediately returned answer, that "Mr. H. having resigned the
contest, there was an end of the matter, but that he (Morphy) was ready to
commence a second match immediately." Harrwitz had had enough of beating,
and he unhesitatingly declined this proposition.
But a difficulty arose in consequence of Morphy's refusal to receive the
stakes. Letters poured in from all quarters, complaining that bets on the
result of the contest were influenced by the decision, and Morphy finally
took the two hundred and ninety francs from Mr. Lequesne. He then caused
it to be announced publicly, that the money was deposited with the
proprietor of the _Cafe de la Regence_, that any of the subscribers to the
amount were at perfect liberty to withdraw their subscriptions, and that
the remainder should go towards defraying Herr Anderssen's expenses to
Paris. And so the money was eventually used.
Will any of my readers think it possible that Mr. Harrwitz could, after
all this, publish that "he had not lost the match, but that Mr. Morphy had
consented to its being annulled?"