MORPHY AND ANDERSSEN.
The first week in December, Monsieur de Riviere received a communication
from Herr Anderssen, announcing his approaching arrival in Paris. A week
prior to this Morphy had been laid up in bed with a severe illness. The
rigors of a first winter in northern climates had told upon him, and I
feared much for the result. He was leeched, and lost a great quantity of
blood--I told him three or four pints; to which he replied, "Then there's
only a quart left." He was kept very low during a fortnight, and having to
lift him out of bed only four days before the match with the great
Prussian master, I found him too weak to stand upon his legs, although in
bed he did not feel so helpless. For two months he had had an antipathy to
chess, and I had experienced the greatest difficulty in inducing him to go
to the Regence at all. When I would ask him at breakfast what he was going
to do with himself during the day, his immediate reply would be, "I am not
going to the Regence," and he declined invitations if he thought he should
be obliged to play chess.
When I brought him the news that Anderssen had left Breslau, Herr Mayet
having written me to that effect, Morphy said to me, "I have a positive
chess fever coming over me. Give me the board and pieces, and I'll show
you some of Anderssen's games." And with his astounding memory, he gave me
battle after battle with different adversaries, variations and all. How he
dilated on a certain game between him and Dufresne, in which, though under
the mate, he first of all sacrifices his Queen, and after seven or eight
moves forces his opponent to resign. "There," said Morphy, "that shows the
master."
What wonderment he has caused with his omnipotent memory! I have seen him
sit for hours at the Divan and the Regence, playing over, not merely his
own battles, but the contests of others, till the spectators could
scarcely believe their senses. It will be remembered by many of my
readers, that when Mr. Staunton published the eight blindfold games played
at Birmingham, he omitted some twenty or thirty of the concluding moves in
the game with the Rev. Mr. Salmon. When we had been two months in Paris,
Herr Loewenthal wrote me to request that I would forward him the remaining
moves, as there was a desire to have the _partie_ complete. It was nearly
midnight, and Morphy had gone into his bedroom after dictating me some
games played during the day, and, mindful of Herr L.'s request, I called
to him, asking whether he was coming back, when he replied that he was
already in bed. I said I should be obliged if he would let me bring him a
board and light, in order that he might dictate me the required moves,
when he answered "There's no necessity for that: read me over what
Staunton published, and I'll give you the remainder." He called over the
omitted moves as fast as I could write them down.
Going into Morphy's bedroom one morning at ten o'clock, whom should I find
sitting there but Herr Anderssen? He had arrived by a late train the night
previous, and his first visit was to his young challenger, whom he was
indeed sorry to find ill in bed, especially as his absence from Breslau
was limited to two weeks. Morphy assured him that he should be well enough
to play the following week; but Anderssen replied that he should not like
to commence a match until Morphy was in a fit state to undergo the
fatigue. They then agreed that the match should consist of thirteen games;
in other words, he should be victor who first scored seven; and, as
neither of them desired any stake but honor, the preliminaries were
quickly arranged. From that we got to talking on various subjects, and
Anderssen informed us, greatly to our surprise, that the German papers had
published a statement to this effect: "Mr. Morphy has finally decided on
remaining in Europe until spring, in consequence of the pressing
solicitations of his friend, Herr Harrwitz." How we roared!
This was Anderssen's first visit to the French metropolis, and I
immediately offered to show him some of the lions. So forth we sallied. He
was desirous of going to the Regence; but two hours would elapse before
anybody would be there, and in the mean time he could see a few public
buildings. The first place I took him to was, of course, the Louvre, and,
as it had rained copiously the night before, I walked him across the
_Place du Carrousel_, in order to soil his boots with the mud. Most of his
attention was taken up with keeping that portion of his attire clean; but,
when that had become no longer possible, his leisure was entirely devoted
to sight-seeing. Of course, we could not altogether avoid talking about
the main object of his visit; he told me he had only seen a few of
Morphy's games, and asked me what was the opinion of the Regence in
reference to his style of play. I replied that it was the opposite of what
they thought in England and America, characterizing it as sound rather
than brilliant; but that there was a reason for this, inasmuch as the
French players persisted in playing close openings. He replied, "No
wonder; no man would willingly expose himself to Morphy's thundering
attacks," [attaques foudroyantes.]
On returning to the Regence, we found Harrwitz, who, by-the-bye, is a
fellow-townsman of Anderssen, and they were at the same school together.
The latter knew that Harrwitz stated that he beat him the majority of
games, and he was most desirous of proving the fallacy of the assertion,
and immediately proposed an encounter. This was accepted, and out of six
games, played on five different occasions, Anderssen won three, Harrwitz
one, and two were drawn. After that, little doubt existed as to which was
the stronger player, and when, just before leaving Paris, Anderssen was
complimented on this result, he said, "Oh, there is but one Morphy in the
world."
On the day of Anderssen's arrival, Morphy told his medical adviser that he
must get him well enough to commence the match on the following Monday.
The doctor said it all depended upon his feeling sufficiently strong to
undergo the fatigue, when his patient replied, that what he feared was a
hard battle exhausting him too much to continue the struggle next day. On
the doctor's advice, he consented to play the match in the hotel, so as
not to undergo the fatigue of moving, and it was arranged that only such
as were specially invited should be present, but that the moves should be
forwarded every half-hour to the Regence.
The Saturday before the commencement of the match, Harrwitz performed his
feat of playing eight blindfold games simultaneously at the rooms of the
Cercle, only subscribers of five francs or upwards being admitted. Herr
Harrwitz had fixed upon seven o'clock in the evening as the time for
commencing; and I, like many others, had advised him to choose an earlier
hour, or he would not get through till long past midnight. He replied that
he should finish in from four to five hours; "he knew this positively
because he had been rehearsing for the occasion;" but the result proved
how much he was mistaken, as he did not get through till near sunrise. His
antagonists were mainly rook or rook and knight players, Signor Preti, the
weakest of Morphy's blindfold opponents, being incomparably the strongest.
Herr Anderssen, who was present, assured me that many of the players left
pieces _en prise_, as though designedly, and that, beyond the fact of
seeing the boards in his mind's eye, Harrwitz proved nothing by his
exertions. The strangest affair in connection with this display is, that
although Harrwitz edited a chess column in the _Monde Illustre_ he never
gave a single one of his blindfold games, nor would he permit any to be
made public.
Mr. Harrwitz was perfectly in his right mind when endeavoring to emulate
Paul Morphy. But the folks at the Regence ridiculed what they called aping
his superior, and many were the squibs got off at his expense. One, the
most popular of all, was as follows:--
"Tu veux singer Morphy, joueur phenomenal;
Jeune imprudent, tu forces ta nature.
En vain tu te poses en original,
Tu n'en es que la caricature."
In plain English prose--"You wish to ape Morphy, the phenomenon; imprudent
young man, you strain yourself. It is useless to put yourself forward as
an original; you are merely a caricature."--Not complimentary, certainly.
On Monday morning, I got Morphy out of bed for the first time since his
illness, and, at noon, assisted him into the room where the match was to
come off. No time was lost in getting to work, and, within five minutes of
his entering, as many moves had been played. Our hero had first move, and
ventured the Evans' gambit, which he lost after seven hours' fighting, and
upwards of seventy moves. I noticed that he was restless throughout the
contest, which was only to be expected after having been so long in bed,
and without nourishment.
Morphy was charmed with Anderssen's defence throughout, and has frequently
cited it as an admirably conducted strategy. It proved to him that the
Evans' is indubitably a lost game for the first player, if the defence be
carefully played; inasmuch as the former can never recover the gambit
pawn, and the position supposed to be acquired at the outset, cannot be
maintained.
He did not appear much fatigued after his exertions, and next morning he
had visibly improved in appearance. Anderssen, now having the move, played
out his king's pawn and knight, and Morphy supposed he too was going to
have a turn at the Evans'. No such thing; he played that disgusting
arrangement, the Ruy Lopez; but it only came to a drawn game, our hero
believing he himself could have won it, had he played properly at the end.
The third day, Morphy looked himself again, his complexion being clear,
and his eyes sparkling with all their Creole brilliancy. He thought he
should like to have a turn at the Ruy Lopez also, and dashed away at such
a furious rate, that Anderssen resigned in a few minutes over the hour,
some twenty-one moves having been played. Anderssen immediately asked if
he would commence another game forthwith, and Morphy consented; this
fourth contest being also a Ruy Lopez, but ending likewise in the
discomfiture of the Prussian champion. And this _partie_ was the last we
saw of R. L. during the struggle.
Morphy now scored the fifth, sixth, and seventh games, thus having won
five consecutively. The eighth was a draw; the ninth he carried off in
seventeen moves; the tenth, played immediately after, Anderssen marked in
seventy-seven. As the Professor was leaving, he said to me in his quiet,
funny way, "Mr. Morphy wins his games in Seventeen moves, and I in
Seventy. But that is only natural." The eleventh _partie_ Morphy scored,
thus winning the match; having only lost two games and drawn two.
Immediately after each day's play, Herr Anderssen would walk straight to
the Regence for the purpose of expediting reports of the same to his
friends in Leipsic and Berlin. There were always crowds to meet him, and
to assure him he could have won, and ought not to have lost; but the
Professor smiled at them incredulously. I have heard him tell them, "Dites
cela a M. Morphy," (Tell that to Mr. Morphy,) over and over again. One
individual, who from the beginning, had questioned Morphy's
superiority,--though he had been beaten by him in the proportion of 7 to
1--told the Professor in the presence of a crowd of amateurs: "You are not
playing any thing like as well as with Dufresne."--"No," replied
Anderssen, "Morphy won't let me;" and he added, "It is no use struggling
against him; he is like a piece of machinery which is sure to come to a
certain conclusion." On another occasion he said: "Mr. Morphy always
plays, not merely the best, but the very best move, and if we play the
move only approximatively correct, we are sure to lose. Nobody can hope to
gain more than a game, now and then, from him." And, in reply to a
question of Monsieur de Riviere, he said in my hearing: "It is impossible
to play chess better than Mr. Morphy; if there be any difference in
strength between him and Labourdonnais, it is in his favor."
I have never seen a nobler-hearted gentleman than Herr Anderssen. He would
sit at the board, examining the frightful positions into which Morphy had
forced him, until his whole face was radiant with admiration of his
antagonist's strategy, and, positively laughing outright, he would
commence resetting the pieces for another game, without a remark. I never
heard him make a single observation to Morphy complimentary of his skill;
but, to others, he was loud in admiration of the young American.
After the match was over, the two antagonists played six off-hand games,
all gambits, Anderssen winning one, and Morphy five. These also came off
at the Hotel Breteuil, and were rattled away inside of three hours.
The gallery of spectators who witnessed this great contest between the
champions of the Old World and the New, was select, if not numerous. There
were present, almost constantly, Saint Amant, De Riviere, Journoud,
Carlini, Preti, Grosboulogne, Lequesne, and one or two others, and amongst
the occasional visitors were Counts Casabianca and Bastorot, M. Devinck,
the Paris correspondent of the N. Y. Times, and any of our hero's
countrymen who desired to be present. One night, after the day's battle
was over, Morphy and I were sitting in our room, chatting together, when
an immense stranger appeared and announced himself as follows: "I am
Prince Galitzin; I wish to see Mr. Morphy." Morphy looked up from a
fauteuil in which he was buried, and replied, "I am he." The Prince
answered, "It is not possible! you're too young;" and then he seated
himself by Morphy's side and told him, "I first heard of your wonderful
deeds on the frontiers of Siberia. One of my suite had a copy of the chess
paper published in Berlin, the _Schachzeitung_, and ever since that time I
have been wanting to see you." And he told our hero that he must pay a
visit to St. Petersburg; for the chess club in the Imperial Palace would
receive him with enthusiasm. I did not hear Morphy promise to go, however.
But to return to Anderssen. The Professor came and went away in a hurry,
his vacations only lasting two weeks. As he wished us good-bye, he said
slyly to Morphy, "They won't be pleased with me at Berlin, but I shall
tell them, 'Mr. Morphy will come here.'"
After the conclusion of the match, I pointed out to Herr Anderssen certain
remarks on his play in the _Illustrated London News_, in which the writer
observed, "This is not the play of the victor of the Tournament of '51."
He replied--"Oh, we know Mr. Staunton; in 1851 his opinions of my play
were not very high, and he lost not by my skill, but because he was ill.
Mr. Staunton always has two meanings, one which he writes, and one which
he keeps to himself."
[Illustration: MR. LEWIS. MR. GEORGE WALKER. MR. MONGREDIEU.]