Customer Reviews

Genius of Paul Morphy

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Okay, okay, playing through Morphy's games will delight you and improve your chess; but many chess books rise or fall on the writer. Here, we are given Chris Ward, and to go righ to the matter: he writes warmly, with humility (something not seen too often in chess writers) and with humor. Its refreshing to hear someone who is honest, but doesn't make the reader feel like an idiot. My only criticism of the book? More text! I would love to hear more personal touches from both Morphy's life and the authors! Let's hope we get much more of this author!

This book was a big disappointment. It appears to have been hastily assembled and pushed out the door. Annotations are poor in quality and quantity and a lot of games are not annotated at all. Binding fell apart. Not much thought went into it. The Valerie Biem book is way better.

Ward writes in a pleasant fashion. Morphy is presented as a pioneer miles ahead of his peers (see Babe Ruth) and not an altogether unlikable person. Sure, some of his opening play has been refuted, and yes, the idea of playing as a gentleman and always taking the (gambit) bait, not to mention the apparent compulsion to play into lovely mating nets, seems positively old fashioned. Nonetheless, Morphy's vision and lack of fear at the chessboard come through as clear as ever. One gets the feeling that even with the handicap, Morphy just might give the modern chess world a run for its money.

Ward has assembled hundreds of games. While most are not annotated, the ones that are offer good analysis.

On the minus side? Two gripes, one stylistic, the other content.

The headers for Chapter 4 in its entirety are wrong. Chapter 4 is titled, "On Tour with Paul Morphy" but the headers incorrectly carry over from Chapter 3 ("The First American Chess Congress"). I emailed the publisher about this some years ago but never received a reply.

More importantly, I am left wanting to know more about Morphy's private life. We are told that Morphy distanced himself from chess in his later years, yet Ward provides scant information with which to fill that void. Finally, one day I would like to read a book or even an article about Paul Morphy which does *not* used the hackneyed turn, "the pride and sorrow of chess."

Published by Cadogan Books (now Everyman Chess). Edited by Graham Burgess. (That's a plus.)

This Cadogan edition of Morphy's games is very badly made. The binding falls apart and the pages come out. Ward only annotates a few of the games, and his annotations are beneath his normal level. The classic Dover collection by Sergeant is available again and is by FAR the better book. Avoid this one.