I'm not a student of chess history, so the outcome of these games were unknown to me. Agad built drama with his inclusion of the players' personality and historical context, not just game analysis. What a joy to watch this match unfold. Thank you, Agad, for the amazing content.
“Paul Morphy was the greatest chess player that ever lived. Every student of the game, who has delved into the stories of the past, realizes that no one ever was so far superior to the players of his time, or ever defeated his opponents with such ease, and no one ever offered knight odds to the men who considered themselves his equal.“ - Emmanuel Lasker
@@DeeEast But it doesn't make logical sense to think of it in that manner. People in the 1850s weren't inherently, or generationally, bad at chess. Like Morphy, they didn't have the benefit of spending more than a century learning from the good (and poor) play of themselves and those who came after them. However, unlike Morphy, none were as dominant or "superior". I dare say we haven't seen Morphy's equal in that regard. There's something to be said for Fischer's reign during the late 60's/early 70s, and for Kasparov's longevity, but neither were as head-and-shoulders above their peers like Morphy at his height.
Morphy accomplished all of this by developing his chess strength during his childhood, as a mere Sunday past time for just a few years, playing against very weak opposition in Louisiana, he practically stopped playing from 13 up to 19, so during his tour for Europe he showed the level he already had from childhood (13 years when he beat Lowenthal for the first time 2.5-0.5)
Yes. Unlike Queen's Gambit where they have to create a fictional female character that can beat all the boys, this would be about a real person who can beat all the EVERYONE. That would be the good stuff.
What i love the most about agadmators videos is that even he just shows positions over the board, its like I'm watching a movie about paul morphy, with all the side commentary. Love the series.
@@drewbauer2860 well... i literally searched for "agadmator first chess game" and there it is as i said its the first recorded chess game, not the first chess game of course lol
What a fine match and convincingly won by Morphy. While you can call it the greatest match of the 19th century, one could argue Steinitz vs Zukertort (1886) is right up there - it's a cracking match! Agad should cover it one of these days. The last hurrah for the century was of course Steinitz vs Lasker (1894). We shall never know how Morphy would deal with Steinitz. I consider this the greatest match that never was. It's amazing to think that Lasker played against Henry Bird (who played vs Morphy). Lasker also played Botvinnik (who played vs Fischer).
Steinitz struggled against Anderrson apparently (they were very close in skill) and beat him by only two games after drawing a match with him so he probably would only do slightly better than Anderrson did.
I follow the channel for years, the Morphy Saga has been great! I love the time when chess looked like something humans can just play without studying hours a day... Really cool to watch daily, specially in quarantine...
Thanks agadmator for such an enthralling series. I am in no doubt that Morphy is the GOAT, to see Chess of such quality in the 19th century is amazing.
The fact that these players reached such skill without the use of engines or being able to analyze several centuries of previous games shows how phenomenal they were. Many modern players only reached their skill using engines which has left chess in a dire state
I don't know why you stopped doing recaps of current tours but I only come here for that. You're great at it so hope you'll start doing them again soon.
I think in the video with the opera house game he said that there are so many tournaments going on all year long that the sagas take ages to finish if they are interrupted all the time (Also it would kinda suck for the people waiting two weeks for the next game of this match for example). This is why agad decided to bring the morphy saga to an end in one piece and then start again with present tournaments ^^
At 9:25 I think Anderssen's Bb5 move is really strong. It prevents Morphy from playing Ne2, which would simultaneously plan to next play Nf4 while defending against Rc1+. Nf4 would be really unpleasant for black because of the weak pawn on e6, and the coverage of g6 preventing Qg6 which could be one of the only options to defend the h7 pawn.
@@builder68hotmail I don't know what your definition of noobs is, but I have played King's Gambit against 1900-2000 (Lichess) in Blitz and won. It's just a matter of confusing your opponent.
@@AcapellaUnfiltered Good luck to you:) It's a fun opening until it isn't. I have no doubt you could beat me. I'm a 30+ year playing noob as well, i still lose to KGA and KGD. BUT for an aspiring strong player, King's Gambit is not a strong opening. And blitz is just arcade chess anyway.
@@builder68hotmail I would by no stretch of imagination call myself a 'strong' player. I am just a random girl who enjoys chess and plays it to have fun and relax from hours of studying/work. I know that KG doesn't work against 2000s in longer time format, but then again, I rarely play time controls above 3 which I believe I specified in my first comment. I don't think I'm aspiring to be strong either as I don't study chess at all which is definitely required after a certain level. I only watch Agad and a few other chess content creators and my knowledge of opening theory comes from only watching these games. As a result, some days I beat 2100s, some days 1900s beat me. As long as I'm having fun that's all that matters to me.
Dear Agadmator. Why are we ignoring the sinquefield cup and focusing on old classics. We can always revert to Morphy & Co. after we follow up on contemporary grand masters. Regards.
Too many events in the world constantly. There is never time to revert. I decided to finish this saga and then follow up on what's been happening. Regards.
After you finished the morphy saga, I would like to suggest the game between Mikhail tal and Alexander Koblents 1961 in Riga, Tal with the white pieces. Tal sacrificed queen. #Suggestion
I love this series. Would be great to have a Paul Morphy playlist on your channel. A guy who came out of no where to easily destroy everyone in the world. You couldn't write better fiction just based on his real life.
I always used to think of Murphy as a great tactical player, but he’s a great positional player as well. And a good endgame player His playing style is contemporary in many respects
I'm very happy that Anderssen had such a good relationship with Morphy and they played this epic match, he was undoubtedly an amazing player and is able to demonstrate that by challenging Morphy. That guy that ducked Morphy's challenge did it (I think) because he knew he'd lose and he didn't want to tarnish his reputation, a reputation which was why Morphy wanted to play him in the first place, I don't remember that guy's name and although I'm sure he was great, he's no Anderssen.
Adolf Anderssen was such a Chad "Morphy is the finest chess player who ever existed" Not many Super GMs today would be able to say this about another player.
Dear Antonio! Love your content. Being picky: "it would be more precise" La Bourdonnais (Louis de la Bourdonnais) instead of "Labourdonnais". Nonetheless, beautiful game ending a great saga. All the best...