Morphy The Omnipotent - With 'The Philidor'

[Event "London"]
[Site "England"]
[Date "1858"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Henry Bird"]
[Black "Paul Morphy"]
[TimeControl "0/0"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO " "]

{In olden times the object was to win with beautiful strokes, and fans often felt cheated when good defense frustrated a
brilliancy. Morphy was the father of positional play, and his style was the antithesis of romanticism. Instead of going for the
quick kill, he brought out all his pieces as rapidly as possible. But close scrutiny of his 400 recorded games reveals that many
of his combinations were flawed. Here, a pawn ahead with a routine win in sight, he embarks on a celebrated sacrifice that
needlessly allowed Bird drawing chances.}
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6
{Philidor's Defense -- even though there are no recorded games showing that Philidor ever played it!}
3.d4 f5
{Philidor's Counter Attack is rarely seen nowadays because its considered too risky. The strongest reply is 4. Bc4 fxe4
5. Nxe5!}
4.Nc3 fxe4 5.Nxe4 d5 6.Ng3
{Sharper is 6. Nxe5 dxe4 7. Qh5 g6 8. Nxg6 Nf6 9. Qe5.}
6...e4 7.Ne5 Nf6
{Black is out of danger and getting ready to castle.}
8.Bg5 Bd6 9.Nh5
{Too many knight moves. Better is 9. f3.}
9...O-O 10.Qd2 Qe8 11.g4
{A better fight is 11. Nxf6 gxf6 12. Bxf6! Rxf6 13. Qg5 Rg6 14. Nxg6 hxg6 15. Qxd5. The text simply
gives up a pawn without sufficient compensation.}
11...Nxg4 12.Nxg4 Qxh5 13.Ne5 Nc6 14.Be2 Qh3 15.Nxc6 bxc6 16.Be3 Rb8 17.O-O-O Rxf2
{A memorable conception -- but it should
yield only a draw against best defense.}
18.Bxf2 Qa3 19.c3 Qxa2 20.b4 Qa1+ 21.Kc2 Qa4+ 22.Kb2
{22. Kc1! would force Black to take a draw by perpetual check since 22...
Bxb4? loses to 23. cxb4 Rxb4 24. Qg5!}
22...Bxb4 23.cxb4 Rxb4+ 24.Qxb4 Qxb4+ 25.Kc2
{More suicidal tendencies. Black seems to have nothing better than perpetual check
against 25. Ka2.}
25...e3 26.Bxe3
{Also hopeless is 26. Be1 Bf5 27. Bd3 Qa4 28. Kc1 Qa1 29. Kc2 Bxd3 30. Rxd3 Qa2 31. Kc1 Qg2.}
26...Bf5+ 27.Rd3
{Futile is 27. Bd3 Qc4.}
27...Qc4+ 28.Kd2 Qa2+ 29.Kd1 Qb1+
{Black now prevails on 30. Kd2 Qxh1 31. Ra3 Qxh2. The art of defense was in such a backward
state that inferior tactics often succeeded in those days. White resigns.}
0-1