Morphy vs Anderssen – King’s Gambit Match 1858

 

 

In 1858 there was an historic match between Paul Morphy and Adolf Anderssen.  Paul won this match with a score of 8 wins, 3 losses, and two draws.  For “fun” the two also played a mini-match of King’s Gambit games.  All six games were played in the space of 3 hours.  Morphy won this match with 5 wins and 1 loss.  You may think that Morphy is “famous” for his playing the Falkbeer Counter Gambit in a few off-hand and blindfold games, however numerically these are really very few.  It is obvious from the majority of his King’s Gambit games that he preferred to accept the gambit.  The following six games are all accepted by both Morphy and Anderssen.

 

[Event “Paris Match”]
[Site “Paris”]
[Date “1858.??.??”]
[Round “1”]
[White “Anderssen, Adolf”]
[Black “Morphy, Paul”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “C33”]
[PlyCount “70”]
[EventDate “1858.12.20”]
[EventRounds “8”]
[EventCountry “FRA”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2006.11.23”]

1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. e5 d5 5. Bb3 Ne4 6. Nf3 Bg4 7. O-O Nc6 8. Ba4 g5 9. Bxc6+ bxc6 10. d4 c5 11. c3 Be7 12. b4 cxb4 13. cxb4 O-O 14. Qb3 Rb8 15. a3 c5 16. Nc3 Nxc3 17. Qxc3 cxb4 18. axb4 Bxb4 19. Qd3 a5 20. h4 h6 21. hxg5 hxg5 22. g3 Rb6 23. Ra2 Rg6 24. Rg2 Bh3 25. e6 Bxg2 26. exf7+ Kg7 27. Kxg2 Qc8 28. Ne5 Rh6 29. gxf4 Rfh8 30. fxg5 Rh2+ 31. Kg1 Rh1+ 32. Kf2 R8h2+ 33. Ke3 Rh3+ 34. Nf3 Rxf3+ 35. Rxf3 Qxc1+ 0-1

Final Position

 

[Event “Paris Match”]
[Site “Paris”]
[Date “1858.??.??”]
[Round “2”]
[White “Morphy, Paul”]
[Black “Anderssen, Adolf”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “C39”]
[PlyCount “45”]
[EventDate “1858.12.20”]
[EventRounds “8”]
[EventCountry “FRA”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “1999.07.01”]

1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. h4 g4 5. Ne5 Nf6 6. Nxg4 Nxe4 7. d3 Ng3 8. Bxf4 Nxh1 9. Qe2+ Qe7 10. Nf6+ Kd8 11. Bxc7+ Kxc7 12. Nd5+ Kd8 13. Nxe7 Bxe7 14. Qg4 d6 15. Qf4 Rg8 16. Qxf7 Bxh4+ 17. Kd2 Re8 18. Na3 Na6 19. Qh5 Bf6 20. Qxh1 Bxb2 21. Qh4+ Kd7 22. Rb1 Bxa3 23. Qa4+ 1-0

Final Position

 

[Event “Paris Match”]
[Site “Paris”]
[Date “1858.??.??”]
[Round “3”]
[White “Anderssen, Adolf”]
[Black “Morphy, Paul”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “C39”]
[PlyCount “48”]
[EventDate “1858.12.20”]
[EventRounds “8”]
[EventCountry “FRA”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2006.11.23”]

1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. h4 g4 5. Ne5 Nf6 6. Nxg4 d5 7. Nxf6+ Qxf6 8. Nc3 Qg6 9. Qf3 Bd6 10. Bd3 Bg4 11. Qf2 Nd7 12. exd5 f5 13. Bb5 a6 14. Bxd7+ Kxd7 15. d3 Rae8+ 16. Kf1 Rhg8 17. Rh2 f3 18. g3 Bh5 19. Bg5 h6 20. Qa7 hxg5 21. Na4 gxh4 22. Qxb7 hxg3 23. Nb6+ Ke7 24. Re1+ Kf7 0-1

Final Position

 

[Event “Paris Match”]
[Site “Paris”]
[Date “1858.??.??”]
[Round “4”]
[White “Morphy, Paul”]
[Black “Anderssen, Adolf”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “C38”]
[PlyCount “37”]
[EventDate “1858.??.??”]
[EventRounds “30”]
[EventCountry “FRA”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “1998.11.10”]

1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. Bc4 Bg7 5. O-O d6 6. c3 Nc6 7. Qb3 Qe7 8. d4 Nf6 9. Nxg5 Nxe4 10. Bxf7+ Kd8 11. Nxe4 Qxe4 12. Bxf4 Bh3 13. gxh3 Nxd4 14. Nd2 Ne2+ 15. Kf2 Qxf4+ 16. Kxe2 Qg5 17. Rae1 Bh6 18. Qd5 Re8+ 19. Kd1 1-0

Final Position

 

[Event “Paris Match”]
[Site “Paris”]
[Date “1858.??.??”]
[Round “5”]
[White “Anderssen, Adolf”]
[Black “Morphy, Paul”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “C39”]
[PlyCount “63”]
[EventDate “1858.12.20”]
[EventRounds “8”]
[EventCountry “FRA”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2006.11.23”]

1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. h4 g4 5. Ne5 Nf6 6. Nxg4 d5 7. Nxf6+ Qxf6 8. Qe2 Bd6 9. Nc3 c6 10. d4 Qxd4 11. Bd2 Rg8 12. exd5+ Kd8 13. O-O-O Bg4 14. Qe4 Qxe4 15. Nxe4 Bxd1 16. Nxd6 Bh5 17. Bxf4 cxd5 18. Nxb7+ Ke7 19. Bb5 Rxg2 20. Re1+ Kf6 21. Re8 Bg6 22. Nd6 Nc6 23. Rxa8 Rxc2+ 24. Kd1 Nd4 25. Re8 Bh5+ 26. Ke1 Nf3+ 27. Kf1 Rxb2 28. Be2 Rxa2 29. Bg5+ Nxg5 30. hxg5+ Kxg5 31. Re5+ Kf6 32. Rxh5 1-0

Final Position

 

[Event “Paris Match”]
[Site “Paris”]
[Date “1858.??.??”]
[Round “6”]
[White “Morphy, Paul”]
[Black “Anderssen, Adolf”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “C38”]
[PlyCount “37”]
[EventDate “1858.12.20”]
[EventRounds “8”]
[EventCountry “FRA”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2006.11.23”]

1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. Bc4 Bg7 5. O-O d6 6. c3 Nc6 7. Qb3 Qe7 8. d4 a6 9. Nxg5 Qxg5 10. Bxf7+ Kd8 11. Bxf4 Qe7 12. Bxg8 Bg4 13. Nd2 Kd7 14. Bd5 Nd8 15. Bxb7 Nxb7 16. Qxb7 a5 17. Bxd6 Bxd4+ 18. cxd4 Qxd6 19. Rf7+ 1-0

Final Position