Ernest Morphy
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Ernest Morphy was Paul Morphy's uncle.
Ernest Morphy was also probably young Paul's greatest admirer.
Besides sending Paul's games (and his only chess problem) to various publications, in Europe as well as in America, Ernest also tried to arrange matches with the best chess players in America, though to no avail.
Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper in its August 30, 1856 issue wrote:
CHESS CHALLENGE EXTRAORDINARY. --- Mr. Ernest Morphy of Moscow, Claremont County, Ohio, [Ernest lived in Ohio for a period of time] a very strong player and one of the most masterly analysts in this or any country, has written a private letter to a friend in this city, saying that he is desirous to get up a match, between the 1st and 31st of January next in New Orleans between his nephew, Paul Morphy, (as he writes, incontestably the superior of himself or Rousseau and who holds the sceptre of chess in New Orleans) and Mr. Stanley or Marache (and we presume any other players in the country) for $300 a side -- $100 to go to the loser (if Paul wins) to pay the expenses of the journey to New Orleans. Mr. James McConnell, attorney at law, New Orleans or Paul Morphy himself, may be written in regard to it. The proposition emanates from Mr. Ernest Morphy, who subscribes the $50 towards the purse.
Below are some excerpts from several publications in 1874, the year Ernest Morphy died, while further down is an excerpt from a 1873 edition of the Dubuqe Chess Journal which featured Ernest Morphy and discusses his book, Logic of Openings, which he apparently never finished before his death the following year. That article ended with 6 games of Ernest Morphy, 5 of which I had never seen referenced before and are probably not to be seen elsewhere. The one game, the first one listed, is a commonly seen game between Dr. A. P. Ford and Ernest Morphy. The reason for this is that Philip Sergeant, in his book Morphy's Games of Chess, erroneously gave it as a Paul Morphy blindfold game.
But first here are several games between Paul and Ernest Morphy -
Ernest Morphy
Westminster Papers: A Monthly Journal of Chess, Whist, Games of Skill. 1874.
His father, Don Diego Morphy, was the Spanish Consul at that port, his mother was a French lady. In 1809 his father was transferred to New Orleans, where he permanently remained, and the subject of this sketch was raised and resided there until 1854, when he removed to Cincinnati, O., and two years after to Quincy Ill. His earlier family was Irish, the name of an ancestor, Murphy—a captain in the Spanish Royal Guard—having been changed to Morphy by Castilian tongues, and this spelling was retained. For over forty years Morphy's name has stood among the first in the Chess world. The compeer of Stanley, Rosseau [Rousseau], Schulten, Dudley, Kennicot, Sullivan, Turner, and all the leading players of the last generation. Second to Rosseau in his great match with Stanley, in 1843, for the American championship, he very nearly became the representative of Southern Chess, instead of Mr. Rosseau. [Eugène Marsille Rousseau] The latter, it is well known, was enfeebled by sickness, below his proper force, which was so evident in the practice games played by him with Morphy that friends urged the substitution (their best play being so equal), but Mr. R.'s pride would not consent. The same result might have followed, but not so decisively. No player has left a better record of good games—of, at all times strong, accurate, even high play. Rarely what is called brilliant, he could dare, if he chose, and when he did, he most admirably, in play, adhered to a favourite maxim, " Never dodge your own errors." If you find a line of play defective, generally, far better to stick to it than attempt correction. It is like changing front in the heat of battle. Later in life his interest in Chess, which never abated, led him to the analysis of the game, in which department we doubt if the country possessed his superior.
The City of London chess magazine, 1874. ed. W. N. Potter Mr. Ernest Morphy, uncle of Paul Morphy, died suddenly, from an apoplectic stroke at Quincy, Illinois, U.S.A. on the 7th of March .... in his 67th year. Praise of the deceased gentleman comes in from all quarters. That he was a player of the first rank is well known in the Chess world, and he showed himself almost, if not quite equal to Rosseau [sic] as the representative of the players of the Southern states of America, but the transcendant abilities of his celebrated nephew threw all transatlantic Chess reputations into the sahde, and the deceased having nutured his relative's budding genius had, like others, to retire into the second place. It is something to be a fine Chess player, it is much more to be a well conducted member of society, leading a stainless life, and taking part in every good work. Such an [sic] one was Ernest Morphy, if we may give him credit to certain resolutions of respect passed upon the occasion of his death by his co-religionists (he was Roman Catholic) at Quincy. These resolutions will be found in extenso in the Dubuque Journal for April.
Dubuque Chess Journal April, 1874. Died at Quincy, Illinois, on the 7th of March, of apoplexy, ERNEST MORPHY. The following from a local newspaper expresses the universal grief of all who knew him: Feb., should ere eight days, have passed from earth forever away :
IN MEMORIAM Resolutions of Respect at the Death of Ernest Morphy.
A special meeting of the members of St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church, and various societies connected with the same was held on Sunday last, to take action in regard to the death of their lamented fellow member, Ernest Morphy. After appropriate remarks by the Pastor Father McGirr and others, the following resolutions were adopted:
Dubuque Chess Journal 1873.
He regards the above as being in fact the English Notation with the only salient difference of the sign C, instead of Kt, for the piece Knight; the old appellation -KNIGHT- being retained . . . the sign C is appropriate since Cavalier is an English word synonymous with Knight, that it avoids the repetition of two K's to designate the King and the Knight; moreover that the sign C corresponds also to the Italian CAVALLO, to the Spanish CAVALLERO, to the French CAVALIER, to the Portuguese CAVALLEIRO, etc.
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