A short game with a long life
In 1858 the young American Paul Morphy was touring Europe and beating the best players he met. In Paris he was invited to the opera by the Duke Karl of Brunswick, and during the performance he played a casual game against the Duke and Count Isouard, who consulted together on the black side.
The game lasted seventeen moves. It is not famous because it was hard. It is famous because it is clear. Almost every chess coach in the world uses it to teach the same ideas: develop your pieces, open lines towards the enemy king, and strike while your opponent is still asleep.
The full game
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Bg4 4.dxe5 Bxf3 5.Qxf3 dxe5 6.Bc4 Nf6 7.Qb3 Qe7 8.Nc3 c6 9.Bg5 b5 10.Nxb5 cxb5 11.Bxb5+ Nbd7 12.O-O-O Rd8 13.Rxd7 Rxd7 14.Rd1 Qe6 15.Bxd7+ Nxd7 16.Qb8+ Nxb8 17.Rd8# 1-0
The opening: Philidor Defence
Black chose 2...d6, the Philidor Defence. It is solid but passive: the bishop on f8 is blocked by the pawn on d6. After 3.d4 Black pinned the knight with 3...Bg4, and after 4.dxe5 he decided to give up the bishop for the knight with 4...Bxf3.
That trade is the first quiet mistake. Black spends a developing move to exchange his good bishop, and White's queen comes to f3 for free. After 5...dxe5 6.Bc4 White already has a double threat in the air: the queen and bishop both look at f7.
White: bishop on c4, pawn on e4, queen on f3, pawn on a2, pawn on b2, pawn on c2, pawn on f2, pawn on g2, pawn on h2, rook on a1, knight on b1, bishop on c1, king on e1, rook on h1. Black: rook on a8, knight on b8, queen on d8, king on e8, bishop on f8, rook on h8, pawn on a7, pawn on b7, pawn on c7, pawn on f7, pawn on g7, pawn on h7, knight on f6, pawn on e5. White to move.
Moves 7 to 9: pressure from every side
7.Qb3! is a typical Morphy move. The queen now attacks two targets at once, f7 and b7. Black defends with 7...Qe7, which protects f7 but blocks his own bishop on f8 again.
Instead of grabbing the b7 pawn, Morphy kept developing: 8.Nc3 and then 9.Bg5, pinning the knight on f6 to the queen. Count the pieces after nine moves. White has his queen, both bishops and a knight in play and is ready to castle. Black has a queen and a knight out, and his king is still in the centre.
White: bishop on g5, bishop on c4, pawn on e4, queen on b3, knight on c3, pawn on a2, pawn on b2, pawn on c2, pawn on f2, pawn on g2, pawn on h2, rook on a1, king on e1, rook on h1. Black: rook on a8, knight on b8, king on e8, bishop on f8, rook on h8, pawn on a7, queen on e7, pawn on f7, pawn on g7, pawn on h7, pawn on c6, knight on f6, pawn on b5, pawn on e5. White to move.
Moves 10 to 12: opening the lines
Black's 9...b5 attacks the bishop on c4. A careful player might retreat. Morphy gave up the knight with 10.Nxb5!, and after 10...cxb5 11.Bxb5+ the black king is in check along a diagonal that was closed a move ago.
Black blocks with 11...Nbd7. Now the knight on d7 is pinned to the king by the bishop on b5. Morphy adds pressure with 12.O-O-O, castling queenside so that his rook lands directly on the d-file and attacks the pinned knight. One move both makes the king safe and brings a rook into the attack.
White: bishop on b5, bishop on g5, pawn on e4, queen on b3, pawn on a2, pawn on b2, pawn on c2, pawn on f2, pawn on g2, pawn on h2, king on c1, rook on d1, rook on h1. Black: rook on d8, king on e8, bishop on f8, rook on h8, pawn on a7, knight on d7, queen on e7, pawn on f7, pawn on g7, pawn on h7, knight on f6, pawn on e5. White to move.
Moves 13 to 15: removing the defenders
13.Rxd7! gives up a rook for a knight. After 13...Rxd7 White simply brings the other rook to the same file with 14.Rd1. The pinned rook on d7 cannot move, and White threatens to take it again.
Black offers a queen trade with 14...Qe6, hoping to unpin. Morphy does not care. 15.Bxd7+ Nxd7 removes the rook, and now Black's last defender of the back rank is the knight on d7.
White: bishop on g5, pawn on e4, queen on b3, pawn on a2, pawn on b2, pawn on c2, pawn on f2, pawn on g2, pawn on h2, king on c1, rook on d1. Black: king on e8, bishop on f8, rook on h8, pawn on a7, knight on d7, pawn on f7, pawn on g7, pawn on h7, queen on e6, pawn on e5. White to move.
The finish: 16.Qb8+!
The queen sacrifice 16.Qb8+ forces 16...Nxb8, because nothing else can stop the check. That pulls the knight away from d7 and the d8 square, and 17.Rd8# follows.
White: rook on d8, bishop on g5, pawn on e4, pawn on a2, pawn on b2, pawn on c2, pawn on f2, pawn on g2, pawn on h2, king on c1. Black: knight on b8, king on e8, bishop on f8, rook on h8, pawn on a7, pawn on f7, pawn on g7, pawn on h7, queen on e6, pawn on e5. Black to move.
The rook gives check on the back rank, and the bishop on g5 covers e7, so the king has nowhere to go. Black's own bishop on f8 and rook on h8, which never moved during the game, block the king's escape. That is the whole story of the game in one picture: undeveloped pieces are not defenders, they are obstacles.
Could Black have defended better?
Yes, at several points. Instead of 4...Bxf3, Black could have kept the bishop and accepted a slightly worse but playable position. Instead of 9...b5, which opened lines towards his own king, a quieter developing move and a plan to bring the king to safety would have made White's task much harder. The point is not that Black lost to one blunder. Black made a series of small decisions that each looked reasonable, and every one of them cost a little time. Against Morphy, that was fatal.
Lessons for beginners
- Develop before you attack, and before you grab pawns. Morphy ignored the b7 pawn on move eight and brought out another piece.
- Do not trade a developed piece for nothing. 4...Bxf3 helped White's queen into the game.
- Castle into the attack when you can. 12.O-O-O protected White's king and put a rook on the open file in one move.
- Pins are weapons. The pins on d7 and f6 froze Black's position long enough for the sacrifices to work.
- Count tempo, not just points. At the end Morphy had given up a knight, a rook and the queen, but every sacrifice gained time.
Practise the ideas
Replay the game on the analysis board, stopping after 9...b5 to look for 10.Nxb5 yourself. Run one of your own fast games through game review and count how many moves you spent before castling. The opening trainer covers sound replies to 1.e4 e5, and puzzles are full of back-rank mates like the one Morphy played. Watch it explained in the video section too.
Published 2026-11-01 · 22Softwares