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Morphy number

{{Short description|Connection distance to Paul Morphy}}

{{trivia|date=January 2021}}

File:PaulmorphyHair.jpg

The Morphy number is a measure of how closely a chess player is connected to Paul Morphy (1837–1884) by way of playing chess games.[https://web.archive.org/web/20060613225534/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/skittles258.pdf Your Morphy Number is Up], Taylor Kingston, The Chess Cafe, 2005

Image:Morphy Löwenthal 1858.jpg]]

Description

People who played a chess game with Morphy have a Morphy number of 1. Players who did not play Morphy but played someone with a Morphy number of 1 have a Morphy number of 2. People who played someone with a Morphy number of 2 have a Morphy number of 3, et cetera.

{{as of|2019|10}}, there are very few known living players with Morphy number 3. Many ordinary players have a Morphy number of 6 or more.[https://web.archive.org/web/20101205210646/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/kibitz166.pdf Playing the Morphy Number Game], Tim Harding, The Chess Cafe, 2010

The idea is similar to the Erdős number for mathematicians, the Bacon number for actors, and the Shusaku number, the equivalent for the board game of Go.

Origin

Taylor Kingston states that the idea of the Morphy number may have originated in a June 2000 note by Tim Krabbé, who has Morphy number 4. Krabbé wrote "I once played an official game with Euwe, who played Tarrasch, who played Paulsen, who played Morphy."[http://www.xs4all.nl/~timkr/chess2/diary_4.htm Tim Krabbé - see item #67]

Morphy number of famous players

These are players who are important in making links for Morphy numbers.

=Morphy number 1=

Morphy is known to have played about 100 people, but prior to 2010 all of the known links for players with Morphy number 2 went through just four players. A few years after the early lists of Morphy numbers tabulated, it was discovered that a fifth player, James Mortimer, was Morphy's friend and he played casual games with him. This gives Mortimer a Morphy number of 1, creating a need to drastically revise those previous lists to include many more players.Taylor Kingston, [https://chesscafe.com/the-skittles-room/morphy-numbers-revisited/ Morphy numbers revisited: the Mortimer effect], ChessCafe.com, 1 Oct 2014. Mortimer had a very long, if not particularly successful, career, including the Ostende-B 1907 tournament, which enabled many famous younger players to gain a Morphy number of 2, including Mieses, Tartakower, Znosko-Borovsky, and Bernstein, who played beyond WW2, enabling still younger players to gain a Morphy number of 3, and so on.

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=Morphy number 2=

Everyone in this group played someone in the group above. The Australian champion Frederick Esling achieved MN2 by beating Anderssen in an offhand game[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1610036 Frederick Karl Esling vs Adolf Anderssen, Casual game (1878), Frankfurt] and another Australian champion, Julius Leigh Jacobsen (1862–1916)[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessplayer?pid=126907 Chesgames.com page on Julius Leigh Jacobsen] achieved MN2 by beating Bird in a casual match +4-2=1, enabling many Australian players of the early 20th century to achieve MN3.[https://books.google.com/books?id=aXjpDAAAQBAJ&dq=Jacobsen+bird+london+chess&pg=PA289 Hans Renette, H.E. Bird: A Chess Biography with 1,198 Games, p. 245, McFarland, 2016.]

The following are some of the most important players who have achieved MN2.

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=Morphy number 3=

Most of the masters in this group played several members of the previous group. This group includes some of the most important players for making connections to later generations. Botvinnik and Reshevsky played older masters such as Lasker and Janowski, had long careers, and played many younger players. Najdorf was Tartakower's pupil and they played a number of published games together, and Najdorf played blitz right into his 80s, allowing many younger players to achieve 4. Smyslov and Keres had very long careers, so much younger players achieved MN4 by playing them. Gligoric also played Tartakover,[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1307737 Svetozar Gligoric vs Savielly Tartakower, Budapest 1948] allowing many Yugoslav players to achieve 4. C.J.S. Purdy played Tartakower,[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1270333 Cecil John Seddon Purdy vs Savielly Tartakower, Australia versus France Radio Match, 1946] enabling many Australian players to achieve 4. Fairhurst, who played Tartakover,[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=either&pid=10247&player=&pid2=&player2=Fairhurst+&movescomp=exactly&moves=&opening=&eco=&result=&tid=&eidt= Fairhurst v Tatakower games] was many times champion of Scotland, and later moved to New Zealand, so a number of players in these countries achieved 4 by playing him.

As of April 2025, living players with Morphy number 3 include Leonard Barden, Bernard Cafferty, Owen Hindle, Christian Langeweg, Oliver Penrose, and Jim Walsh.Frederick Rhine, [http://chicagochess.blogspot.com/2010/09/fun-with-morphy-numbers_21.html Fun with Morphy Numbers]Barden's comments to Tim Harding, [http://www.chesscafe.com/Tim/kibb166.htm Playing the Morphy Number Game]{{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606163132/http://www.chesscafe.com/Tim/kibb166.htm |date=2011-06-06 }}, chesscafe.com, 2010.Edward Winter, [http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/winter71.html#6614._Lasker_v_M._Chernev Chess Note 6614], June 11, 2010. Retrieved on September 15, 2010.Hindle played E.G. Sergeant in the 1960 British ChampionshipJim Walsh played Ossip Bernstein in the 1955 An Tostal Cork tournament

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=Morphy number 4=

{{As of|2013}} many of these players are still alive; a few (such as Anand, Adams, Nakamura, Svidler and Ivanchuk) are still active.

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  • Michael Adams{{Cite web|url=https://chesstempo.com/gamedb/game/832386|title=Wade, Robert G - Adams, Michael 2008, 6th Staunton Memorial, London ENG}}
  • Viswanathan Anand[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1018066 Bent Larsen vs Viswanathan Anand, Tournoi de Generations (1989), Cannes FRA, rd 6],
  • Ulf Andersson
  • Lev Aptekar[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1882610 William Albert Fairhurst vs Lev Isaakovich Aptekar, 83rd New Zealand Ch, 1976]
  • Keith Arkell
  • Yuri Averbakh
  • Alexander Beliavsky
  • Harold BloomBloom, Harold. The Bright Book of Life: Novels to Read and Reread. Alfred A. Knopf, 2020.
  • Walter Browne[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1035327 Walter Shawn Browne vs Paul Keres, Vancouver, 1975]
  • Donald Byrne
  • Murray Chandler[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1272230 William Albert Fairhurst vs Murray Chandler, 83rd New Zealand Ch, 1976]
  • Maia Chiburdanidze[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1285227 Maia Chiburdanidze vs Samuel Reshevsky, Vilnius (1978), Vilnius LTU, rd 4]
  • Nigel Davies[https://chesscafe.com/the-skittles-room/morphy-numbers-revisited/ Morphy Numbers Revisited: The Mortimer Effect, by Taylor Kingston]
  • Mark Dvoretsky
  • Ben Finegold[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1000275 Arthur Bisguier vs Benjamin Finegold, World Open (2000), Philadelphia, PA USA, rd 2, Jul-02]
  • Bobby Fischer
  • Semyon Furman
  • Nona Gaprindashvili[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1885386 Robert Wade vs Nona Gaprindashvili, Reykjavik (1964), Reykjavik ISL, rd 9, Jan-26 ]
  • Paul Garbett[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1885386 Paul Anthony Garbett vs William Albert Fairhurst, 83rd New Zealand Ch, 1976]
  • Efim Geller
  • Florin Gheorghiu[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1305938 Florin Gheorghiu vs William Albert Fairhurst, Olympiad Qualifying Group 6 (1974), Nice FRA]
  • Ewen Green[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1272228 Ewen McGowen Green vs William Albert Fairhurst, 83rd New Zealand Ch, 1976]

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  • Lev Polugaevsky
  • Hans Ree
  • Zoltán Ribli[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1126584 Vasily Smyslov vs Zoltan Ribli, October Revolution 60th Anniversary (1977), Leningrad URS, rd 15, Jul-16]
  • Ian Rogers[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1305902 Cecil John Seddon Purdy vs Ian Rogers, Sydney International Tournament (1979), Sydney, Australia]
  • Valery Salov[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1120495 Valery Salov vs Vasily Smyslov, 55th USSR Championship (1988), Moscow URS, rd 4]
  • Ortvin Sarapu[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1269019 Efim Bogoljubov vs Ortvin Sarapu, Oldenburg (1949), Oldenburg GER, rd 10, Jun-26]
  • Jonathan Sarfati
  • Yasser Seirawan
  • Alexei Shirov[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1123762 Alexey Shirov vs Vasily Smyslov, Keres Rapid Memorial (1996) (quick), Tallinn EST, rd 3]
  • Nigel Short
  • Vernon Small[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1885380 William Albert Fairhurst vs Vernon Albert Small, 83rd New Zealand Ch, 1976]
  • Boris Spassky
  • Peter Svidler[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1127055 Peter Svidler vs Vasily Smyslov, Alekhine Memorial Open (1992), Moscow RUS, rd 4]
  • Richard John Sutton[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1879983 William Albert Fairhurst vs Richard John Sutton, 83rd New Zealand Ch, 1976]
  • Mark Taimanov
  • Mikhail Tal
  • Jan Timman
  • Veselin Topalov{{Cite web|url=http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1143756|title=Veselin Topalov vs Arturo Pomar Salamanca (1992)}}
  • Anna Ushenina{{Cite web|url=https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1566347|title=Anna Ushenina vs Fridrik Olafsson (Snowdrops and Old-hands 2008)}}
  • Rafael Vaganian
  • John L. Watson[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1073514 Paul Keres vs John L Watson, Vancouver 1975]

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=Morphy number 5=

{{As of|2013}}, many of the top grandmasters were thought to be in this group (along with a large number of lower-rated players). However, several players initially thought to be in this group were actually MN4s; for instance, based on playing Smyslov, who played Tartakower and Bernstein.

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See also

{{Portal|Chess}}

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References

{{Reflist}}

External links

  • [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessplayer?pid=16002 Paul Morphy] at Chess Games

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Category:Chess terminology

Category:Separation numbers