Morphy – Lyttleton

Morphy’s opponent is not just an ordinary citizen, but a British Lord and President of the British Chess Association. All of which is of no use when seated at the chessboard against Morphy, even when Morphy is blindfolded!

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Date: 1858.??.??
Location: ?
Tournament: Blindfold Game
Round:
Opening:
Submitted by:
Published on: February 9, 2020

[Event "Blindfold Game"] [Site "?"] [Date "1858.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Morphy"] [Black "Lyttleton"] [Result "1-0"] [PlyCount "33"] 1.e4 e5 {Morphy's opponent is not just an ordinary citizen, but a British Lord and President of the British Chess Association. All of which is of no use when seated at the chessboard against Morphy, even when Morphy is blindfolded!} 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.h4 g4 5.Ne5 {This position was frequently seen in games played in the 19th century.} d6 6.Nxg4 Be7 {Black gains time by attacking the weak pawn at h4.} 7.d4 {White occupies the center, achieving one of the primary objectives of the opening.} Bxh4+ 8.Nf2 Bxf2+ {It might have been nice to maintain this pin a bit longer, but Black wants to be able to bring the knight at g8 into the game.} 9.Kxf2 Nf6 10.Nc3 Qe7 11.Bxf4 Nxe4+ 12.Nxe4 Qxe4 13.Bb5+ {A powerful move, threatening a nasty pin with Re1.} Kf8 {13...c6 14.Re1} 14.Bh6+ Kg8 15.Rh5 {White is closing in for the kill. The king is trapped along the back rank, so if White can get a rook or queen to the e- file and then to e8, the game ends.} Bf5 16.Qd2 {The threat is Re1.} Bg6 17.Re1 {The move that was set-up by 13.Bb5+ finishes the game, as if the queen moves, Re8+ mates.} 1-0