Paul Morphy vs Jose Maria Sicre (1862)

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Paul Morphy vs Jose Maria Sicre
Blindfold game (1862) (blindfold), Havana CUB, Oct-22
French Defense: Exchange Variation (C01) · 1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

Given 62 times; par: 50 [what's this?]

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Mar-29-06		chancho: Morphy kicking butt in Havana.

Mar-20-10		jessicafischerqueen: Yes <Canyonero>!- and some interesting points- this game is against JM Sicre, who was a slave in the household of Felix Sicre- Not only did master and slave have the same name, but both were very strong players- among the strongest in Havana. Type "Morphy 1862" in the search box and his game against Felix Sicre will pop up for comparison to this game. Morphy creamed both of them of course. Source: Batgirl Morphy index http://batgirl.atspace.com/morphybi...

Mar-07-16		SBC: Morphy played this game blindfold.

Mar-08-16		saturn2: <Not only did master and slave have the same name, but both were very strong players- among the strongest in Havana.> Looking at 13..Kh8 makes one doubt this statement. Bxh7 was already possible in the 15th move but Morphy prefered the f7 pawn.

Mar-08-16		SBC: Félix Sicre was the Cuban champion; José Maria Sicre was said to be able to win games off his master. The chess pool in Habana at that time was rather small and closed and even the best Cuban players were mediocre by international standards (in spite of this, Morphy played Félix Sicre even, a fact not lost on the Cuban public). After Morphy's visits and the arrival of Celso Golmayo from Spain, chess did improve for several years. But those were also turbulent times in Cuba and the situation stunted the natural growth. It would be later before greater improvement would be evident... and then came Capablanca.

Mar-10-16		saturn2: When I read blindfold I never know if the player was granted to look at a chessboard without chessmen or instead he had his eyes completely covered, the second way being far more difficult for the blindfold player. I once saw a picture or rather a drawing of Morphy playing blindfold in Paris with covered eyes so maybe in ancient chess times blindfold had this literal meaning whereas nowadays it does not have it any more.

Sep-23-20		paulmorphy1969: Then Morphy met on October 22 in the home of Señor Du-Bouchet the young black slave of the Sicre family, familiarly called “the negrits” and registered in the Cuban registry as José-Maria Sicre. The slaves had a proper name but took the surname of the master. J. M. Sicre was considered a marvel on the chessboard. Morphy recognized his chess quality so much that he agreed to play even. However, the advantage of not looking at the board is that he played blindly. This match proves that Morphy had no slave ideas, despite being from the South. This was the only game against a Negro that Morphy played.

Jul-18-21		paulmorphy1969: In the book by Caplablanca - Chess History page 18 we read: so far, we have only had a blind game. This was at the home of Charles Serrano.We witness a ten-game blind performance at the home of the same gentleman the following Tuesday. What causes the greatest wonder here is that Morphy can combine the conversation with a bunch of ladies and gentlemen while playing his game.Link:https://www.google.it/books/edition...

Jul-22-22		arkivaren: <This match proves that Morphy had no slave ideas, despite being from the South.> In itself this solitary act of playing against a slave proves nothing of the sort.

Jul-22-22		moronovich: But Morphy had the white pieces ....

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