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Paul Morphy vs Bernhard C Bierwirth
Morphy Blindfold Simul 8b, Paris (1858) (blindfold), Paris FRA, Sep-27
French Defense: Normal Variation (C00)  ·  1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

Annotations by Johann Lowenthal.      [28 more games annotated by Lowenthal]

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Kibitzer's Corner
Jun-07-05  prinsallan: I believe Bierwith were thinking of 34: ...Qxe2 with threatening of mate on 35, missing the very ewasy forced mate from Morphy, thus resigning... 35 Qg8 Kc7 (forced)
36 Qd8#
Jan-08-08  JimmyVermeer: A couple of comments. First, Philip Sergeant gives the name of Morphy's opponent as C. Bierwirth (with an R), making this game difficult to search on chessgames.com. Anyone know which is correct?

Morphy missed a forced mate in 3 on his 34th move.
34 Qh8+ Rf8 35 Qxf8+ Kc7 36 Qd8#

After Morphy's 34 Qxf7, Bierwirth should have tried a5, a6, b6, Ne6, Qd3, or Qd5 to prolong the game. a5 was probably best, though White still has an advantage.

On his 33rd move, Bierwirth should have tried a5, a6, b6, c5, f4, Ne7, Nf8, Qa4, Qa5, Qa6, Qb3, Qb4, Qb6, Qc4, Qc5, Qd3, Qd5, Qxb2, Qxe2, Qxe5+, Rc7, Rd7, Re7, Rf8, Rh7, or Rxf6.

Johann Lowenthal says that whenever Morphy played blindfolded, his opponents would sometimes play irregular openings in the vain hope of confusing Morphy. But Morphy should not have been confused if he knows what his opponent did. Do they have to say what their move is, or did Morphy have the additional handicap of having to guess at his opponents' moves? If the latter is the case, then that makes Morphy's blindfold play even more impressive.

Sep-13-20  paulmorphy1969: according to the Italian historian Gianfelice Ferlito who did research on Morphy, the opponent's name is Bernhard C.Bierwirth

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