Morphy's friend. Chess alphabet

This is a type of mat that is often seen in practice play. The name comes from the name of the American chess player Paul Morphy, one of the greatest geniuses in the history of chess. I wrote about this legendary chess player of the 6th century in no. 2014/XNUMX "Young Technician".

Diagram 1 shows a typical example where the white bishop checkmates and the white rook and black h7-pawn prevent the black king from leaving the corner of the board.

An example of Morphy's mating combination is shown in Diagram 2. White starts and wins by sacrificing the queen 1.H:f6 g:f6 2.Wg3 + Kh8 3.G:f6 #.

Matt Morpiego he could have appeared for the first time in the famous Paulsen-Morphy game, if the latter had found the fastest ending after the beautiful queen sacrifice earlier.

2. An example of a Morphy matte combination

3. Paulsen-Morphy, New York, 1857, position after 17. Ha6?

In 1857, Paul Morphy took part in the first American Chess Congress in New York. In the final of this event, he defeated the German chess player Louis Paulsen with a score of +5 = 2-1. In the game shown below, Black Morphy won by sacrificing his queen:

1.e4 e5 2.Sf3 Sc6 3.Sc3 Sf6 4.Gb5 Gc5 5.OO OO 6.S: e5 We8 7.S: c6 d: c6 8.Gc4 b5 9.Ge2 S: e4 10.S: e4 W : e4 11.Gf3 We6 12.c3 Hd3 13.b4 Gb6 14.a4 b: a4 15.H: a4 Gd7 16.Wa2 Wae8 17.Ha6? (see Figure 3).

Paulsen noticed that he was in danger of mate after 17... Q: f1+, but instead of 17. Qa6? 17.Qd1 should have been played.

17… R: f3! Morphy thought about moving for twelve minutes, long enough for him. Paulsen, known for his notorious "chess reflex", thought for more than an hour before accepting the sacrifice: 18.g: f3 Wg6 + 19.Kh1 Gh3 20.Wd1 Gg2 + 21.Kg1 G: f3 + 22.Kf1 Gg2 + 23.Kg1 Gh3+ 24. Kh1 G: f2 25. Hf1 G: f1 26. W: f1 Re2 27. Wa1 Wh6 28. d4 Be3! 0-1. Morphy with 22 he could have won faster... Wg2! 23.Hd3 W: f2+ 24.Kg1 Wg2+ 25.Kh1 Wg1#. In the case of a checkmate, the white king will be under the check of the opponent's rook and bishop at the same time.