CHESS PLAYER

Paul Morphy

1837 - 1884

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Paul Charles Morphy (June 22, 1837 – July 10, 1884) was an American chess player. During his brief career in the late 1850s, Morphy was acknowledged as the world's greatest chess master. A prodigy, Morphy emerged onto the chess scene in 1857 by convincingly winning the First American Chess Congress, winning each match by a large margin. He then traveled to Europe, residing for a time in England and France while challenging the continent's top players. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Paul Morphy is the 17th most popular chess player, the 855th most popular biography from United States (down from 753rd in 2019) and the 3rd most popular American Chess Player.

Paul Morphy is most famous for being the first world champion of chess, and for being a chess prodigy.

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Among CHESS PLAYERS

Among chess players, Paul Morphy ranks 17 out of 461. Before him are Max Euwe, Garry Kasparov, Vasily Smyslov, François-André Danican Philidor, Howard Staunton, and Frank Marshall. After him are Adolf Anderssen, Paul Keres, Nona Gaprindashvili, Viktor Korchnoi, Ruy López de Segura, and Samuel Reshevsky.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1837, Paul Morphy ranks 18. Before him are Yohannes IV, Cosima Wagner, Pedro V of Portugal, Adam Opel, Édouard Stephan, and Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse. After him are Ivan Kramskoi, Marie François Sadi Carnot, John Newlands, Vasil Levski, Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders, and Georges Ernest Boulanger. Among people deceased in 1884, Paul Morphy ranks 8. Before him are Bedřich Smetana, Maria Anna of Savoy, Elias Lönnrot, Marie Taglioni, Hermann Kolbe, and Cetshwayo kaMpande. After him are Johann Gustav Droysen, Charles Adolphe Wurtz, Jean-Baptiste Dumas, Marie Bashkirtseff, Infanta Maria Anna of Portugal, and Fanny Elssler.

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In United States

Among people born in United States, Paul Morphy ranks 855 out of 20,380. Before him are Willard Libby (1908), Lawrence Kohlberg (1927), Laura Bush (1946), Monica Lewinsky (1973), Isaac Singer (1811), and Edmund Phelps (1933). After him are Gary Becker (1930), Michio Kaku (1947), Larry Fink (1952), John Coltrane (1926), Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811), and Lady Gaga (1986).

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Among CHESS PLAYERS In United States

Among chess players born in United States, Paul Morphy ranks 3. Before him are Bobby Fischer (1943), and Frank Marshall (1877). After him are Harry Nelson Pillsbury (1872), Larry Evans (1932), Reuben Fine (1914), Jackson Showalter (1860), Robert Byrne (1928), Israel Albert Horowitz (1907), William Lombardy (1937), Nick de Firmian (1957), and Isaac Kashdan (1905).

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