The Opera Game: Morphy's seventeen-move masterpiece

Paul Morphy played this game in Paris in 1858, in a private box at the opera, against two aristocrats consulting together: the Duke of Brunswick and Count Isouard. It is short, every move makes sense, and it shows three ideas every player should know.

Press play, or step through it move by move.

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1. 1.e4
2. e5
3. 2.Nf3
4. d6
5. 3.d4
6. Bg4
7. 4.dxe5
8. Bxf3
9. 5.Qxf3
10. dxe5
11. 6.Bc4
12. Nf6
13. 7.Qb3
14. Qe7
15. 8.Nc3
16. c6
17. 9.Bg5
18. b5
19. 10.Nxb5
20. cxb5
21. 11.Bxb5+
22. Nbd7
23. 12.O-O-O
24. Rd8
25. 13.Rxd7
26. Rxd7
27. 14.Rd1
28. Qe6
29. 15.Bxd7+
30. Nxd7
31. 16.Qb8+
32. Nxb8
33. 17.Rd8#

1. Development beats material

By move 9 Morphy has every minor piece and his queen in play. Black's kingside pieces are still at home and the black king has not castled. When Morphy gives up a knight on b5 and later a whole rook on d7, he is spending material to keep that lead before Black can catch up.

2. Open lines toward the king

Every sacrifice in the game opens a file or a diagonal. Castling queenside on move 12 puts a rook straight onto the open d-file, the file where the black king is still standing. The pinned knight on d7 cannot move, and Morphy keeps adding attackers to it.

3. Finish with forcing moves

The last moves are all checks or captures, so Black never gets time to breathe. The queen sacrifice 16. Qb8+ forces the knight away from d7, and the rook gives mate on d8.

What Black did wrong

Black's 3...Bg4 and 4...Bxf3 gave up a bishop for a knight just to win back a pawn, and it helped White develop with tempo. After that, moves like 9...b5 grabbed space while the king was still in the centre. The lesson is not "never take a piece": it is that each move has to help you finish development and get your king safe.