Morphy number

The Morphy number is a measure of how closely a chess player is connected to Paul Morphy (1837–1884) by way of playing chess games.Your Morphy Number is Up, Taylor Kingston, The Chess Cafe, 2005

Description

People who played a chess game with Morphy have a Morphy number of 1. Players who did not play Morphy but played someone with a Morphy number of 1 have a Morphy number of 2. People who played someone with a Morphy number of 2 have a Morphy number of 3, et cetera.

, there are very few known living players with Morphy number 3. Many ordinary players have a Morphy number of 6 or more.Playing the Morphy Number Game, Tim Harding, The Chess Cafe, 2010

The idea is similar to the Erdős number for mathematicians, the Bacon number for actors, and the Shusaku number, the equivalent for the board game of Go.

Origin Taylor Kingston states that the idea of the Morphy number may have originated in a June 2000 note by Tim Krabbé, who has Morphy number 4. Krabbé wrote "I once played an official game with Euwe, who played Tarrasch, who played Paulsen, who played Morphy."Tim Krabbé - see item #67

Morphy number of famous players These are players who are important in making links for Morphy numbers.

Morphy number 1 Morphy is known to have played about 100 people, but prior to 2010 all of the known links for players with Morphy number 2 went through just four players. A few years after the early lists of Morphy numbers tabulated, it was discovered that a fifth player, James Mortimer, was Morphy's friend and played casual games with him. This gives Mortimer a Morphy number of 1, creating a need to drastically revise those previous lists to include many more players.Taylor Kingston, Morphy numbers revisited: the Mortimer effect, ChessCafe.com, 1 Oct 2014. Mortimer had a very long, if not particularly successful, career, including the Ostende-B 1907 tournament, which enabled many famous younger players to gain a Morphy number of 2, including Mieses, Tartakower, Znosko-Borovsky, and Bernstein, who played beyond WW2, enabling still younger players to gain a Morphy number of 3, and so on.

Adolf Anderssen Henry Bird James Mortimer

John Owen Louis Paulsen Other opponents

Morphy number 2 Everyone in this group played someone in the group above. The Australian champion Frederick Esling achieved MN2 by beating Anderssen in an offhand gameFrederick Karl Esling vs Adolf Anderssen, Casual game (1878), Frankfurt and another Australian champion, Julius Leigh Jacobsen (1862–1916)Chesgames.com page on Julius Leigh Jacobsen achieved MN2 by beating Bird in a casual match +4-2=1, enabling many Australian players of the early 20th century to achieve MN3.Hans Renette, H.E. Bird: A Chess Biography with 1,198 Games, p. 245, McFarland, 2016. The following are some of the most important players who have achieved MN2.

Semyon Alapin Ossip Bernstein Joseph Blackburne Amos Burn Mikhail Chigorin Eugene Ernest ColmanPlayed James Mortimer in the City of London Championship of 1910/11. Oldřich DurasPlayed James Mortimer at Ostend, 1907. Frederick Esling Isidor Gunsberg David Janowski Emanuel LaskerLasker-Bird games

S. Lipschütz George Mackenzie Frank Marshall James Mason Jacques Mieses Géza Maróczy Reginald Michell Aron Nimzowitsch Harry Pillsbury Akiba Rubinstein Carl Schlechter

Edward Guthlac SergeantPlayed James Mortimer in several City of London Championships from 1906 to 1910. Jackson Showalter Rudolf Spielmann Wilhelm Steinitz Siegbert TarraschTarrasch-Paulsen games Savielly Tartakower Richard Teichmann Sir George ThomasMortimer played Sir George Thomas in the Canterbury 1903 and Brighton 1904 tournaments. Gino de Felice, Chess Results, 1901-1920, McFarland & Co., 2006, pp. 26, 37. Szymon Winawer Eugene Znosko-Borovsky Johannes Zukertort

Morphy number 3 Most of the masters in this group played several members of the previous group. This group includes some of the most important players for making connections to later generations. Botvinnik and Reshevsky played older masters such as Lasker and Janowski, had long careers, and played many younger players. Najdorf was Tartakower's pupil and they played a number of published games together, and Najdorf played blitz right into his 80s, allowing many younger players to achieve 4. Smyslov and Keres had very long careers, so much younger players achieved MN4 by playing them. Gligoric also played Tartakover,Svetozar Gligoric vs Savielly Tartakower, Budapest 1948 allowing many Yugoslav players to achieve 4. C.J.S. Purdy played Tartakower,Cecil John Seddon Purdy vs Savielly Tartakower, Australia versus France Radio Match, 1946 enabling many Australian players to achieve 4. Fairhurst, who played Tartakover,Fairhurst v Tatakower games was many times champion of Scotland, and later moved to New Zealand, so a number of players in these countries achieved 4 by playing him.

As of April 2026, living players with Morphy number 3 include Leonard Barden, Bernard Cafferty, Michael Fallone, Owen Hindle, Christian Langeweg, Oliver Penrose, and Jim Walsh.Frederick Rhine, Fun with Morphy NumbersBarden's comments to Tim Harding, Playing the Morphy Number Game, chesscafe.com, 2010.Edward Winter, Chess Note 6614, June 11, 2010. Retrieved on September 15, 2010.Hindle played E.G. Sergeant in the 1960 British ChampionshipJim Walsh played Ossip Bernstein in the 1955 An Tostal Cork tournament

James Macrae AitkenJM Aitken beat Savielly Tartakower at Southsea in 1949 Alexander Alekhine Conel Hugh O'Donel Alexander Leonard Barden Pal Benko Arthur Bisguier Efim Bogoljubow Fedor Bogatyrchuk Isaac Boleslavsky Mikhail Botvinnik David Bronstein Bernard CaffertyDefeated Edward Guthlac Sergeant in the 1960 British Championship José Raúl Capablanca Martin Christoffel Arthur DakeFrank Marshall vs Arthur William Dake New York, NY (1931) Arnold Denker Jan Hein DonnerJan Hein Donner vs Savielly Tartakower, Amsterdam (1950), Amsterdam NED, rd 15, Nov-30 Marcel Duchamp Erich Eliskases Max Euwe

William Fairhurst Michael FalloneDefeated Edward Guthlac Sergeant in the 1960 British Championship. Reuben Fine Salo Flohr Svetozar Gligorić Owen Hindle Borislav Ivkov Paul Keres George Koltanowski Alexander Kotov Čeněk KottnauerČeněk Kottnauer played Tartakower at the Staunton Memorial Tournament, Groningen 1946. Franciscus KuijpersPlayed Ossip Bernstein at the 1961 IBM Amsterdam tournament. Christian Langeweg Bent Larsen Edward Lasker Andor Lilienthal Aleksandar Matanović Vera Menchik Stuart Milner-Barry Vladimir NabokovBoyd, Brian. Vladimir Nabokov: The Russian Years. Princeton University Press, 1990, p. 259. Miguel NajdorfMiguel Najdorf vs Savielly Tartakower (various games)

Friðrik Ólafsson Frank Parr Jonathan PenroseJonathan Penrose vs Savielly Tartakower Southsea, England (1950) Oliver PenroseEugene Znosko-Borovsky vs Oliver Penrose BCF-Premier (1948) Arturo Pomar Lodewijk Prins David PritchardPlayed Eugene Ernest Colman, Morphy number 2, at least three times, 1947-1953; scores recorded in Surviving Changi: E E Colman by Olimpiu G Urcan (Singapore, 2007) C.J.S. Purdy Samuel Reshevsky Stewart Reuben Friedrich Sämisch Vasily Smyslov Rudolf Spielmann Herman Steiner László Szabó Wolfgang UnzickerEugene Aleksandrovich Znosko-Borovsky vs Wolfgang Unzicker, Lucerne (1949), SUI Milan Vidmar Robert WadeRobert Wade played Savielly Tartakower twice, in 1951 (Staunton Memorial) and 1953 (Hastings). He also defeated Ossip Bernstein at the IBM Amsterdam tournament in 1961. Jim Walsh Norman Whitaker Baruch Harold WoodPlayed Eugene Znosko-Borovsky at Baam in 1947.

Morphy number 4 many of these players are still alive; a few (such as Anand, Adams, Svidler and Ivanchuk) are still active.

Michael Adams Viswanathan AnandBent Larsen vs Viswanathan Anand, Tournoi de Generations (1989), Cannes FRA, rd 6, Ulf Andersson Lev AptekarWilliam Albert Fairhurst vs Lev Isaakovich Aptekar, 83rd New Zealand Ch, 1976 Keith Arkell Yuri Averbakh Alexander Beliavsky Harold BloomBloom, Harold. The Bright Book of Life: Novels to Read and Reread. Alfred A. Knopf, 2020. Walter BrowneWalter Shawn Browne vs Paul Keres, Vancouver, 1975 Donald Byrne Murray ChandlerWilliam Albert Fairhurst vs Murray Chandler, 83rd New Zealand Ch, 1976 Maia ChiburdanidzeMaia Chiburdanidze vs Samuel Reshevsky, Vilnius (1978), Vilnius LTU, rd 4 Pia Cramling Nigel DaviesMorphy Numbers Revisited: The Mortimer Effect, by Taylor Kingston Mark Dvoretsky Ben FinegoldArthur Bisguier vs Benjamin Finegold, World Open (2000), Philadelphia, PA USA, rd 2, Jul-02 Bobby Fischer Semyon Furman Nona GaprindashviliRobert Wade vs Nona Gaprindashvili, Reykjavik (1964), Reykjavik ISL, rd 9, Jan-26 Paul GarbettPaul Anthony Garbett vs William Albert Fairhurst, 83rd New Zealand Ch, 1976 Efim Geller Florin GheorghiuFlorin Gheorghiu vs William Albert Fairhurst, Olympiad Qualifying Group 6 (1974), Nice FRA Ewen GreenEwen McGowen Green vs William Albert Fairhurst, 83rd New Zealand Ch, 1976

Vlastimil Hort Robert Hübner Vassily IvanchukVasily Smyslov vs Vassily Ivanchuk, 55th USSR Championship (1988), Moscow URS, rd 9 Gata KamskyVasily Smyslov vs Gata Kamsky, New York Open (1989), New York, NY USA, rd 7 Anatoly Karpov Garry Kasparov Allen Kaufman Alexander KhalifmanVasily Smyslov vs Alexander Khalifman, 55th USSR Championship (1988), Moscow URS, rd 5 Ratmir Kholmov Viktor Korchnoi Gary Lane Ljubomir Ljubojević Sergio Mariotti Tony Miles Predrag NikolićVasily Smyslov vs Predrag Nikolic, 6th Vidmar Memorial (1985), Portoroz, rd 3 John Nunn Bruce Pandolfini Tigran Petrosian Judit PolgárJudit Polgar vs Vasily Smyslov, Women-Veterans (1992), Aruba, rd 5 Susan Polgar Ruslan Ponomariov Lajos Portisch

Lev Polugaevsky Hans Ree Zoltán RibliVasily Smyslov vs Zoltan Ribli, October Revolution 60th Anniversary (1977), Leningrad URS, rd 15, Jul-16 Ian RogersCecil John Seddon Purdy vs Ian Rogers, Sydney International Tournament (1979), Sydney, Australia Valery SalovValery Salov vs Vasily Smyslov, 55th USSR Championship (1988), Moscow URS, rd 4 Ortvin SarapuEfim Bogoljubov vs Ortvin Sarapu, Oldenburg (1949), Oldenburg GER, rd 10, Jun-26 Jonathan Sarfati Yasser Seirawan Alexei ShirovAlexey Shirov vs Vasily Smyslov, Keres Rapid Memorial (1996) (quick), Tallinn EST, rd 3 Nigel Short Vernon SmallWilliam Albert Fairhurst vs Vernon Albert Small, 83rd New Zealand Ch, 1976 Boris Spassky Peter SvidlerPeter Svidler vs Vasily Smyslov, Alekhine Memorial Open (1992), Moscow RUS, rd 4 Richard John SuttonWilliam Albert Fairhurst vs Richard John Sutton, 83rd New Zealand Ch, 1976 Mark Taimanov Mikhail Tal Jan Timman Veselin Topalov Anna Ushenina Rafael Vaganian Hikaru Nakamurahttps://www.365chess.com/game.php?gid=3012455 John L. WatsonPaul Keres vs John L Watson, Vancouver 1975

Morphy number 5 , many of the top grandmasters were thought to be in this group (along with a large number of lower-rated players). However, several players initially thought to be in this group were actually MN4s; for instance, based on playing Smyslov, who played Tartakower and Bernstein.

Magnus Carlsen Fabiano Caruanahttps://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1964454&comp=1 Boris Gelfand Gukesh Dommarajuhttps://www.chess.com/news/view/2023-superunited-croatia-rapid-blitz-day-3 Mikhail Gurevich Igor IvanovIgor Ivanov vs Anatoly Karpov Moscow (1979)

Rustam Kasimdzhanov Sergey Karjakinhttps://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1385670 Vladimir Kramnik Joël Lautier Ding Lirenhttps://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1963995&comp=1 Péter Lékó

Shakriyar Mamedyarovhttps://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1751201&kpage=2 Karsten Müller Ian Nepomniachtchihttps://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2061638 Levy Rozmanhttps://www.chess.com/events/2024-battle-of-generations?utm_source=chesscom&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=battlegenerations2024 Javokhir Sindarovhttps://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2114083 Jon Speelman Artur Yusupov

Morphy number

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