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Brooklyn Eagle, January 17, 1892
An Albany chess player, in recalling a visit Mr. Bird paid him when he was
last in America, said:
"While Mr. Bird was at the Albany chess club, in response to a
question as to what would have likely been the result had Morphy
participated in the last great tourney, he said:
"Paul Morphy would have gone through that tournament like a meteor.
He was head and shoulders above every player taking part in it." He
further remarked:
"Probably, with the exception of Steinitz, Blackburne is the finest
living player. Steinitz is a slow player and is always pretty well crowded
for time, and I doubt if he could have made as good a showing against
Zukertort had the latter been less confident and arranged the match at a
time limit of twenty moves to the hour instead of fifteen. I trotted
Steinitz the closest heat he ever contested. He beat me 8 to 7, with 6
draws. This was in '67. In '58 Morphy beat me 10 to 1, with 1 draw.
Steinitz claims that he is a better player than ever Morphy was, but I
think my record with each is a fair test of the strength of the two.
Steinitz claims that when I played with Morphy I was out of practice, but
I cannot explain away my crushing defeat by that great player in any such
way. I never played better chess in my life than when he beat me. Morphy
had more science than Steinitz - more imagination. His career was very
short, though very brilliant, and, whether or not he could have held first
honors as long as Steinitz, is a matter of some doubt; but Morphy never
met his match. He was never compelled to play his best game. His resources
were never fully tested. |
| Brooklyn Eagle
April 29, 1888
The chess editor of the Boston Post says:
Judge Golmayo, the chess champion of Cuba, is said to discriminate as
follows between his experience of playing with Morphy and with Steinitz:
"In my games with Morphy at odds of a knight, I became hopelessly
bewildered by the brilliancy and intricacy of his combinations, but when I
sit down with Steinitz on even terms, I feel as though I had a very
respectable chance to win."
If the Judge did have a respectable chance to win he failed to avail
himself of it, the record shows. |
