Paul Morphy would always find a way to checkmate the opposing king, no matter what opening was played. Do you actually have so little faith as to believe that modern GM's with their 'theory' could take down a genius such as Morphy. He had something that no one has ever possessed either before or since. And if there were one chess match being played with the fate of the world at stake, he would be the only man for the job.

The Gambit King

Morphy was without a doubt a great player, but let's not forget that his most memorable games where against coffe house players, and nothing more. Todays GM's doesn't only have "theory" (as if that's a bid thing that doesnt work in "real" chess games somehow), they have a deeper understanding of the game aswell. Alot have changed since Morphys time, and if you look through all of his games, not just his wins, you find some really embarrasing games.

Have no doubt,Morphy was an exceptionall, but he wouldn't stand a chance against the huge names today.

On another note, this one is funny, cause this questions is raised now and then in every sport, would Jack Dempsey stand a chance today, would Muhammed Ali still be the greatest. Would insert random name of any fotball player, tennis player, or whatever sport you like and ask again. This even commes up in power lifting etc.

The fact of the matter is, almost all sports have changed so much the last 100 years, that a great one 100 years ago, probably wouldn't make it up to the best 100, no matter hos they outplayed their opponents of the time.

Btw Tonydal, wasn't it that Reshevsky got a family that forced him to take up a full time job that hindered him, not lack of love for the game? He didn't have the luxury of playing it as a proffesion, which ofcourse hampered his growth some. And he really should have done some opening theory so he could stop getting in time trouble by move 15. But I might misstake him for Fine now, I'm not sure.

I think it is a question of chess capacity.  Morphy's chess capacity (amount of information he could store in his brain - memory, with the natural attacking ability plus his amazing understanding of the endgame).

This has been spoken of before, but all things being equal (which is what I assume fischer was suggesting)...he would dominate in any generation the same as he did in his own.