USA: Romantic vs Modern Chess?

I decided to put Daniel Naroditsky (#14), Hikaru Nakamura (#2), Fabiano Caruana (#3), Levon Aronian (#1), and Wesley So (#4), five of the top American chess players, up against one of the top romantic chess players ever, Paul Morphy. Who’ll win in this clash?

This was an old blog post I just recently wrapped up. I am completely aware of the updates regarding GM Naroditsky, RIP Danya.

Conditions

The order of Modern players are Naroditsky, So, Caruana, Nakamura, Aronian.

Morphy plays each round: first as White and then Black, alternating every round.

Game 1: Morphy vs Naroditsky, 0-1 (1-0 Modern)

Game 1 featured play by Naroditsky; in the middlegame he eventually won a pawn, and that pawn turned to more!

Eventually Morphy was checkmated in a Bishop vs Rook endgame.

Link to analysis: https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/pgn/5DtpSjjt7Y?tab=review

Game 2: So vs Morphy, 1-0 (2-0 Modern)

Instead of up one pawn like the last game, So was up three! He used that advantage to promote a pawn, win the rook, and win the game in a variation of the king and rook checkmate.

Link to analysis: https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/pgn/BthNKbus4?tab=review

Game 3: Morphy vs Caruana, 0-1 (3-0 Modern)

A very accurate game by Caruana paves the way for yet another win for the modern team. Eventually Caruana checkmated Morphy in a Rook and Knight endgame.

Link to analysis: https://www.chess.com/a/Z2thExUv2NgbG?tab=review

Game 4: Nakamura vs Morphy, 1-0 (4-0 Modern)

Nice play in this game by Nakamura, who won a pawn and eventually won the game.

I’m beginning to doubt Morphy…

Link to analysis: https://www.chess.com/a/82zF9EiS2NgbG?tab=review

Game 5: Morphy vs Aronian, 0-1 (5-0 Modern)

In the Game Review, Aronian only had one inaccuracy. A transposition to a King’s Gambit Declined left Morphy down an exchange, and eventually lost the game.

Link to analysis: https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/pgn/v5VNLnNG6?tab=review

As a result, the United States’ current top players are much, much stronger than the romantic great. Years and years of practice have allowed the US to become one of a select few top chess countries in the world.