Paul Morphy's final challenge

Can someone clarify for me Paul Morphy's final challenge to the players of the world?

I'd like to know what odds did Morphy offer to any/all players in his final offer to play before he went in to retirement.

Did Morphy offer

(i) Pawn and one move 

(ii) (one) knight's odd.

Thanks in advance!

Pawn and move to the world, knight odds to any American player, Paulsen excluded.

batgirl could cite sources and clarify. She's good in that way.

indurain

Morphy's  challenge was pawn and move to the world, knight odds for USA players.  And for any future questions on Morphy, try searching the blog of batgirl.  Chances are she has written a post on the subject.

You're welcome in advance.

thanks Dashkee and goldendog for your answers.

As I'm recollecting, he may not have excluded Paulsen.

batgirl could clear this up.

I remember Paulsen pondering whether pawn and move favored the odds-giving player, as the missing pawn opened up the position/augmented development.

Anyway...paging bg.

goldendog

Paulsen wrote (sometime in 1859/60) that he was working on his pawn-and-move openings in order to play Morphy.  I'm not sure, but I think that the offer of knight odds was offered to US-born players; European masters (Paulsen was German) were offered the p+m odds.

Paulsen resided in the US and had played in the US championships, so I gather he was an American player (then) with German roots?

Anyway, I don't have my materials to reference, so I could be off.

bg cites chapter and verse, which is handy for us tourists.

Oh, I agree, bg is the authority on Morphy.  I know a little; she knows a lot.

But about Paulsen--he immigrated to the US in the 1850's and was a grower of potatoes--he even had a variety of potato named after him, I believe.  He tried to negotiate a match with Morphy after Morphy's return, but Morphy refused all offers.

And yes, bg has several posts on Paulsen.

You have to understand this from the right perspective.  Morphy was a stickler for formality. By the time he completed his European tour, he was disillusioned with public chess and wanted to get off that merry-go-round. 

As an acknowledged champion, he felt not just that he had the right, but that it was most proper, that before anyone should play him even (a subtle admission of equality) that player must first beat him at odds.  As pointed out, Morphy had stated quite plainly that those odds must be at least a Knight against American players (before he left for Europe he set pawn & move odds for Americans). Before leaving Europe and having defeated Anderssen so conclusively, he also included the rest of the world, including Staunton, in the Pawn & move odds before he would play even.  The documentation on this is hearsay from Edge.  Returning to America Morphy played a series of Knight-odd games (beating Frederick Perrin 4 out of 5 games, Dr. James Stone in 5 games, 2 members of the Union Chess Club in 2 games each and James Thompson, +5-3=1).  Paulsen was intent upon playing Morphy even; Morphy wouldn't hear of it.  Paulsen studied Pawn & move odds and decided, or at least claimed, that removing the pawn actually gave Morphy a slight advantage and refused to play at odds. Morphy tired of the negotiations and said forget it.  Such tactics also played into Morphy's desire not to play public chess.

Paulsen was considered a German player. See Paulsen for documentations concerning him.

Thanks Batgirl.

Your posts about Paul Morphy are highly informative as always