Paul Morphy Puzzle
Chess puzzles can be hard to solve, but they can be even harder to create! But believe it or not, one of the most famous chess puzzles in history was created by a kid!
Here's everything you need to know about the famous Paul Morphy puzzle:
What Is The Paul Morphy Puzzle?
The Paul Morphy puzzle (or Paul Morphy problem) is one of the most famous chess problems in history. It was created by the legendary Paul Morphy when he was only 12 years old.
In it, the white player needs to find checkmate in two moves. Before we dive into the solution, try solving it yourself!
Morphy's puzzle was published in 1856 in The New York Clipper, one of the first newspapers in the United States dedicated to theater, circus, and other forms of entertainment. The problem was published along with one of Morphy's victories against Hungarian master Johann Lowenthal.
What Is The Solution To Paul Morphy's Puzzle?
Could you find the solution to Paul Morphy's chess problem by yourself? Don't worry if you couldn't do it—it's a very hard puzzle to solve! Let's dive into the answer.
The main theme of the puzzle is the zugzwang tactic. Black's king is trapped and has no safe squares to move to, so any check will result in checkmate. White would love to take the a7-pawn with the rook, checking the king, but the black bishop on b8 defends that pawn. Taking the pawn with White's pawn doesn't work either:
If the black bishop were to move and stop defending the a7-pawn, White's job would be easy. A simple rook check would win the game since the white king attacks the b8-square.
This means that if White can force the bishop to move away, checkmate is inevitable, and that's where the concept of zugzwang comes into play. The problem is that White can't just play any waiting move since Black can move their a-pawn. However, Black's a7-pawn and b8-bishop are the only two pieces they can move!
Once you realize that you must make the bishop move and you can't let Black move their a-pawn, it's much easier to find the answer. The brilliant 1.Ra6!! blocks the a7-pawn, forcing Black to move the bishop. If Black decides to move their recently freed b7-pawn to capture the rook, another form of disaster comes along:
Conclusion
You now know what the Paul Morphy puzzle is, its history, and how to solve it. Challenge your friends to solve it too, or go to our Puzzles page to practice your tactics so you can play like Paul Morphy!
