The Morphy number is a measure of how closely a chess player is connected to

Paul Morphy Paul Charles Morphy (June 22, 1837 – July 10, 1884) was an American chess player. He is considered to have been the greatest chess master of his era and is often considered the unofficial World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he was c ...

(1837–1884) by way of playing chess games.''Your Morphy Number is Up''
Taylor Kingston, The Chess Cafe, 2005

Description

People who played a chess game with Morphy have a Morphy number of 1. Players who did not play Morphy but played someone with a Morphy number of 1 have a Morphy number of 2. People who played someone with a Morphy number of 2 have a Morphy number of 3, et cetera. , there are very few known living players with Morphy number 3. Many ordinary players have a Morphy number of 6 or more.''Playing the Morphy Number Game''
Tim Harding, The Chess Cafe, 2010 The idea is similar to the

Erdős number The Erdős number () describes the "collaborative distance" between mathematician Paul Erdős and another person, as measured by authorship of mathematical papers. The same principle has been applied in other fields where a particular individual ...

for mathematicians, the

Bacon number Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon or Bacon's Law is a parlor game where players challenge each other to arbitrarily choose an actor and then connect them to another actor via a film that both actors have appeared in together, repeating this process to t ...

for actors, and the Shusaku number, the equivalent for the

board game Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well. Many board games feature a com ...

of Go.

Origin

Taylor Kingston states that the idea of the Morphy number may have originated in a June 2000 note by

Tim Krabbé Tim Krabbé (born 13 April 1943) is a Dutch journalist, novelist and chess player. Krabbé was born in Amsterdam. His writing has appeared in most major periodicals in the Netherlands. Once a competitive cyclist, he is known to Dutch readers fo ...

, who has Morphy number 4. Krabbé wrote ''"I once played an official game with Euwe, who played Tarrasch, who played

Paulsen Paulsen is a Danish, Norwegian and German patronymic surname, from the given name Paul prefix, of Latin origin, itself derived from ''Paulus'', meaning "small". People with the name Paulsen include: * Albert Paulsen (1925–2004), Ecuadorian-Am ...

, who played Morphy."''

Morphy number of famous players

These are players who are important in making links for Morphy numbers.

Morphy number 1

Morphy is known to have played about 100 people, but all of the known links for players with Morphy number 2 go through the following five players. A few years after the early lists of Morphy numbers tabulated, it was discovered that a fifth player, James Mortimer, was Morphy's friend and he played casual games with him. This gives Mortimer a Morphy number of 1, creating a need to drastically revise those previous lists to include many more players. This is because Mortimer had a very long, if not particularly successful, career, including the Ostende-B 1907 tournament. This enabled many famous younger players to gain a Morphy number of 2, including Mieses, Tartakower, Znosko-Borovsky, and Bernstein, who played beyond WW2, enabling still younger players to gain a Morphy number of 3, and so on. *

Adolf Anderssen Karl Ernst Adolf Anderssen (July 6, 1818 – March 13, 1879)"Anderssen, Adolf" in '' The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 385. was a German chess master. He won the great intern ...

* Henry Bird * James Mortimer * John Owen *

Louis Paulsen Louis Paulsen (15 January 1833 in Gut Nassengrund near Blomberg, Principality of Lippe – 18 August 1891) was a German chess player. In the 1860s and 1870s, he was among the top players in the world. He was a younger brother of Wilfried Pa ...

* Other opponents

Morphy number 2

Everyone in this group played someone in the group above. The Australian champion Frederick Esling achieved MN2 by beating Anderssen in an offhand game and another Australian champion, Julius Leigh Jacobsen (1862–1916) achieved MN2 by beating Bird in a casual match +4-2=1, enabling many Australian players of the early 20th century to achieve MN3. The following are some of the most important players who have achieved MN2. *

Semyon Alapin Semyon Zinovyevich Alapin (russian: Семён Зиновьевич Алапин; – 15 July 1923) was a Russian chess player, openings analyst, and puzzle composer. He was also a linguist, railway engineer and a grain commodities merchant. ...

Ossip Bernstein Ossip Samoilovich Bernstein (20 September 1882 – 30 November 1962) was a Russian-French chess player and businessman. He was one of the inaugural recipients of the title International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950. Biography Born in Zhytomyr, ...

Joseph Blackburne Joseph Henry Blackburne (10 December 1841 – 1 September 1924) was a British chess player. Nicknamed "The Black Death", he dominated the British scene during the latter part of the 19th century. Blackburne learned the game at the relatively late ...

Amos Burn Amos Burn (1848–1925) was an English chess player, one of the world's leading players at the end of the 19th century, and a chess writer. Burn was born on New Year's Eve, 1848, in Hull.Richard Forster, ''Amos Burn: A Chess Biography'', McFar ...

Mikhail Chigorin Mikhail Ivanovich Chigorin (also ''Tchigorin''; russian: Михаи́л Ива́нович Чиго́рин; – ) was a Russian chess player. He played two World Championship matches against Wilhelm Steinitz, losing both times. The last great ...

* Eugene Ernest Colman *

Oldřich Duras Oldřich Duras (also Důras; 30 October 1882, Pchery, Bohemia, then Austria-Hungary – 5 January 1957, Prague, then Czechoslovakia) was a leading Czech chess master of the early 20th century. FIDE awarded him the title of International Gran ...

Played James Mortimer at Ostend, 1907. * Frederick Esling *

Isidor Gunsberg Isidore ( ; also spelled Isador, Isadore and Isidor) is an English and French masculine given name. The name is derived from the Greek name ''Isídōros'' (Ἰσίδωρος) and can literally be translated to "gift of Isis." The name has survived ...

David Janowski Dawid Markelowicz Janowski (25 May 1868 – 15 January 1927; often spelled ''David'') was a Polish-born French chess player. The Janowski variations of the Old Indian Defense and of the Queen's Gambit Declined are named after him. Biography ...

Emanuel Lasker Emanuel Lasker (; December 24, 1868 – January 11, 1941) was a German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher who was World Chess Champion for 27 years, from 1894 to 1921, the longest reign of any officially recognised World Chess Champ ...

* S. Lipschütz *

George Mackenzie George Mackenzie may refer to: People *George Mackenzie of Rosehaugh (1636–1691), Scottish lawyer *George Mackenzie, 1st Earl of Cromartie (1630–1714), Scottish Secretary of State *George Mackenzie, 2nd Earl of Seaforth (died 1651), Highland cl ...

* Frank Marshall *

James Mason James Neville Mason (; 15 May 190927 July 1984) was an English actor. He achieved considerable success in British cinema before becoming a star in Hollywood. He was the top box-office attraction in the UK in 1944 and 1945; his British films inc ...

Jacques Mieses Jacques Mieses (born Jacob Mieses; 27 February 1865 – 23 February 1954) was a German-born British chess player. He was one of the inaugural recipients of the title International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950. He became a naturalized British ci ...

Géza Maróczy Géza Maróczy (; 3 March 1870 – 29 May 1951) was a Hungarian chess player, one of the leading players in the world in his time. He was one of the inaugural recipients of the title International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950. Early career G ...

* Reginald Michell *

Aron Nimzowitsch Aron Nimzowitsch ( lv, Ārons Nimcovičs, russian: Аро́н Иса́евич Нимцо́вич, ''Aron Isayevich Nimtsovich''; 7 November 1886 – 16 March 1935) was a Latvian-born Danish chess player and writer. In the late 1920s, Nimz ...

Harry Pillsbury Harry Nelson Pillsbury (December 5, 1872 – June 17, 1906) was an American chess player. At the age of 22, he won one of the strongest tournaments of the time (winning the Hastings 1895 chess tournament), but his illness and early death prevente ...

Akiba Rubinstein Akiba Kiwelowicz Rubinstein (1 December 1880 – 14 March 1961) was a Polish chess player. He is considered to have been one of the greatest players never to have become World Chess Champion. Rubinstein was granted the title International Grandm ...

Carl Schlechter Carl Schlechter (2 March 1874 – 27 December 1918) was a leading Austro-Hungarian chess master and theoretician at the turn of the 20th century. He is best known for drawing a World Chess Championship match with Emanuel Lasker. Early life Sch ...

* Edward Guthlac Sergeant *

Jackson Showalter Jackson Whipps Showalter (February 5, 1859 in Minerva, Kentucky – February 5, 1935 in Lexington, Kentucky) was a five-time U.S. Chess Champion: 1890, 1892, 1892–1894, 1895–96 and 1906–1909. Chess career U.S. Championship matches Showal ...

Rudolf Spielmann Rudolf Spielmann (5 May 1883 – 20 August 1942) was a Jewish-Austrian chess player of the romantic school, and chess writer. Career Spielmann was born in 1883, third child of Moritz and Cecilia Spielmann, and had a younger brother Edgar, an ...

Wilhelm Steinitz William Steinitz (born Wilhelm Steinitz; May 14, 1836 – August 12, 1900) was an Austrian and, later, American chess player. From 1886 to 1894, he was the first official World Chess Champion. He was also a highly influential writer and che ...

Siegbert Tarrasch Siegbert Tarrasch (; 5 March 1862 – 17 February 1934) was a German chess player, considered to have been among the strongest players and most influential theoreticians of the late 19th and early 20th century. Life Tarrasch was born in Bresla ...

Savielly Tartakower Savielly Tartakower (also known as ''Xavier'' or ''Ksawery'' ''Tartakower'', less often ''Tartacover'' or ''Tartakover''; 21 February 1887 – 4 February 1956) was a Polish and French chess player. He was awarded the title of International Grand ...

Richard Teichmann Richard Teichmann (24 December 1868 – 15 June 1925) was a German chess master. He was known as "Richard the Fifth" because he often finished in fifth place in tournaments. But in Karlsbad 1911, he scored a convincing win, crushing Akiba Ru ...

* Sir George Thomas *

Szymon Winawer Szymon Abramowicz Winawer (March 6, 1838 – November 29, 1919) was a Polish-Jewish chess player who won the German Chess Championship in 1883. Tournament and match results At the Paris 1867 tournament held at the Café de la Régence, his first ...

Eugene Znosko-Borovsky Eugene Znosko-Borovsky (russian: Евге́ний Алекса́ндрович Зноско-Боро́вский, Yevgeny Alexandrovich Znosko-Borovsky; 16 August 1884 – 31 December 1954) was a Russian chess player, music and drama critic, teach ...

Johannes Zukertort Johannes Hermann Zukertort (Polish: ''Jan Hermann Cukiertort''; 7 September 1842 – 20 June 1888) was a Polish chess master. He was one of the leading world players for most of the 1870s and 1880s, but lost to Wilhelm Steinitz in the World Che ...

Morphy number 3

Most of the masters in this group played several members of the previous group. This group includes some of the most important players for making connections to later generations. Botvinnik and Reshevsky played older masters such as Lasker and Janowski, had long careers, and played many younger players. Najdorf was Tartakower's pupil and they played a number of published games together, and Najdorf played blitz right into his 80s, allowing many younger players to achieve 4. Smyslov and Keres had very long careers, so much younger players achieved MN4 by playing them. Gligoric also played Tartakover, allowing many Yugoslav players to achieve 4. C.J.S. Purdy played Tartakower, enabling many Australian players to achieve 4. Fairhurst, who played Tartakover, was many times champion of Scotland, and later moved to New Zealand, so a number of players in these countries achieved 4 by playing him. As of May 2022, living players with Morphy number 3 are

Leonard Barden Leonard William Barden (born 20 August 1929, in Croydon, London) is an English chess master, writer, broadcaster, journalist, organizer and promoter. The son of a dustman, he was educated at Whitgift School, South Croydon, and Balliol College ...

Bernard Cafferty Bernard Cafferty (born 27 June 1934 in Blackburn, Lancashire) is an English chess master, columnist, writer, magazine editor and translator. Chess career Cafferty was one of the leading English chess players of the late 1950s and 1960s, ranking ...

, Franciscus Kuijpers, Christian Langeweg,

Aleksandar Matanović Aleksandar Matanović (born May 23, 1930) is a Serbian chess grandmaster. Following the death of Yuri Averbakh at the age of 100 on May 7, 2022, Matanović became the oldest living grandmaster. Chess career Awarded the GM title in 1955, Matano ...

, Friðrik Ólafsson,

Oliver Penrose Oliver Penrose (born 6 June 1929) is a British theoretical physicist. He is the son of the scientist Lionel Penrose and brother of the mathematical physicist Roger Penrose, chess Grandmaster Jonathan Penrose, and geneticist Shirley Hodgson. ...

, and

Stewart Reuben Stewart Reuben (born 1939) is a British chess player, organiser, arbiter and author. He has also been a professional poker player, been called "one of Britain's foremost poker players" and "one of the best two or three players in England", and ...

.Frederick Rhine
Fun with Morphy Numbers
/ref> *

James Macrae Aitken James Macrae Aitken (27 October 1908 – 3 December 1983) was a Scottish chess player. Aitken was born in Calderbank, Lanarkshire, Scotland. In 1938 he received a PhD from Edinburgh University on the topic of 'The Trial of George Buchanan Before ...

Alexander Alekhine Alexander Aleksandrovich Alekhine, ''Aleksándr Aleksándrovich Alékhin''; (March 24, 1946) was a Russian and French chess player and the fourth World Chess Champion, a title he held for two reigns. By the age of 22, Alekhine was already a ...

Conel Hugh O'Donel Alexander Conel Hugh O'Donel Alexander (19 April 1909 – 15 February 1974), known as Hugh Alexander and C. H. O'D. Alexander, was an Ireland, Irish-born United Kingdom, British cryptanalyst, chess player, and chess writer. He worked on the ...

Pal Benko Pál C. Benkő ( hu, Benkő Pál; July 15, 1928 – August 26, 2019) was a Hungarian-American chess player, author, and composer of endgame studies and chess problems. Early life Benko was born on July 15, 1928 in Amiens, France, where his ...

Arthur Bisguier Arthur Bernard Bisguier (October 8, 1929April 5, 2017), paternal surname Bisgeier, was an American chess player, chess promoter, and writer who held the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM). Bisguier won two U.S. Junior Championships (1948, 1949), ...

* Efim Bogolyubov *

Fedor Bogatyrchuk Fedir Parfenovych Bohatyrchuk (also ''Bogatirchuk'', ''Bohatirchuk'', ''Bogatyrtschuk'') ( uk, Федір Парфенович Богатирчук; , ''Fyodor Parfenyevich Bogatyrchuk''; 27 November 1892 – 4 September 1984) was a Ukrainian-Can ...

Isaac Boleslavsky Isaac Yefremovich Boleslavsky ( uk, Ісаак Єфремович Болеславський, russian: Исаак Ефремович Болеславский; 9 June 1919 – 15 February 1977) was a Soviet chess player and writer. Early caree ...

Mikhail Botvinnik Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik, ( – May 5, 1995) was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster. The sixth World Chess Champion, he also worked as an electrical engineer and computer scientist and was a pioneer in computer chess. Botvinnik ...

David Bronstein David Ionovich Bronstein (russian: Дави́д Ио́нович Бронште́йн; February 19, 1924 – December 5, 2006) was a Soviet and Ukrainian chess player. Awarded the title of International Grandmaster by FIDE in 1950, he narro ...

Defeated Edward Guthlac Sergeant in the 1960 British Championship *

José Raúl Capablanca José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera (19 November 1888 – 8 March 1942) was a Cuban chess player who was world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. A chess prodigy, he is widely renowned for his exceptional endgame skill and speed of play. Capabl ...

* Martin Christoffel *

Arthur Dake Arthur William Dake (April 8, 1910 – April 28, 2000) was an American chess player. He was born in Portland, Oregon and died in Reno, Nevada. He was born into a Polish farmer family ( Edward Winter has quoted a mistaken statement with Dake's ...

Arnold Denker Arnold Sheldon Denker (February 21, 1914 – January 2, 2005) was an American chess player and author. He was U.S. champion in 1944 and 1946. In later years he served in various chess organizations, receiving recognition from the United States ...

Jan Hein Donner Johannes Hendrikus (Hein) Donner (July 6, 1927 – November 27, 1988) was a Dutch chess grandmaster (GM) and writer. Donner was born in The Hague and won the Dutch Championship in 1954, 1957, and 1958. He took part in the Internacional Chess Tou ...

Marcel Duchamp Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, , ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, and conceptual art. Duchamp is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Picasso ...

* Erich Eliskases *

Max Euwe Machgielis "Max" Euwe (; May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch chess player, mathematician, author, and chess administrator. He was the fifth player to become World Chess Champion, a title he held from 1935 until 1937. He served as ...

William Fairhurst William Albert Fairhurst CBE (21 August 1903 – 13 March 1982) was a British bridge designer and international chess master. He was highly accomplished in both disciplines and for many years successfully divided his time between two careers. H ...

Reuben Fine Reuben C. Fine (October 11, 1914 – March 26, 1993) was an American chess player, psychologist, university professor, and author of many books on both chess and psychology. He was one of the strongest chess players in the world from the mi ...

Salo Flohr Salomon Mikhailovich Flohr (November 21, 1908 – July 18, 1983) was a Czechoslovak and Soviet chess player and writer. He was among the first recipients of the title International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950. Flohr dominated many tournam ...

Svetozar Gligorić Svetozar Gligorić (Serbian Cyrillic: Светозар Глигорић, 2 February 1923 – 14 August 2012) was a Serbian and Yugoslav chess grandmaster and musician. He won the championship of Yugoslavia a record twelve times, and is consider ...

Borislav Ivkov Borislav Ivkov (12 November 1933 – 14 February 2022) was a Serbian chess Grandmaster. He was a World championship candidate in 1965, and played in four more Interzonal tournaments, in 1967, 1970, 1973, and 1979. Ivkov was a three-time Yugos ...

Paul Keres Paul Keres (; 7 January 1916 – 5 June 1975) was an Estonian chess grandmaster and chess writer. He was among the world's top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s, and narrowly missed a chance at a World Chess Championship match on five ...

George Koltanowski George Koltanowski (also "Georges"; 17 September 1903 – 5 February 2000) was a Belgian-born American chess player, promoter, and writer. He was informally known as "Kolty". Koltanowski set the world's blindfold record on 20 September 1937 ...

Alexander Kotov Alexander Alexandrovich Kotov (Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Ко́тов; – 8 January 1981) was a Soviet chess grandmaster and author. He was a Soviet chess champion, a two-time world title Candidate, and a prolific write ...

* Čeněk Kottnauer * Franciscus KuijpersPlayed Ossip Bernstein at the 1961 IBM Amsterdam tournament. * Christian Langeweg *

Bent Larsen Jørgen Bent Larsen (4 March 1935 – 9 September 2010) was a Danish chess grandmaster and author. Known for his imaginative and unorthodox style of play, he was the second strongest non-Soviet player, behind Bobby Fischer, for much of the 19 ...

* Edward Lasker *

Andor Lilienthal Andor (André, Andre, Andrei) Arnoldovich Lilienthal Reuben Fine, ''The World's Great Chess Games'', Dover Publications, 1983, p. 216. . (5 May 1911 – 8 May 2010) was a Hungarian and Soviet chess player. In his long career, he played against te ...

Vera Menchik Vera Francevna Mencikova (russian: Вера Францевна Менчик, ''Vera Frantsevna Menchik''; cz, Věra Menčíková; 16 February 1906 – 26 June 1944), was a Russian-born Czechoslovak chess player who primarily resided in En ...

Stuart Milner-Barry Sir Philip Stuart Milner-Barry (20 September 1906 – 25 March 1995) was a British chess player, chess writer, World War II codebreaker and civil servant. He represented England in chess both before and after World War II. He worked at Bletch ...

Vladimir Nabokov Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (russian: link=no, Владимир Владимирович Набоков ; 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (), was a Russian-American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Bor ...

Miguel Najdorf Miguel Najdorf (born Mojsze Mendel Najdorf) (15 April 1910 – 4 July 1997) was a Polish–Argentinian chess grandmaster. Originally from Poland, he was in Argentina when World War II began in 1939, and he stayed and settled there. He was ...

* Friðrik Ólafsson * Frank Parr *

Jonathan Penrose Jonathan Penrose, (7 October 1933 – 30 November 2021) was an English chess player, who held the titles Grandmaster (1993) and International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster (1983). He won the British Chess Championship ten times between 195 ...

Arturo Pomar Arturo Pomar Salamanca (1 September 1931 – 26 May 2016) was a Spanish chess player. He was the first Spanish player to be awarded the title of grandmaster (GM), and was a seven-time national champion.. ajedrez.pastranec.netLeontxo Garcỉ''Muer ...

Lodewijk Prins Lodewijk Prins (27 January 1913, Amsterdam – 11 November 1999) was a Dutch chess player and referee of chess competitions. Prins was awarded the International Master title in 1950, and was made an International Arbiter in 1960. In 1982 FI ...

* David Pritchard * C.J.S. Purdy *

Samuel Reshevsky Samuel Herman Reshevsky (born Szmul Rzeszewski; November 26, 1911 – April 4, 1992) was a Polish chess prodigy and later a leading American chess grandmaster. He was a contender for the World Chess Championship from the mid-1930s to the mid-196 ...

Friedrich Sämisch Friedrich Sämisch (20 September 1896 – 16 August 1975) was a German chess player and chess theorist. He was among the inaugural recipients of the title International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950. Background Sämisch was a bookbinder ...

Vasily Smyslov Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov ( rus, Васи́лий Васи́льевич Смысло́в, Vasíliy Vasíl'yevich Smyslóv; 24 March 1921 – 27 March 2010) was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster, who was World Chess Champion from 1957 t ...

Herman Steiner Herman Steiner (April 15, 1905 – November 25, 1955) was an American chess player, organizer, and columnist. He won the U.S. Chess Championship in 1948 and became International Master in 1950. Even more important than his playing career were his ...

* László Szabó * Wolfgang Unzicker *

Milan Vidmar Milan Vidmar (22 June 1885 – 9 October 1962) was a Slovenian electrical engineer, chess player, Chess theory, chess theorist, and writer. He was among the top dozen chess players in the world from 1910 to 1930 and in 1950, was among the inaugu ...

* Robert Wade * Norman Whitaker * Baruch Harold Wood

Morphy number 4

many of these players are still alive; a few (such as Anand and Short) are still active. * Michael Adams *

Viswanathan Anand Viswanathan "Vishy" Anand (born 11 December 1969) is an Indian chess grandmaster and a former five-time World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion. He became the first grandmaster from India in 1988, and is one of the few players to have ...

Ulf Andersson Ulf Andersson (born 27 June 1951) is a leading Swedish chess player. FIDE awarded him the International Master title in 1970 and the Grandmaster title in 1972. Career At his peak, Andersson reached number four on the FIDE rating list. Tourname ...

* Lev Aptekar *

Keith Arkell Keith Charles Arkell (born 8 January 1961) is an English chess Grandmaster. He won the English Chess Championship in 2008. In 2014 he was European Senior (50+) Champion, and, later in the year, tied for first in the World Senior (50+) Champions ...

Yuri Averbakh Yuri Lvovich Averbakh (russian: Ю́рий Льво́вич Аверба́х; 8 February 1922 – 7 May 2022) was a Russian chess grandmaster and author. He was chairman of the USSR Chess Federation from 1973 to 1978. He was the first centenar ...

Alexander Beliavsky Alexander Genrikhovich Beliavsky (, ua, Олександр Генріхович Бєлявський, sl, Aleksander Henrikovič Beljavski; also romanized ''Belyavsky''; born December 17, 1953) is a Soviet, Ukrainian and Slovenian chess pl ...

Harold Bloom Harold Bloom (July 11, 1930 – October 14, 2019) was an American literary critic and the Sterling Professor of Humanities at Yale University. In 2017, Bloom was described as "probably the most famous literary critic in the English-speaking worl ...

Walter Browne Walter Shawn Browne (10 January 1949 – 24 June 2015) was an Australian-born American chess and poker player. Awarded the title Grandmaster by FIDE in 1970, he won the U.S. Chess Championship six times. Early years Browne was born to an Ame ...

Donald Byrne Donald Byrne (June 12, 1930 – April 8, 1976) was an American university professor and chess player. He held the title International Master, and competed for his country in the Chess Olympiad on several occasions. Biography Born in New York Cit ...

* Murray Chandler *

Maia Chiburdanidze Maia Chiburdanidze ( ka, მაია ჩიბურდანიძე; born 17 January 1961) is a Georgian chess Grandmaster. She is the sixth Women's World Chess Champion, a title she held from 1978 to 1991, and was the youngest one until 2 ...

* Nigel Davies''Morphy Numbers Revisited: The Mortimer Effect'', by Taylor Kingston
/ref> *

Mark Dvoretsky Mark Izrailevich Dvoretsky (russian: Марк Изра́илевич Дворе́цкий; December 9, 1947 – September 26, 2016) was a Russian chess trainer, writer, and International Master. Biography Dvoretsky was born in Moscow in 1947. H ...

Ben Finegold Benjamin Philip Finegold (born September 6, 1969) is an American chess grandmaster and YouTuber/Twitch streamer. He had previously been nicknamed the "strongest International Master in the United States" until receiving his Grandmaster (GM) ti ...

Bobby Fischer Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943January 17, 2008) was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Championships at the age of 14. In 1964, he won with an 11� ...

Semyon Furman Semyon Abramovich Furman (December 1, 1920 – March 17, 1978) was a Soviet chess player and trainer of Belarussian Jewish origin. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1966. Furman is best known for developing Anatoly Karpov into a ...

Nona Gaprindashvili Nona Gaprindashvili ( ka, ნონა გაფრინდაშვილი; born 3 May 1941) is a former Soviet and Georgian chess player, and the first woman ever to be awarded the FIDE title Grandmaster in 1978. She was the fifth women' ...

* Paul Garbett *

Efim Geller Efim Petrovich Geller (russian: Ефим Петрович Геллер, uk, Юхим Петрович Геллер; 8 March 1925 – 17 November 1998) was a Soviet chess player and world-class grandmaster at his peak. He won the Soviet Champi ...

Florin Gheorghiu Florin Gheorghiu (born 6 April 1944) is a Romanian chess player and has been a university lecturer in foreign languages. Born in Ploiești, on 6 April 1944, while the American bombers attacked the country's capital, his prodigious talent for the ...

* Ewen Green *

Vlastimil Hort Vlastimil Hort (born 12 January 1944) is a German chess Grandmaster. During the 1960s and 1970s he was one of the world's strongest players and reached the 1977–78 Candidates Tournament for the World Chess Championship, but never qualified ...

* Robert Hübner *

Vassily Ivanchuk Vasyl Mykhaylovych Ivanchuk ( uk, Василь Михайлович Іванчук; born March 18, 1969), also transliterated as Vassily Ivanchuk, is a Ukrainian chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1988. A leading ...

Gata Kamsky Gata Kamsky ( tt-Cyrl, Гата Камский, italics=no; russian: Гата Камский; born June 2, 1974) is a Soviet-born American chess grandmaster, and a five-time U.S. champion. Kamsky reached the final of the FIDE World Chess Cha ...

Anatoly Karpov Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov ( rus, links=no, Анато́лий Евге́ньевич Ка́рпов, p=ɐnɐˈtolʲɪj jɪvˈɡʲenʲjɪvʲɪtɕ ˈkarpəf; born May 23, 1951) is a Russian and former Soviet chess grandmaster, former World Che ...

Garry Kasparov Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born 13 April 1963) is a Russian chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist and commentator. His peak rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being surpassed by ...

Allen Kaufman Allen Kaufman (1933) is an American chess master and the former Executive Director of the American Chess Foundation and Chess-in-the-Schools. Kaufman, a longtime member of the Marshall Chess Club and former president and vice-president,

Alexander Khalifman Alexander Valeryevich Khalifman (russian: Алекса́ндр Вале́рьевич Халифма́н; born 18 January 1966) is a Russian chess player and writer. Awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1990, he was FIDE World Chess Cha ...

Ratmir Kholmov Ratmir Dmitrievich Kholmov ( Russian: Ратмир Дмитриевич Холмов) (13 May 1925 in Shenkursk – 18 February 2006 in Moscow) was a Russian chess Grandmaster. He won many international tournaments in Eastern Europe during his ...

Viktor Korchnoi Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi ( rus, Ви́ктор Льво́вич Корчно́й, p=vʲiktər lʲvovʲɪtɕ kɐrtɕˈnoj; 23 March 1931 – 6 June 2016) was a Soviet (before 1976) and Swiss (after 1980) chess grandmaster (GM) and chess writer. H ...

* Gary Lane *

Ljubomir Ljubojević Ljubomir Ljubojević (; born November 2, 1950) is a Serbian chess grandmaster. He won the Yugoslav Chess Championship in 1977 (tied) and 1982. Life and career Ljubojević was born on 2 November 1950 in Titovo Užice, Yugoslavia (now Užice, S ...

Sergio Mariotti Sergio Mariotti (born 10 August 1946) is an Italian chess player. He is the first Italian to achieve the title of Grandmaster, which FIDE awarded him in 1974. Career Born in Florence, he became the Italian junior champion in 1965 at Turin and ...

Tony Miles Anthony John Miles (23 April 1955 – 12 November 2001) was an English chess player and the first Englishman to earn the Grandmaster title. Early and personal life Miles was an only child, born 23 April 1955 in Edgbaston, a suburb of Birming ...

Predrag Nikolić Predrag Nikolić (born 11 September 1960 in Bosanski Šamac) is a Bosnian chess grandmaster. Biography He first competed for the Yugoslav Championship in 1979, taking a share of second place. The following year and again in 1984, he went ...

John Nunn John Denis Martin Nunn (born 25 April 1955) is an English chess grandmaster, a three-time world champion in chess problem solving, a chess writer and publisher, and a mathematician. He is one of England's strongest chess players and was forme ...

* Bruce Pandolfini *

Tigran Petrosian Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian (, ; 17 June 1929 – 13 August 1984) was a Soviet-Armenian chess grandmaster, and World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969. He was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his almost-impenetrable defensive playing style ...

Judit Polgár Judit Polgár (born 23 July 1976) is a Hungarian chess grandmaster, generally considered the strongest female chess player of all time. In 1991, Polgár achieved the title of Grandmaster at the age of 15 years and 4 months, at the time the yo ...

* Susan Polgar *

Ruslan Ponomariov Ruslan Olehovych Ponomariov ( uk, Русла́н Оле́гович Пономарьо́в; born 11 October 1983) is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster. He was FIDE World Chess Champion from 2002 to 2004. He won the Ukrainian Chess Championship in ...

Lajos Portisch Lajos Portisch (born 4 April 1937) is a Hungarian chess Grandmaster, whose positional style earned him the nickname, the "Hungarian Botvinnik". One of the strongest non-Soviet players from the early 1960s into the late 1980s, he participated ...

Lev Polugaevsky Lev Abramovich Polugaevsky ( rus, Лев Абрамович Полугаевский, p=pəlʊɡɐˈjefskʲɪj; 20 November 1934 – 30 August 1995) was a Soviet chess player. He was awarded the title of International Grandmaster by FIDE in ...

Hans Ree Hans may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Hans (name), a masculine given name * Hans Raj Hans, Indian singer and politician ** Navraj Hans, Indian singer, actor, entrepreneur, cricket player and performer, son of Hans Raj Hans ** Yuvraj Hans, Punjabi a ...

Zoltán Ribli Zoltán Ribli (born September 6, 1951 in Mohács) is a Hungarian chess grandmaster and International Arbiter (1995). He was twice a World Championship Candidate and three times Hungarian Champion. A career in chess As a youngster, he was twi ...

* Ian Rogers *

Valery Salov Valery Salov (born 26 May 1964) is a Russian chess grandmaster who was once ranked the third best player in the world. Competitive chess career Salov was awarded the International Master title in 1984 and the Grandmaster title in 1986. He was ...

Ortvin Sarapu Ortvin Sarapu (born Ortvin Sarapuu; 22 January 1924 – 13 April 1999), known in New Zealand as "Mr Chess", was an Estonian-born chess player who emigrated to New Zealand and won or shared the New Zealand Chess Championship 20 times from ...

Jonathan Sarfati Jonathan David Sarfati (born 1 October 1964) is a young Earth creationist who writes articles for Creation Ministries International (CMI), a non-profit Christian apologetics ministry. Sarfati has a PhD in chemistry, and was New Zealand natio ...

Yasser Seirawan Yasser Seirawan ( ar, ياسر سيروان; born March 24, 1960) is a Syrian-born American chess grandmaster and four-time United States champion. He won the World Junior Chess Championship in 1979. Seirawan is also a published chess author a ...

Alexei Shirov Alexei Shirov (, lv, Aleksejs Širovs; born 4 July 1972) is a Latvian and Spanish chess player. Shirov was ranked number two in the world in 1994. He won a match against Vladimir Kramnik in 1998 to qualify to play as challenger for the classic ...

Nigel Short Nigel David Short (born 1 June 1965) is an English chess grandmaster, columnist, coach, and commentator, who is the vice-president of FIDE since October 2018. Short earned the Grandmaster title at the age of 19, and was ranked third in the ...

* Vernon Small *

Boris Spassky Boris Vasilievich Spassky ( rus, Бори́с Васи́льевич Спа́сский, Borís Vasíl'yevich Spásskiy; born January 30, 1937) is a Russian chess grandmaster who was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from 1969 ...

Peter Svidler Pyotr Veniaminovich Svidler (russian: Пётр Вениами́нович Сви́длер; born 17 June 1976), commonly known as Peter Svidler, is a Russian chess grandmaster and an eight-time Russian Chess Champion who now frequently comment ...

* Richard John Sutton * Mark Taimanov *

Mikhail Tal Mikhail Nekhemyevich Tal; rus, Михаил Нехемьевич Таль, ''Mikhail Nekhem'yevich Tal' '', ; sometimes transliterated ''Mihails Tals'' or ''Mihail Tal'' (9 November 1936 – 28 June 1992) was a Soviet-Latvian chess player ...

Jan Timman Jan Timman (born 14 December 1951) is a Dutch chess grandmaster who was one of the world's leading chess players from the late 1970s to the early 1990s. At the peak of his career, he was considered to be the best non-Soviet player and was known a ...

Veselin Topalov Veselin Aleksandrov Topalov (pronounced ; bg, Весели́н Александров Топа́лов; born 15 March 1975) is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster and former FIDE World Chess Champion. Topalov became FIDE World Chess Champion by wi ...

Anna Ushenina Anna Yuriyivna Ushenina (; born 30 August 1985) is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster who was Women's World Chess Champion from November 2012 to September 2013. Personal life Ushenina lives in Kharkiv, where she was born. She is of Jewish ethnici ...

Rafael Vaganian Rafael Artemovich Vaganian ( hy, Ռաֆայել Արտյոմի Վահանյան, Rrafayel Artyomi Vahanyan, russian: link=no, Рафаэль Артёмович Ваганян, ''Rafael Artemovich Vaganyan''; born 15 October 1951) is an Armenian ...

John L. Watson John Leonard Watson (born 1951) is an American chess International Master and author. In 2022, Watson was inducted into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame along with GM James Tarjan and the late Daniel Willard Fiske. Watson is also a recipient of the ...

Morphy number 5

, many of the top grandmasters were thought to be in this group (along with a large number of lower-rated players). However, several players initially thought to be in this group were actually MN4s; for instance, based on playing Smyslov, who played Tartakower and Bernstein. *

Magnus Carlsen Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian chess grandmaster who is the reigning five-time World Chess Champion. He is also a three-time World Rapid Chess Champion and five-time World Blitz Chess Champion. Carlsen has h ...

Boris Gelfand Boris Gelfand ( he, בוריס אברמוביץ' גלפנד; be, Барыс Абрамавіч Гельфанд, Barys Abramavich Hel'fand; russian: Борис Абрамович Гельфанд, Boris Abramovich Gel'fand; born 24 June 1968) ...

* Mikhail Gurevich *

Igor Ivanov Igor Sergeyevich Ivanov (born 23 September 1945) is a Russian politician who was Foreign Minister of Russia from 1998 to 2004 under both the Yeltsin and the Putin administrations. Early life Ivanov was born in 1945 in Moscow to a Russian fathe ...

Igor Ivanov vs Anatoly Karpov Moscow (1979)
/ref> *

Rustam Kasimdzhanov Rustam Kasimdzhanov; russian: Рустам Касымджанов (born 5 December 1979) is an Uzbek chess grandmaster and former FIDE World Champion (2004-05). He was Asian champion in 1998. In addition to his tournament play, Kasimdzha ...

Vladimir Kramnik Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik (russian: Влади́мир Бори́сович Кра́мник; born 25 June 1975) is a Russian chess grandmaster. He was the Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the undisputed World Chess Ch ...

Joël Lautier Joël Lautier () is a French chess grandmaster and one of the world's leading chess players in the 1990s and early 2000s. In 1986, He won U-14 World Youth Chess Championship in Puerto Rico, Argentina. In 1988, he won the World Junior Chess Champ ...

Péter Lékó Peter Leko ( hu, Lékó Péter; born September 8, 1979) is a Hungarian chess player and commentator. He became the world's youngest grandmaster in 1994. He narrowly missed winning the Classical World Chess Championship 2004: the match was draw ...

Karsten Müller Karsten Müller (born November 23, 1970 in Hamburg, West Germany) is a German chess Grandmaster and author. He earned the Grandmaster title in 1998 and a PhD in mathematics in 2002 at the University of Hamburg. He had placed third in the 1996 Ger ...

Jon Speelman Jonathan Simon Speelman (born 2 October 1956) is an English Grandmaster chess player, mathematician and chess writer. Early life and education He was educated at Worcester College, Oxford, where he read Mathematics. Career A winner of the ...

* Artur Yusupov

References

External links

Chessgames.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morphy number Chess terminology Separation numbers