Opera mate Chess Puzzles

Background reading

Opera Game

The Opera Game was a chess game played in 1858 at Salle Le Peletier in Paris. The American master Paul Morphy played against two amateurs: the German noble Karl II, Duke of Brunswick, and the French aristocrat Comte Isouard de Vauvenargues. It was played as a consultation game, with Duke Karl and Count Isouard jointly deciding each move for the black pieces, while Morphy controlled the white pieces by himself. The game was played in a box while an opera was performed on stage. Morphy quickly checkmated his opponents following rapid development and sacrifice of material, including a queen sacrifice. It is among the most famous of chess games. The game is often used by chess instructors to teach the importance of piece development, the value of sacrifices in mating combinations, and other concepts.

The game

White: Paul Morphy Black: Duke of Brunswick and Count Isouard Opening: Philidor Defence (ECO C41) Paris, October/November Bobby Fischer, in his analysis of the game, called it a weak move. Today 3...exd4 or 3...Nf6 are more commonly played. Philidor's original idea, 3...f5, is a risky alternative. 4. dxe5 Bxf3 :If 4...dxe5, then 5.Qxd8+ Kxd8 6.Nxe5 and White wins a pawn and Black has lost the ability to castle, and White is threatening Nxf7+ winning the rook. If 4...Qe7, White remains a pawn up with 5.Qd5. Black, however, did have the option of 4...Nd7 5.exd6 Bxd6. In this position, Black is down a pawn but has some compensation in the form of better development. 5. Qxf3 :Steinitz's recommendation 5.gxf3 dxe5 6.Qxd8+ Kxd8 7.f4 is also good, but Morphy prefers to keep the queens on. After Black recaptures the pawn on e5, White has a significant lead in development. A recapture with the queen is the most natural as it keeps a healthy kingside pawn structure. 5...dxe5 6. Bc4 Nf6? :This seemingly sound developing move runs into a surprising refutation. After White's next move, both f7 and b7 will be under attack. Better would have been to directly protect the f7-pawn with 6...Qd7 or 6...Qf6, making White's next move less potent. 7. Qb3 Qe7 (diagram) :Black's only reasonable move. White was threatening mate in two, for example, 7...Nc6 8.Bxf7+ Ke7 (or Kd7) 9.Qe6#. 7...Qd7 loses the rook to 8.Qxb7 followed by 9.Qxa8 (since 8...Qc6? would lose the queen to 9.Bb5).Although this move prevents immediate disaster, Black blocks the f8-bishop, impeding development and kingside castling. 8. Nc3 :Morphy could have won a pawn by 8.Qxb7 Qb4+ 9.Qxb4 Bxb4+. White can also win more material with 8.Bxf7+ Qxf7 9.Qxb7, but Black has dangerous counterplay after 9...Bc5! and 10.Qxa8 0-0, or 10.Qc8+ Ke7 11.Qxh8 Bxf2+!. "But that would have been a butcher’s method, not an artist's." (Lasker). Other than the king, all of White's remaining pieces play a role in the checkmate. Therefore, the position satisfies the definition of an economical mate. Economical mate is one of a few terms used by chess problem composers to describe the aesthetic properties of a checkmate position; related concepts include pure mate, model mate, and ideal mate. The final position nearly satisfies the criteria of a model mate, but fails on one condition: there are two reasons why the black king cannot be moved to the square f8. It is occupied by a bishop of the same colour, and it is guarded by the white rook.

Further reading

* The Exploits & Triumphs in Europe of Paul Morphy the Chess Champion by Frederick Milne Edge, with a new introduction by David Lawson. Dover 1973; 203 pages. *

External links

* Le mat de l'opéra, variations of the game's final in other chessproblems and games, 2 July 2008 * Video commentary on the game by Bobby Fischer *