Paul Morphy

Paul Charles Morphy (June 22, 1837July 10, 1884) was an American chess player. During his brief career in the late 1850s Morphy was acknowledged as the world's greatest chess master.

A prodigy, Morphy emerged onto the chess scene in 1857 by convincingly winning the First American Chess Congress, winning each by a large margin. He then traveled to Europe, residing for a time in England and France while challenging the continent's top players. He played matches with most of the leading English and French players, as well as the German Adolf Anderssen—again winning all matches by large margins. In 1859, Morphy returned to the United States, before ultimately abandoning competitive chess and receding from public view.

Due to his early exit from the game despite his unprecedented talent, Morphy has been called "The Pride and Sorrow of Chess". This name has often been attributed to Sheriff Walter Cook Spens, chess editor of the ''Glasgow Weekly Herald'', but it is unclear when it first appeared in print. Provided by Wikipedia