American Chess Congress
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The American Chess Congress was a series of chess tournaments held in the United States, a predecessor to the current U.S. Chess Championship. It had nine editions, the first played in October 1857 an
Group photo from the 1904 tournament
Chesscongress 1857
Paul Morphy
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Paul Charles Morphy was an American chess player. During his brief career in the late 1850s, Morphy was acknowledged as the world's greatest chess master. Later commentators have concluded that he was
American Chess Congress
…in August 1923. The first American Chess Congress, organized by Daniel Willard Fiske and held in New York, October 6 to November 10, 1857, was won by Paul Morphy. It was a knockout tournament in which draws did not count. The top sixteen American players were invited (William Allison, Samuel Robert Calthrop…
Morphy in Philadelphia, 1859
Morphy in 1857, studio of Mathew Brady
Morphy vs. Löwenthal, 1858
Engraving of Paul Morphy by Winslow Homer appearing in Ballou's Pictorial (1859)