The Sheer Enjoyment of Paul Morphy >In the middle of the nineteenth century, a soft-spoken young man from New Orleans would upend the conventional chess world. Perplexing positional pressure coupled with breath-taking combinations would leave him virtually in a class by himself. >In 1909, Hungarian Grandmaster Geza Maroczy - himself a world-class player in the first decade of the 20th century - penned a wonderful compendium of all-known games of the American champion. The book, in German, was an instant success. And now (finally!) it is available in English. >The book contains over 400 games by Morphy, most deeply annotated by Maroczy. He uses a light hand when explaining the logical and positional concepts of the games, while not overlooking the historical background and context in which they were played. >In addition, a brief section on Morphy's endgame skill has been added by GM Karsten Muller and a look from "a modern perspective" has been provided by GM Valeri Beim. >Maroczy's subtle, often poetic insights regarding Morphy's greatness provide an indispensable perspective... Why read Maroczy's magnum opus today? There are of course several good reasons, from a historical standpoint the book is a must-read... From a chess perspective, a complete collection of Morphy's games makes a very deep impression... In short, there are a host of good reasons for chess lovers to celebrate Maroczy's classic Paul Morphy, not the least of which is the sheer enjoyment of watching the incomparable maestro at play. - From the Foreword by Charles Hertan, author of The Real Paul Morphy>
