About this game
The Opera Game, explained
Paul Morphy vs the Duke of Brunswick and Count Isouard · Paris Opera, 1858 · Philidor Defense
In 1858, during a night at the Paris Opera, Paul Morphy played a casual game against two allied opponents — the Duke of Brunswick and Count Isouard, consulting together. It lasted seventeen moves, and it has been used to teach the same lesson ever since: in an open position, development is worth more than material.
Black's early moves each cost time. 3...Bg4 pins the knight before Black's own pieces are out, and after 4.dxe5 the pin has to be released with 4...Bxf3, handing Morphy the bishop pair and a lead in development. By move 9 Black has moved pawns and the queen while almost every Black piece still sits at home. Morphy, meanwhile, has developed with a threat on nearly every move.
The punishment is direct. When Black tries to chase the bishop with 9...b5, Morphy simply takes: 10.Nxb5 cxb5 11.Bxb5+ gives up a knight to rip open the queenside while the Black king is stuck in the centre. 12.O-O-O puts a rook on the d-file with tempo, and 13.Rxd7 removes the last defender. The finish is one of the most famous combinations in chess: 16.Qb8+!! forces the knight to capture, and 17.Rd8# delivers mate with Morphy's last two pieces — a queen given away so a rook and bishop could mate.
The key moments
- 3...Bg4?!
- A premature pin. After 4.dxe5 Black must give up the bishop pair just to avoid losing a pawn, and White's lead in development begins.
- 10.Nxb5!
- Morphy answers a pawn threat with a piece sacrifice. The point is not material — it is that 11.Bxb5+ arrives while the Black king still sits in the centre.
- 12.O-O-O
- Castling as an attacking move: the rook lands on the open d-file, hitting the pinned knight on d7, with every White piece now participating.
- 16.Qb8+!!
- The queen sacrifice. 16...Nxb8 is forced, and it decoys the knight away from covering d8.
- 17.Rd8#
- Mate with a rook and bishop — the only two pieces Morphy has left, against a Black army that never got out of bed.
What to take from it
The Opera Game is the cleanest demonstration in chess of why 'develop your pieces and don't waste time' is rule one. Every Black pawn move and queen sortie cost a tempo; every Morphy move developed a piece with a threat. When one side is fully mobilised and the other is not, material stops mattering.
The board above is a full interactive review of this game: every move is engine-checked, and you can ask the coach why any move works — or test your own idea and have it graded. When you’re done with the classics, review your own games the same way.
The full game
Philidor Defense (C41) · 1858
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Bg4 4.dxe5 Bxf3 5.Qxf3 dxe5 6.Bc4 Nf6 7.Qb3 Qe7 8.Nc3 c6 9.Bg5 b5 10.Nxb5 cxb5 11.Bxb5+ Nbd7 12.O-O-O Rd8 13.Rxd7 Rxd7 14.Rd1 Qe6 15.Bxd7+ Nxd7 16.Qb8+ Nxb8 17.Rd8# 1-0