EP 405- Author, FM Charles Hertan on How Paul Morphy went from Unrated to Unbeatable, plus Reflections on his Classic Book, Forcing Chess Moves

This week’s guest is renowned author and 2-time Massachusetts state champion, FM Charles Hertan. Charles’ new book, The Real Paul Morphy takes an all-encompassing look at the complex legacy of Paul Morphy. Morphy is widely regarded as the best player of the 19th century, yet still might be underappreciated. What made Morphy’s play so special? Why isn’t he mentioned more often in the chess G.O.A.T. conversations? What led to his mental health struggles and early chess retirement? In addition to discussing Paul Morphy, we talk about why Charles’ playing career. He reviews why he retired from OTB chess near a peak rating of 2500 USCF, and Charles shares chess improvement advice from his classic tactics manual, Forcing Chess Moves . As always, approximate timestamps of topics discussed can be found below. Chessable Pro- Thanks to our sponsors, Chessable.com. Check out their new offerings including GM Garry Kasparov’s much anticipated Chessable debut! If you sign up for Chessable Pro, please use the following link to help support Perpetual Chess: https://www.chessable.com/pro/?utm_source=affiliate&utm_medium=benjohnson&utm_campaign=pro 0:00- We dive right into Charles’ new book, The Real Paul Morphy. How did Morphy get so good so fast? What differentiated his skills? Purchase the book and access a free preview from New in Chess here: https://www.newinchess.com/the-real-paul-morphy 10:00- Patreon mailbag question: “What was Morphy’s approach to chess improvement?” 17:00- Does Charles have a favorite story that is illustrative of Morphy’s genius? 22:00- Patreon mailbag question: “Why is Morphy often overlooked in GOAT conversations?” 28:00- Why didn’t Morphy’s brilliant chess skills translate to other domains? 31:00- Did Charles discover any new details about the famed “ Opera game ”? Mentioned: Edward Winter article on this game.. https://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/morphy.html 35:00- Patreon mailbag question: ‘How does Charles’ book differ from the famous 1976 biography Paul Morphy: The Pride and Sorrow of Chess ?” 43:00- We discuss some of the chess improvement lessons from Charles’ classic book, Forcing Chess Moves . 54:00- Patreon mailbag question: “When solving tactics puzzles, should one look at their opponents forcing moves before considering their own?” 1:00:00- Charles peaked with a USCF Rating over 2500. What led to his retiring from OTB chess at age 39? 1:08:00- We return to the topic of Morphy- What led to his unfortunate mental health issues in his later years? As a mental health professional, what does Charles think afflicted Morphy? 1:18:00- Given Morphy and Fischer’s mental health issues, does he think there is a correlation between genius and mental illness? 1:19:00- What was Morphy’s social life like? 1:22:00- Does Charles have a favorite game of Morphy’s? Morphy vs. Lowenthal match- https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?tid=79504 1:22:00- Thanks so much to Charles for joining me, you can reach him via Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61562693384236 If you would like to help support Perpetual Chess via Patreon, you can do so here: https://www.patreon.com/c/perpetualchess Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices