Paul Morphy vs Alexei Shirov
Two chess prodigies, compared on what is actually documented: field, era, country and record. No invented numbers.
The record, side by side
| Paul Morphy | Alexei Shirov | |
| Field | Sports | Sports |
| Sub-field | Chess | Chess |
| Born | 1837 | 1972 |
| Died | 1884 | living / not documented |
| Country of birth | United States | Spain |
| Star sign | Cancer | Cancer |
Who they are
Paul Morphy
In the parlors of antebellum New Orleans, a child of eight sat across from his father and an uncle and began absorbing a game that would consume and ultimately destroy him. Paul Charles Morphy had not been formally taught chess. He had watched the adults play, absorbed the rules by observation, and by the time he asked to join a game, he was already capable of beating grown men. The year was 1845. Within a decade, there would not be a stronger player alive on earth.
Full biography of Paul Morphy →
Alexei Shirov
There is a move in a 1998 game between Alexei Shirov and Veselin Topalov that chess players call simply "the Shirov move." It is a bishop sacrifice — Bh3!! — made in a complex middlegame position in the Benoni Defense, in a game that Shirov was playing from behind. The move appears, at first and second and third glance, to be simply wrong. Bishops do not belong on h3 in such positions; the move gives material without obvious compensation; no computer engine of the era would have found it. Shirov found it, played it, and…
Full biography of Alexei Shirov →
What they share
- Both are held here under Sports.
- Same sub-field: Chess.
- Both Cancer.
Where they part
- Born in different countries: United States and Spain.
- 135 years separate their births (1837 and 1972).
- Their lifetimes never overlapped.
Questions people ask
- Who came first, Paul Morphy or Alexei Shirov?
- Paul Morphy. Paul Morphy was born in 1837, Alexei Shirov in 1972.
- What field is each of them in?
- Paul Morphy is filed under Sports (Chess). Alexei Shirov is filed under Sports (Chess).
- Were they contemporaries?
- No - their lifetimes do not overlap.