Paul Morphy vs Bobby Fischer
Two chess prodigies, compared on what is actually documented: field, era, country and record. No invented numbers.
The record, side by side
| Paul Morphy | Bobby Fischer | |
| Field | Sports | Sports |
| Sub-field | Chess | Chess |
| Born | 1837 | 1943 |
| Died | 1884 | 2008 |
| Country of birth | United States | - |
| Star sign | Cancer | Pisces |
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 →
Bobby Fischer
On a July evening in 1972, in a stark hall in Reykjavik, Iceland, two men sat down to play chess with the eyes of the world upon them. One represented the Soviet Union, the dominant chess power that had held the World Championship for twenty-four consecutive years. The other was a twenty-nine-year-old from Brooklyn who had learned the game from a pamphlet at age six, who had barely slept in weeks, who had already threatened to withdraw from the match twice, and who was now the most famous chess player on earth. Robert James Fischer…
Full biography of Bobby Fischer →
What they share
- Both are held here under Sports.
- Same sub-field: Chess.
Where they part
- 106 years separate their births (1837 and 1943).
- Their lifetimes never overlapped.
Questions people ask
- Who came first, Paul Morphy or Bobby Fischer?
- Paul Morphy. Paul Morphy was born in 1837, Bobby Fischer in 1943.
- What field is each of them in?
- Paul Morphy is filed under Sports (Chess). Bobby Fischer is filed under Sports (Chess).
- Were they contemporaries?
- No - their lifetimes do not overlap.