CHESS PLAYER

Paul Morphy

1837 - 1884

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Icon of person Paul Morphy

Paul Charles Morphy (June 22, 1837 – July 10, 1884) was an American chess player. During his brief career in the late 1850s, Morphy was acknowledged as the world's greatest chess master. A prodigy, Morphy emerged onto the chess scene in 1857 by convincingly winning the First American Chess Congress, winning each match by a large margin. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Paul Morphy has received more than 1,907,641 page views. His biography is available in 56 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 52 in 2019). Paul Morphy is the 17th most popular chess player (down from 15th in 2019), the 753rd most popular biography from United States (down from 700th in 2019) and the 2nd most popular American Chess Player.

Paul Morphy is most famous for being the first world champion of chess, and for being a chess prodigy.

Memorability Metrics

  • 1.9M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 64.36

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 56

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 5.88

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 4.39

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among CHESS PLAYERS

Among chess players, Paul Morphy ranks 17 out of 461. Before him are Max Euwe, Garry Kasparov, Vasily Smyslov, François-André Danican Philidor, Adolf Anderssen, and Nona Gaprindashvili. After him are Paul Keres, Ruy López de Segura, Viktor Korchnoi, Samuel Reshevsky, Judit Polgár, and Siegbert Tarrasch.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1837, Paul Morphy ranks 16. Before him are Cosima Wagner, Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse, Marie François Sadi Carnot, Adam Opel, Pedro V of Portugal, and Ivan Kramskoi. After him are Vasil Levski, John Newlands, Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders, Georges Ernest Boulanger, Ilia Chavchavadze, and Queen Cheorin. Among people deceased in 1884, Paul Morphy ranks 8. Before him are Bedřich Smetana, Maria Anna of Savoy, Elias Lönnrot, Marie Taglioni, Marie Bashkirtseff, and Johann Gustav Droysen. After him are Jean-Baptiste Dumas, Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, Hermann Kolbe, Fanny Elssler, Charles Adolphe Wurtz, and Alfred Brehm.

Others Born in 1837

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Others Deceased in 1884

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In United States

Among people born in United States, Paul Morphy ranks 753 out of 20,380. Before him are James Caan (1940), Robert Altman (1925), Ali MacGraw (1939), David Fincher (1962), Edward Mills Purcell (1912), and Richard Dean Anderson (1950). After him are Les Paul (1915), H. H. Holmes (1861), Steven Weinberg (1933), John Huston (1906), Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867), and Randy Quaid (1950).

Others born in United States

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Among CHESS PLAYERS In United States

Among chess players born in United States, Paul Morphy ranks 2. Before him are Bobby Fischer (1943). After him are Frank Marshall (1877), Harry Nelson Pillsbury (1872), Reuben Fine (1914), William Lombardy (1937), Jackson Showalter (1860), Arnold Denker (1914), Nick de Firmian (1957), Isaac Kashdan (1905), Robert Byrne (1928), and Fabiano Caruana (1992).

American born Chess Players

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