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. He is considered to have been the greatest chess master of his era and is often considered the unofficial World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he was called "The Pride and Sorrow of Chess" because he had a brilliant chess career but retired from the game while still young. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Paul Morphy has received more than 1,397,286 page views. His biography is available in 50 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 49 in 2019). Paul Morphy is the 18th most popular chess player (down from 15th in 2019), the 794th most popular biography from United States (down from 573rd 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

  • 1.4M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 71.98

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 50

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 5.68

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 4.36

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Page views of Paul Morphies by language


Among CHESS PLAYERS

Among chess players, Paul Morphy ranks 18 out of 376. Before him are Garry Kasparov, François-André Danican Philidor, Viktor Korchnoi, Vasily Smyslov, Adolf Anderssen, and Samuel Reshevsky. After him are Paul Keres, Siegbert Tarrasch, Richard Réti, Ruy López de Segura, Vera Menchik, and David Bronstein.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1837, Paul Morphy ranks 16. Before him are Adam Opel, Fredrik Bajer, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse, Pedro V of Portugal, and Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders. After him are Ivan Kramskoi, Georges Ernest Boulanger, John Newlands, Vasil Levski, Rosalía de Castro, and Empress Dowager Ci'an. Among people deceased in 1884, Paul Morphy ranks 6. Before him are Gregor Mendel, Bedřich Smetana, Marie Taglioni, Maria Anna of Savoy, and Elias Lönnrot. After him are Johann Gustav Droysen, Marie Bashkirtseff, Jean-Baptiste Dumas, Alfred Brehm, Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, and Allan Pinkerton.

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 794 out of 15,968. Before him are John Fante (1909), Rodney King (1965), Tobin Bell (1942), Bob Beamon (1946), Edward C. Tolman (1886), and John Jacob Astor IV (1864). After him are Robert Wagner (1930), George Cukor (1899), Linda Lovelace (1949), Gena Rowlands (1930), James Earl Jones (1931), and Lee Marvin (1924).

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), Isaac Kashdan (1905), Robert Byrne (1928), Arnold Denker (1914), Nick de Firmian (1957), and Fabiano Caruana (1992).

American born Chess Players

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