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← The Opera Game as a Family

The Opera Game as a Family

Three short lessons on one famous short chess game, played in 1858, to replay with a child: get your pieces out quickly, open lines, and finish what you start.

Spark & Whetstone · sparkwhetstone.org/learn/the-opera-game-as-a-family · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Answers are at the end, so you can try each question first.

Lesson 1. Get your pieces out

In 1858 the American player Paul Morphy played two noblemen, the Duke of Brunswick and Count Isouard, who consulted together, in a box at the opera house in Paris. The game lasted seventeen moves and is still the most replayed lesson in chess.

Its first lesson is development: bring your pieces off the back row quickly. By move 9, Morphy had a knight, both bishops, his queen and castling ready; his opponents still had pieces at home.

Question. What is the first lesson of the Opera Game?

  1. Bring your pieces out quickly.
  2. Keep your queen at home.
  3. Move only your pawns early on.

Say it back. In your own words: what does "development" mean in chess?

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Lesson 2. Open the lines

On move 10 Morphy gave up his knight to open lines towards the black king: 10.Nxb5. A piece ahead in development is worth more on an open board, where it can reach the action.

Then he castled queenside, putting his rook straight onto the open file in front of the black king.

Question. Why did Morphy give up a knight on move 10?

  1. By mistake.
  2. To open lines for his better-placed pieces.
  3. To swap off queens.

Say it back. Say it back: why is a lead in development worth more on an open board?

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Lesson 3. Finish what you start

The end came quickly. Morphy gave up his queen on move 16 (16.Qb8+), forcing the black knight to take it, and then mated with his rook: 17.Rd8.

The family lesson is to count before you give something up. Morphy's sacrifices worked because every one led somewhere he had already seen.

Question. How did the game end?

  1. With a draw.
  2. With a queen sacrifice and a rook giving mate.
  3. With a pawn becoming a queen.

Say it back. In your own words: why did Morphy's sacrifices work?

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At the table: Replay it with roles

Players: two to four people, 7 or older. You'll need: a chess set (or the board on this site) and the moves of the Opera Game.

  1. One person reads the moves aloud; one moves the white pieces; one moves the black pieces.
  2. Stop at move 9 and count who has more pieces out.
  3. Stop at move 10 and guess why White gave up a knight before reading on.
  4. Play the last two moves slowly, then swap roles and replay it once more.

Seat sheets and a run-through: sparkwhetstone.org/chess/classics

Answers

  1. Bring your pieces out quickly. — Morphy brought his pieces out fast while his opponents fell behind. That lead decided the game.
  2. To open lines for his better-placed pieces. — The sacrifice opened lines towards the king, so his developed pieces could join the attack.
  3. With a queen sacrifice and a rook giving mate. — Morphy gave up his queen to pull the knight away, then mated with his rook on the eighth row.