A Morphy Echo in the FIDE World Cup
In the second round of the current FIDE World Cup tournament in Khanty-Mansiysk, the Azeri Grandmaster Eltaj Safarli bravely played the Evans Gambit against Indian prodigy Nihal Sarin. He even won the game, though only because of a terrible blunder by Sarin. The game started as follows:
This particular line dates back at least 150 years!
In fact, the move 7.Qb3 was first played by the legendary Paul Morphy, the first inofficial World Champion. In 1855, he improvised it over the board in a little known-casual game played in Mobile, Alabama, against a Dr. T. Ayers.
Remember, this was a time when Morphy hadn't achieved world-fame yet - though he already was a formidable player, as is shown by the game in question. In my opinion, it deserves more attention than it has received, so I'll give it here in full with some light comments. The positions around White's 16th move are particularly interesting, and worthy of more careful study.
I suspect it's games like this which prompted the 11th World Champion, Bobby Fischer, to state that Morphy was "perhaps the most accurate player that ever lived." Indeed, analyzing the game with a modern engine, it's still remarkable how accurately Morphy executes the final phase of the game.
Paul Morphy once called the Evans Gambit "that most beautiful of openings". Among the numerous ideas he introduced in this variation, 7.Qb3 is certainly one of the most sustainable, as was once more proven this month.
