Paulsen - Morphy

Four knights opening. Usually creates a slow, closed game. Not here, however!
We talk many times about the dangers of bringing out a Queen too early, but there are times when a centrally placed Queen, WELL PROTECTED of course, can devastate. On move 12, Morphy sticks his Queen right in Paulsen's face, where it bottles up White and is the deciding factor in the game. Morphy breaks a couple rules in this game. Rules such as Don't Bring the Queen out Early. Such as "pawns capture towards the middle." And of course the Queen sacrifice (avoiding the trade) was astonishing.

This game brings up many interesting points.
- In the beginning, Be careful of the center fork trick, which many intermediate players fall for (and I will fall for as soon as I am an intermediate player). Meaning, that for white, 4. Bc4 might be a mistake because after 4... Nxe4 5. Nxe4 d5 6. Bxd5 Qxd5, then black has a stronger center, and more mobility. Work it out on the board below. Hit the play button through black's third move, then move the pieces on your own. R to reset when you're done. White instead moves Bb5, setting up the Knight pin.
- After move 14 look at the comparative position. With 15. Qxa4, white has a little mobility, but look at his c1 bishop! Look at pawn structure too, count the "islands."
- Morphy took 12 minutes before making the move of the game.... 17. ... Qxf3! dramatically sacificing his Queen, but ONLY after he made sure he won with every possible response by White.
- White resigned after 28... Be3, see if you can figure out why he cant just take that Bishop... notice his poor c1 Bishop, stuck at home the entire game... :(