Henry Edward Bird gave an interview to the Rochester (NY) Post-Express which was printed in the New York Sun on August 30th, 1890. The topic of conversation being his match experiences against American chess legends Paul Morphy and Wilhelm Steinitz, as well as his observations, as such:
“Steinitz beat me 8 to 7, with 6 draws. That was in 1867. In 1858 Morphy beat me 8 to 1, with 1 draw. Steinitz claims that he is a better man than Morphy was, but I think my record with each is a fair test of strength of the two. Steinitz claims that when I played with Morphy I was out of practice, but I cannot explain away my crushing defeat by that great player in any such way.
“I never played better chess in my life than when he beat me. Morphy had more science than Steinitz – more imagination. Morphy never met his match. He was never compelled to play his best game. His resources were never fully tested.”
Below is one of those fine Bird-Morphy games from the summer of 1858 in London, England.
PHOTO: Hastings 1895 Tournament Book
GAME SOURCE & ANNOTATIONS: New York Sun (Feb. 28th, 1892)
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