X Degrees of Separation from Past Chess Greats

[dwl1945]

As a teen i played tourney and informal games w.ith players who had played some of the greats.
Tony Santasiere played Capablanca, Marshall. Edward Lasker, CarlosTorre.
Al Horowitz played Marshall, Capablaca, Fine, Reshevky.
Bob Bornholz (USCF Master from Pgh) played Marshall, Reinfeld, Alekhine.
Edward Lasker played ALL the greats.
Abraham Kupchik played Bolgoyubov, Janowski. Kashdan, Capablanka, Marshall.
Victor Soultanbeieff played Alekhine, Flohr. Etc.

Anyone out there with a similar experience? Were you aware who you were playing and their connections to the greats?

[bnolan]

There is a Wikipedia page on the Morphy Number
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morphy_number

This is the number of connections between any player and Paul Morphy

My Morphy Number is 5. I played John Donaldson (4), who played Bisguier (3)

[jwiewel]

@bnolan

There is a Wikipedia page on the Morph Number
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morphy_number

This is the number of connections between any player and Paul Morphy

My Morphy Number is 5. I played John Donaldson (4), who played Bisguier (3)

I also played John Donaldson (4) and Ray Doyle Satterlee (4 - he played Denker-3 and Bisquier-3).

[dwl1945]

My Morphy number is 4. I played Leonard Barden (draw) in a tourney in London in early 70s. Barden’s Morphy number is 3 according to your citation.

Thanks for your responses.

dwl1945

[wbport]

I beat Loal Davis at the Fairfax US Open (1976?) who beat Bisguier within a year of that.

[Steve_Immitt]

@dwl1945

Anyone out there with a similar experience? Were you aware who you were playing and their connections to the greats?

I once played Jay Bonin. That means I’ve played everyone in the world (and more than a few times).

[dwl1945]

@Steve_Immitt

@dwl1945

Anyone out there with a similar experience? Were you aware who you were playing and their connections to the greats?

I once played Jay Bonin. That means I’ve played everyone in the world (and more than a few times).

But did the experience morph your chess?

[eastside]

@jwiewel

I also played John Donaldson (4) and Ray Doyle Satterlee (4 - he played Denker-3 and Bisquier-3).

Actually, I am surprised you never played Erik Karklins. I imagine there are a lot of Chicago players with a Morphy number of 4, thanks to him.

[mlanger]

Oh, but I played Susan Polgar in Stillwater, OK (Feb. 2004)

She is mentioned on that wiki page as a 4 (overreported?), which makes me a 5.

Michael Langer

[brennanprice]

I played John Curdo, who played Bisguier in (at least) the 2000 US Open, so I’m a 5.

Unless John is a 3 himself (he’s been active long enough to have a chance).

[brennanprice]

@mlanger

Oh, but I played Susan Polgar in Stillwater, OK (Feb. 2004)

She is mentioned on that wiki page as a 4 (overreported?), which makes me a 5.

Michael Langer

Polgar-Bisguier, New York Open 1987. I suspect Art is responsible for a lot of 4s.

[billbrock]

@eastside

@jwiewel

I also played John Donaldson (4) and Ray Doyle Satterlee (4 - he played Denker-3 and Bisquier-3).

Actually, I am surprised you never played Erik Karklins. I imagine there are a lot of Chicago players with a Morphy number of 4, thanks to him.

I have two draws against Erik Karklins. For the purist, does he really count as a “true” MN3? (He played Em. Lasker in a simul in Riga sometime in the late 1920s).

Frederick Rhine wrote an entertaining blog post on the subject in 2010.

The site that calculates your Kasparov number (via the more demanding standard “I beat X who beat Y who beat Garrik”) seems to be defunct.

[billbrock]

I’m sure some folks in this forum could claim a Purist’s Morphy Number (PMN ) of 6 or less if they’ve beaten someone who’s beaten Reshevsky: “I beat A who beat B … who beat Morphy.”

In tournament play, mine is 7: I beat Morris Giles (once! with five losses) who beat Browne who beat Reshevsky who beat Lasker who beat Bird who beat Anderssen who beat Morphy.

[billbrock]

@billbrock

I’m sure some folks in this forum could claim a Purist’s Morphy Number (PMN ) of 6 or less if they’ve beaten someone who’s beaten Reshevsky: “I beat A who beat B … who beat Morphy.”

In tournament play, mine is 7: I beat Morris Giles (once! with five losses) who beat Browne who beat Reshevsky who beat Lasker who beat Bird who beat Anderssen who beat Morphy.

NM Frederick Rhine just emailed me:

What have you been smoking? Your Purist’s Morphy Number is 6, not 7. You beat [FM Albert] Chow,
who beat Shamkovich, 365chess.com/game.php?gid=2378681
who beat Denker, chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1122598,
who beat Jacques Mieses, chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1155603,
who beat Louis Paulsen, chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1295651,
who beat Morphy, chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1259994.

[billbrock]

NM Rhine notes that Reshevsky also played and won against Mieses.

So if you’ve ever won a game against someone who’s beaten Bisguier, Peters, Michael Brooks, or anyone else who had previously beaten Reshevsky, your PMN is 6…

And if you enjoy this game, you might check the MSA history of Igor Ivanov (I did not realize that he was awarded the GM title before he died), Boris Gulko, and Anatoly Lein to discover your tenuous connections to the famous…

[mlanger]

I have beaten Michael Brooks: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1277474, so there will be relatively easy opportunity for some people at US Open this year to improve their PMN.

Didn’t know that Brooks have beaten Reshevsky.

Michael Langer

[eastside]

@billbrock

I have two draws against Erik Karklins. For the purist, does he really count as a “true” MN3? (He played Em. Lasker in a simul in Riga sometime in the late 1920s).

I’m not using a “purist” standard, because it’s not really part of the Morphy calculcations. Also, if I use it, I don’t get to have a Morphy number of 4. (I played George Koltanowski when he came to St. Louis to do an exhibition in the late '80s.)

Besides, Hank Aaron is sometimes said to have an Erdos number of 1, since the two once signed the same baseball. I figure my Morphy number is at least a little more rigorous than that.

If I have to use tournament wins…well…I think I work out to a 9. (Bachler - Colias - Dzindzichashvili - Bisguier - Fischer - Keres - Mortimer - Bird - Morphy) I’m too lazy to look into it any more than that.

[dwl1945]

@dwl1945

My Morphy number is 4. I played Leonard Barden (draw) in a tourney in London in early 70s. Barden’s Morphy number is 3 according to your citation.

Thanks for your responses.

dwl1945

I also played many informal games with MN3 Edward Lasker so I guess I’m a 2MN4.

[billbrock]

@dwl1945

@dwl1945

My Morphy number is 4. I played Leonard Barden (draw) in a tourney in London in early 70s. Barden’s Morphy number is 3 according to your citation.

Thanks for your responses.

dwl1945

I also played many informal games with MN3 Edward Lasker so I guess I’m a 2MN4.

That’s pretty cool in itself!

[Mulfish]

@eastside

If I have to use tournament wins…well…I think I work out to a 9. (Bachler - Colias - Dzindzichashvili - Bisguier - Fischer - Keres - Mortimer - Bird - Morphy) I’m too lazy to look into it any more than that.

You may be lower than you think. Masters who beat up and coming future GMs can accelerate things greatly. For instance, using tournament wins I am a 7, and I’ve never hit expert. (Juan Leon Jimenez - Pupols-Fischer…as you listed above). Pupols is active and plays all around the country, so many people can probably get into the “fast lane” by beating someone who beat him.