PAUL Morphy scored +3=1-0 against Louis Paulsen's ...e6 Sicilian in the final of the First American Chess Congress, held in New York in 1857.
This was very convincing, especially when considered against his much narrower plus-score as Black of +2=1-1.
Morphy's priority, as in his play against the French and the Petrov, was speedy development.
But he was not blind to positional considerations. Indeed he made a point of targeting the hole Black allows at d6 in the ...e6 Sicilian.
And he took time out in their second Sicilian to play the positional a4 to prevent Black getting in an effective ...b5.
What is perhaps particularly significant is that, contrary to his usual practice in 1.e4 games, Morphy did not castle early.
In games one and three he castled on the 11th move, in game two on the 15th, and not at all in game four.
Clearly he recognised, as is common knowledge today, that early castling in semi-open games is not as urgent or as beneficial as in open games.
It could be objected that he used to castle early against the French, which is a semi-open game, but Morphy did that because he turned the French into an open game by clearing the e file of pawns.
In modern chess, Black often plays ...a6 in ...e6 Sicilians, ensuring the hole at d6 will not be an issue, at least early on. This modern treatment is at least partly due to how Morphy exploited d6 in his games against Paulsen.
The modern treatment limits the lessons we can learn from Morphy's play in this match. But his fondness for speedy development, while keeping a watch for positional opportunities and not obsessing about early castling, are useful indicators.
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