Editing Opera Game (section)

{{Short description|Famous 1858 chess game played at an opera house in Paris}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
[[File:Opera Game, 1858.gif|thumb|upright=1.3|Animation of the Opera Game]]
The '''Opera Game''' was a [[chess]] game played in 1858 at an opera house in Paris. The American master [[Paul Morphy]] played against two amateurs: the German noble [[Charles II, Duke of Brunswick|Karl II, Duke of Brunswick]], and the French aristocrat Comte Isouard de Vauvenargues. It was played as a {{chessgloss|consultation game}}, with Duke Karl and Count Isouard jointly deciding each move for the black pieces, while Morphy controlled the white pieces by himself. The game was played in a [[Box (theatre)|box]] while an opera was performed on stage.{{efn|It is unclear which opera was being performed while the chess game was played.  Although some sources have indicated ''[[The Barber of Seville]]'',<ref name="Sergeant">{{cite book |last=Sergeant |first=Philip W. |title=Morphy's Games of Chess |year=1957 |isbn=0486203867 |publisher=Dover |pages=149–150}}</ref><ref name="whyldweekend">{{cite book |last=Whyld |first=Kenneth |author-link=Ken Whyld |title=Learn Chess in a Weekend |year=1993 |publisher=Knopf/DK |page=87 |isbn=9780679422297}}</ref> chess historian [[Edward Winter (chess historian)|Edward Winter]] indicated that other sources have pointed to [[Vincenzo Bellini|Bellini]]'s ''[[Norma (opera)|Norma]]'', among other possibilities.  Although Winter himself refrained from pronouncing on the matter, his correspondent Fabrizio Zavatarelli wrote that the game was likely played during a performance of either ''The Barber of Seville'' or ''Norma''.  Winter's analysis points to a day in late October or early November of 1858, but this is also uncertain.<ref name="Winter">{{cite web |last=Winter |first=Edward |title= Morphy v the Duke and Count |url=https://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/morphy.html |website=chesshistory.com}}</ref>}}  Morphy quickly [[checkmate]]d his opponents following rapid {{chessgloss|development}} and [[Sacrifice (chess)|sacrifice]] of {{chessgloss|material}}, including a [[queen sacrifice]].

It is among the most famous of chess games.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Marshall |first1=Frank J. |title=Comparative Chess |date=1932 |publisher=David McKay company |location=Philadelphia |page=54 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=osu.32435010467462&view=1up&seq=60 |access-date=27 November 2021}}</ref> The game is often used by chess instructors to teach the importance of piece development, the value of [[Sacrifice (chess)|sacrifices]] in mating [[Combination (chess)|combinations]], and other concepts. 
{{AN chess|pos=toc}}