Board 2 of Morphy's five-board simultaneous at the St. James's Chess Club, 26 April 1859; a Scotch Gambit drawn against Mr. Boden. Löwenthal notes that he incorporated Boden's own annotations from the Field with his analysis, and that the closing moves were played hastily at a late hour.
10…Qd7Probably the best move on the board, liberating his Rooks, and preventing White's playing P. to K. R's 3rd.
11…Ne7Threatening P. to Q's 4th next time. This opening is extremely well played on both sides.
15…f5Here the move of Q. to K. B's 4th looks tempting, but Black rejected it on account of the following variation:— 15. Q. to K. B's 4th; 16. Q. takes Q., Kt. takes Q.; 17. Kt. takes Q's P., Kt. takes B.; 18. Kt. takes Kt., B. takes Q's P.; 19. Q. R. to Q's sq., Q. R. to Q's sq.; 20. K. R. to B's 2nd — and Black is now threatened with the loss of his Q's B., which he must lose time in preventing.
26.Kh1Had White moved K. to Kt's 3rd, Black's reply would have been K. B. to Q's sq., threatening to win White's Queen if the R's P. capture the Kt., by checking with Q. at R's 5th, and then taking P. with P. (ch.).
27.Rgf1White's only move, for Black threatened a forced mate by moving Q. to Kt's 6th.
36.g5Taking P. with P. would have been playing Black's game.
37…h5This is, of course, a slip, overlooking that White, after taking the Pawn en passant, would threaten to take B. with R., pinning the Q. if she retook. Instead of the move made, Black should have played B. to K. R's 4th.
40.Rbg1This, like Black's 37th move, is also a mere oversight, as White clearly ought first to have taken Kt's P. with K. or P. It is only just to both players to mention that the latter moves of the game were played hastily, and at a very late hour.
42…Qh8The only move to avoid the loss of the Bishop, and threatening White with mate on the move.
48…Rh7Black's correct move here is Q. to K. Kt's 2nd.
49.Rxg6+Had the concluding moves been made as carefully as the early ones, probably neither player would have overlooked that, in this position, White can win by advancing his P. to K's 6th. Suppose 49. P. to K's 6th, K. to B's sq. (if Black play instead 49... R. takes R., White P. retakes R., and on K. moving to B., as best, White moves Q. to K's 5th, and wins easily); 50. R. takes R., Q. takes R.; 51. Q. to K's 5th, Q. to R's 6th (if Black, instead, move his Q. to any square on the second line, he either loses his Q., or is mated in a few moves; and if he move the King, he equally loses Q., or allows White's K's P. to Queen); 52. Q. to K. B's 6th (ch.), K. to Kt's sq.; 53. Q. takes Kt's P. (ch.), K. to R's sq.; 54. Q. to R's 6th (ch.), and wins.
50.Rh6Had White here played R. to K. B's 6th (ch.), and followed that with 50. Q. to K. Kt's 3rd, Black would have won the game by playing R. to R's 8th (ch.), and then R. to Q. B's 8th.
51…Qxh6And the game was drawn. We have taken the liberty of incorporating the accurate notes by Mr. Boden — which accompany this game in the Field of that date — with our own analysis and observations thereupon.
J. Löwenthal, Morphy's Games of Chess (1860) · Public domain · source