Board 4 of Morphy's five-board simultaneous at the St. James's Chess Club, 26 April 1859. Mr. Bird boldly offered the Cunningham Gambit; Morphy, playing White, acquired a splendid attack and won.
3…Be7Extremely bold play on the part of Mr. Bird, to give such an attack as the Cunningham Gambit to a general like Mr. Morphy.
9.Bxf7+Taking B. with Kt. were not so good, as Black, in reply, would capture the K's B. with Kt., leaving White's Kt. en prise of his Q.
10…Re8R. to K. B's sq. would probably have given Black a better game than the move made.
12.Qh5+A capital move, by which White acquires a splendid attack.
15…Qd7Retreating the B. would have given White too much time.
16…Nc6Here, again, Black acted wisely in bringing his pieces into play, rather than attempt to save the exchange.
22.Qe3This part of the game is very prettily played; and the position is so instructive that we append a diagram.
25.Qh3By far the best move on the board; threatening to win his opponent's Queen, and leaving only one line of play open to him.
27.Rg6Kt. to Kt's 6th appears to be White's shortest and simplest mode of winning the game, as it would insure the ultimate gain of the K's P.
27…Re8Checking with Queen at K's 7th is useless.
J. Löwenthal, Morphy's Games of Chess (1860) · Public domain · source