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The Opera Game was a famous chess game played in 1858 between the American chess master Paul Morphy...

The Opera Game was a famous chess game played in 1858 between the American chess master Paul Morphy and two strong amateurs, the German noble Duke Karl of Brunswick and the French aristocrat Count Isouard, who consulted, playing together as partners against Morphy. The game is often used by chess teachers to demonstrate the importance of rapidly developing one's pieces, as well as other lessons. 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 This is the Philidor defence. It is a solid opening, but slightly passive, and it ignores the important d4 square. 3. d4 Bg4? Though 3... Bg4 is considered an inferior move today, this was standard theory at the time. Now 3...exd4 or 3...Nf6 are usual. 3...f5 is a more aggressive alternative. 4. dxe5 Bxf3 If ... dxe5, then 5. Qxd8+ Kxd8 6. Nxe5 and White wins a pawn and Black has lost the ability to castle. Black, however, did have the option of 4...Nd7 5.exd6 Bxd6, when he's down a pawn, but has some compensation in the form of better development. 5. Qxf3 dxe5 6. Bc4 Nf6 This seemingly sound developing move runs into a surprising refutation. After White's next move, both f7 and b7 will be under attack. Better would have been to directly protect the f7 pawn (with the