num_pages: 542
description: Paul Morphy was the scion of two outstanding Creole families. His paternal grandfather Diego Morphy had been Spanish Consul first in Charleston and then in New Orleans; his maternal grandfather Joseph Le Carpentier commonly called the double-tongued was a successful French auctioneer. On the condition that Le Carpentier would build a house suitable for a superb bridal residence and that his daughter the beautiful Telcide should be provided with a fantastic dowry Don Diego gave his consent to an alliance between her and his son Alonzo a promising young lawyer destined to become a justice in the supreme court of Louisiana. It was a step down socially for the Morphys but Don Diego felt there were compensations especially as he and Joseph Le Carpentier had long had a common bond in their love of chess: closer ties would facilitate more and more frequent games.
language: English
title: The Chess Players
publisher: Farrar, Strauss & Giroux