Paul Morphy, USA, 1858
In his life time, Morphy played thousands of games, almost all them casual. He usually granted "odds" of a chess "piece", or "piece and a move" to his opponents. But only 300 remain, and of those, only 75 were serious games played in competition. Morphy was also the first player to play blindfold simultaneous exhibitions, once playing eight blindfold games at once.
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Morphy
was the first world chess champion, a designation that was unofficial but widely
recognized. From New Orleans, he studied for a law career at Louisiana State
University, though he never was successful at it. As a young man he made a trip
to Europe in order to compete with the strongest players in London and Paris.
He beat everyone he played, though one player Morphy set his sights on, the
English master Howard Staunton, refused to play him.