"After becoming the greatest chessmaster of his time, Morphy retired from chess at 22. He then had a rejected marriage proposal, failed legal practice, and died at age 47."
Put another way, after abandoning chess at 22, he lived another 25 years, fell in love, and was given wide latitude to live a life of comfort and pursuing his passions owing to his family's wealth. Unfortunately he developed something akin to paranoid schizophrenia before the world knew how to effectively treat it.
Really hard to sum up an entire lifetime in a couple sentences. Pointing out only a few bad things is just as misleading as only pointing out a few good ones.
You just bounced me back from a momentary bit of depression.
Re:Becoming a Chess Grandmaster
by stainforth on Tuesday July 27, 2021 @02:00PM
(#27975489)
And apparently at his law practice "clients" would come in, but just ask to play chess.
Re:Becoming a Chess Grandmaster
by paulddraper on Monday July 26, 2021 @03:51PM
(#27964501)
Fair, just emphasizing the similarities to his quote.
Re:Becoming a Chess Grandmaster
by stonemetal12 on Monday July 26, 2021 @06:08PM
(#27966099)
How much of a life did you waste if you were "the greatest chessmaster of his time" at 22. I have heard worse tales of misspent youth.
Frighteningly apropos
EDIT: After becoming the greatest chessmaster of his time, Morphy retired from chess at 22. He then had a rejected marriage proposal, failed legal practice, and died at age 47.