Paul Morphy (22 June 1837 – 10 July 1884), called "the pride and sorrow of chess", was an American chess master. He was the greatest chess player of his era and an unofficial world champion. This was widely accepted when he defeated Adolf Anderssen, with seven wins, two loses, and two draws, in 1858. Morphy was also one of the first great chess prodigies in the modern era.<ref name="H/W">Hooper, David and Whyld, Kenneth 1992. "The Oxford companion to chess". 2nd ed, Oxford University Press. </ref>