The Duke of Brunswick smiled as he moved with the American, Paul Morphy, into the Italian Opera House. He kept a private box here during the season. It was close enough that one could reach out to touch an actor if one wanted, but—of course—one didn’t. In addition to Mr. Morphy, the Duke had invited the Count Isouard who was one of the Duke’s closest friends here in Paris. But Morphy was unaware of this for the Count had arrived earlier and waited in the Duke’s private box.<br/><br/>While Paul Morphy reputed to be one of the strongest if not the strongest chess players in the world intended to watch the play, Karl, the Duke of Brunswick had an ulterior motif. He had studied the American master’s games with his good friend the count and they thought they had a good chance of defeating the American if they put their heads together. Both the Duke and the Count were strong chess players in their own right even if they had not defeated the luminaries that Paul Morphy had vanquished on the chess board.<br/><br/>“Oh Mr. Morphy,” the Duke exclaimed as if in surprise on seeing the count in his box. “It’s my very good friend Count Isouard.” Touching Paul Morphy’s shoulder, he quickly introduced the men. “You know Mr. Paul Morphy from America?”<br/><br/>“But of course,” the Count said in a voice as slippery as buttered lobster. “A bit of a chess player from what I understand? We really must play.”<br/><br/>The Duke smiled. “Oh of course, with three such strong chess players,  how could we not.” It was interesting how the Duke ranked Count Isouard and himself with Paul Morphy who was arguably the world’s strongest chess player of the day. But the Duke and the Count were nothing if not filled with an utter confidence in their joint chess playing abilities.<br/>