After digging out, it was time to settle in and look at some chess games. The following caught my interest.
In 1858, before Morphy left Paris he finally met an opponent who, while not his equal, was at least able to put up a fight.
The fact that Morphy got off to a bad start though wasn’t due to his opponents great play. According to Morphy’s secretary it was lack of sleep and fatique due to his having been enjoying Paris’ night life.
Daniel Harrwitz (1821-1884) was one of the stringest players of the day. He had a minus score against Morphy, but was one of a few who could occasionally beat him. 
Harrwitz lived in England from 1849 and founded the British Chess Review. In 1856, he moved to Paris. In hos match against Mor[hy he won the first two games, but then Morphy got his act together and after the score was 5.5-2.5 in Morphy’s favor Harrwitz withdrew vlaomomg health problems. After that he retired to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
[Event "Match, Paris"]
[Site ""]
[Date "1858.09.07"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Daniel Harrwitz"]
[Black "Paul Morphy"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D35"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"]
[PlyCount "109"]
[EventDate "1858.09.??"]
[Source "Illustrated Lond"]
{D35: Queen's Gambit Declined} 1. d4 {Harrwitz almost always played 1.d4} e6 2.
c4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bf4 {At the time it was believed that this move was the
most forcful. In fact, Morphy thought it was so good that he avoided it for
the rest of the match. Today it's rarely seen even though its success rate is
on a par with the more popular 4.Bg5 and 4.cxd4.} a6 5. e3 c5 (5... dxc4 {
is more common.} 6. Bxc4 b5 7. Bb3 Bb7 8. Nf3 Bd6 {with full equality. Meyer,H
(2305)-Paulsen,D (2360) Germany 1984}) 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. a3 cxd4 8. exd4 {This
opening is so modern that it would not be surprising to see this position
today.} dxc4 {Often black will delay this capture until white has developed
his B, but here he does not want white to play c5.} 9. Bxc4 b5 10. Bd3 {
Often in these types of positions white will play Ba2, Rc1, Bb1 and Qd3
setting up a battery aimed at h7, but black can usually engineer a
satisfactory defense.} Bb7 11. O-O Be7 12. Be5 O-O (12... Nxe5 13. dxe5 Nd7 14.
Be4 Bxe4 15. Nxe4 O-O {is fully equal.}) 13. Qe2 Nd5 14. Bg3 {Black can now
keep the position completely equal with, say, 14...Rc8 or 14...Nf6} Kh8 {
Morphy played this with the intention of advancing his f-Pawn and so avoids a
Q check on e6. After the game Morphy considered that it lost the game and
recommended 14...Bf6. Although 14...Kh8 does absolutely nothing, it hardly
loses the game. The position is so even that engines evaluate it at almost 0.
00.} 15. Rfe1 Bf6 {Morphy originally intended 15...f5 and only now realized it
was a mistake, but so is 15...Bf6} (15... f5 {gets refuted after} 16. Qxe6 Nxc3
17. bxc3 Rf6 18. Qe3 {White is a solid P ip, has the two Bs and is in control
of the e-file which should be enpugh to win.}) (15... Nf6 {is completely equal.
} 16. Rad1 (16. Qe3 Qb6 17. Rad1 Rad8 18. Bc2 Na5 19. Ne5 Nc4 20. Nxc4 bxc4 {
equal}) 16... Nxd4 17. Nxd4 Qxd4 18. Bxb5 Qb6 19. Bc4 Rac8 20. Bd3 {with equal
chances.}) 16. Qe4 g6 17. Nxd5 {How should black recapture! There isn't much
difference between taking with the P or the Q, but the offer to trade Qs is an
indication that Morphy realized his position was not especially good so he
goes on the defensive.} Qxd5 18. Qxd5 {A good alternative was keeping the Qs
on then continuing to build up his position with Bf4 and Rad1} exd5 19. Ne5
Rad8 20. Nxc6 Bxc6 21. Rac1 {[%mdl 2048] White is a bit more active, but the
position is completely equal.} Rc8 22. Bd6 Rg8 (22... Rfe8 {is a tactical
blunder.} 23. Rxe8+ Rxe8 24. Rxc6 Re1+ 25. Bf1 Bxd4 26. Rc2 {Bkacj has lost a
piece.}) 23. Be5 Kg7 {When this game was first published it was annotated by
Johann Lowenthal claimed that "at this point (Morphy) selects a move which
actually gives the victory to his opponent. The Bishop should have now been
captured, and the game thereby would have been rendered an even one." No and
yes. After 23...Kg7 white has the advantage, but it hardly loses the game. But,
yes, 23...Bxe5 followed by 24...Bd7 results in complete equality.} 24. f4 Bd7
25. Kf2 h6 {It's starting here that Morphy [lays a few weak moves and allows
Harrwitz to establish a very strong ending. The actove 25...b4 would have
greatly eased his defense.} (25... b4 26. Bxa6 Bxe5 27. dxe5 Rxc1 28. Rxc1 bxa3
29. bxa3 Ra8 30. Bb7 Rxa3 31. Bxd5 {with a draw.}) 26. Ke3 Rxc1 27. Rxc1 $18
Rc8 28. Rc5 Bxe5 29. fxe5 {[%mdl 4096] This ending is a technical win for
white. His R is well plaed and black has weak Ps.} Be6 (29... Rxc5 {Lowenthal
was correct when he pointed out that is black plays this with the view of
breaking up his adversary's centre Ps, the white K is posted at d4 and victory
secured.} 30. dxc5 f5 31. exf6+ Kxf6 32. Kd4 {Hiow does white secure the
point? The technique is illustrated in the following line...} Bc6 33. Be2 Kf5
34. Bf3 Ke6 35. Bg4+ Kf7 36. g3 Kf6 37. Bc8 a5 38. b4 a4 39. Bh3 Ke7 40. Bg4
Kf6 41. Be2 Ke6 42. Bf1 g5 43. Bh3+ Ke7 44. Ke5 {and the penetration of
whiye's K ends the game.}) 30. a4 {A weak move that throws away his advantage.}
(30. Rxc8 {is the winning move. After} Bxc8 31. Kd2 {Heading for the Q-side so
as to attack the Ps.} Bd7 32. a4 (32. Kc3 {is not so good because after} a5 {
the K cannot incahe on the Q-side.}) 32... bxa4 33. Bxa6 Be6 34. Bb7 Bd7 35.
Kc3 h5 36. Kb4 f6 37. exf6+ Kxf6 38. Kc5 {wins the d-Pawn.}) 30... bxa4 31.
Bxa6 Rb8 {With the Rs on black has enough play that the position is equal.} 32.
Rb5 Rd8 33. Rb6 Ra8 34. Kd2 Bc8 35. Bxc8 Rxc8 {This R+P ending should be a
draw.} 36. Rb5 Ra8 {[%mdl 8192] This is a serious error.} (36... Kf8 {and
Black is OK.} 37. Rxd5 Rb8 38. Kc3 Rb3+ 39. Kc2 Rb4 {and white;s R in front of
the P instead of behind it allows black to hold the game.}) 37. Rxd5 a3 38.
bxa3 Rxa3 {Surely Morphy ensiaged this position when he played 36...Ra8 and if
so, he totslly misjudhed it. White has a won ending. However, Harrwitz' play
is not exactly accurate.} 39. Rc5 Kf8 40. Ke2 Ke7 41. d5 Kd7 {White should now
play 42.Rb5! threatening to place his R on the 7th rank.} 42. Rc6 h5 43. Rf6
Ke7 {[%mdl 8192] This is the final game losing mistake. The correct way to
defend the P was with 43...Ke8!!} (43... Ke8 44. Rf1 (44. d6 Ra5 {draws.})
44... Ra2+ {and white cannot make any progress.}) 44. d6+ {Harrwitz concludes
brilliantly.} Ke8 45. e6 {White threatens d7+ and mate.} fxe6 46. Rxe6+ Kf7 47.
d7 Ra8 48. Rd6 Ke7 49. Rxg6 Kxd7 50. Rg5 Rh8 51. Kf3 Ke6 52. Kg3 h4+ 53. Kg4 h3
{A last hope. The R ending with an h-Pawn would be draw.} 54. g3 Kf6 55. Rh5 {
Bkack resigned.} 1-0
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