Paul Morphy
Paul Charles Morphy was an American chess player. He is considered to have been the greatest chess master of his era and an unofficial World Chess Champion. He was a chess prodigy. He was called The Pride and Sorrow of Chess because he had a brief and brilliant chess career, but retired from the game while still young. Bobby Fischer included him in his list of the ten greatest players of all time, and described him as perhaps the most accurate player who ever lived.
Morphy was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, to a wealthy and distinguished family. He learned to play chess by simply watching games between his father and uncle. His family soon realized the boys talent and encouraged him to play at family gatherings, and by age nine, he was considered one of the best players in New Orleans. At just twelve years of age, Morphy defeated visiting Hungarian master Johann Lwenthal in a match of three games.
Source: Wikipedia