The New York Times on March 31 1859 is yet another story of Morphy's exploits,
including his win over Mongredien. However, it also gives an interesting twist;
that to choose from the 100 players who want to play Morphy, they would be
divided into groups of 20 to select 5 challengers for Morphy. Does anyone know
whether this competition to challenge Morphy actually took place, and if so any
details of how it was organized/what happened in it? Thanks!

Jerry Spinrad