Legendary Games
Twenty games every chess player should know - from Anderssen's Immortal Game of 1851 to Kasparov's Immortal of 1999. Read the story, follow the key moments, then watch the game come alive on the board.
The Immortal Game
Anderssen gives away a bishop, both rooks and finally his queen - and still mates with his three remaining minor pieces. The most romantic game ever played.
The Evergreen Game
An Evans Gambit that turns into a firestorm: Anderssen sacrifices his queen and rooks to drag the black king into a mating net. Forever green, never old.
The Opera Game
Played in a box at the Paris Opera during a performance. Morphy develops, opens lines and finishes with a queen sacrifice - a perfect lesson in seventeen moves.
The Game of the Century
A thirteen-year-old Bobby Fischer sacrifices his queen on move seventeen and lets a whole army of minor pieces hunt the white king across the board.
Kasparov's Immortal
Kasparov sacrifices a rook on d4 and chases Topalov's king from b8 all the way to d1. A combination calculated deeper than anyone thought possible.
Machine Takes the Throne
The deciding game of the match. A knight sacrifice on e6 breaks the world champion in nineteen moves - the day a computer beat the best human player.
The Symphony
Fischer opens 1.c4 for the first time in his life and plays a positional masterpiece. When it ends, Spassky himself joins the applause.
Ten Moves to Glory
A queen sacrifice on move nine and a double check: the shortest masterpiece on this list, and one of the most beautiful mates in history.
The Double Bishop Sacrifice
The future world champion sacrifices both bishops to tear open the king's shelter. The pattern still carries his name.
The King Hunt
A queen sacrifice on h7 drags the black king out of his castle and up the board, step by step, until he is mated on g1 - deep in enemy territory.
The Vanishing Opponent
Steinitz leaves his rook en prise again and again. Instead of resigning, von Bardeleben simply walked out of the hall - and Steinitz showed the mate to the spectators.
Rubinstein's Immortal
Two bishops aimed at the white king, a queen sacrifice and a cascade of rook sacrifices: Rubinstein mates with pieces that seem to come from nowhere.
The Gold Coins Game
Marshall places his queen on a square where it can be taken three different ways. Legend says the spectators showered the board with gold coins.
The Passed Pawn
A strategic build-up crowned by a bishop sacrifice on a3: Botvinnik pushes his e-pawn home against the legendary Capablanca.
The Quiet Storm
Fischer sacrifices a knight on f2 and Byrne resigns in a position that grandmasters in the press room still thought was fine for White.
The Queen of Chess
Judit Polgar, the strongest female player in history, outplays Garry Kasparov in the Berlin endgame - her first win against the world number one.
The King Walk
With queens and rooks still on the board, Short marches his own king from g1 to h6 to deliver the final blow. The most audacious king walk ever seen at the top.
Anand's Immortal
Anand sacrifices pawns, a rook and the exchange in a Semi-Slav, and every white piece ends up a spectator. A modern classic in twenty-three moves.
The Octopus Knight
A knight lands on d3 and paralyses the whole white army. Kasparov wins the most famous game of his first title match against Karpov.
The Queen Deflection
White's queen is offered on four different squares, each time deflecting a defender from the back rank. A textbook of the deflection theme.