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London, 1851

The Immortal Game

Adolf Anderssen – Lionel Kieseritzky · 1-0

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The story

Adolf Anderssen and Lionel Kieseritzky played this casual game in London in 1851, during a break in the first international chess tournament. Kieseritzky was so impressed that he sent the moves to his chess club in Paris, and the game was published that summer.

Anderssen gives up a bishop, both rooks and finally his queen, and mates with the three minor pieces he has left: 22. Qf6+ Nxf6 23. Be7#. The Austrian master Ernst Falkbeer called it “the Immortal Game” in 1855.

Kieseritzky probably resigned before the mate was played on the board, but the score that is always reproduced goes on to the famous finish.

The Immortal Game: the map where the opening names end
The position where the game leaves the named openings, with every game of the next four moves around it.

The moves

1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 Qh4+ 4.Kf1 b5 5.Bxb5 Nf6 6.Nf3 Qh6 7.d3 Nh5 8.Nh4 Qg5 9.Nf5 c6 10.g4 Nf6 11.Rg1 cxb5 12.h4 Qg6 13.h5 Qg5 14.Qf3 Ng8 15.Bxf4 Qf6 16.Nc3 Bc5 17.Nd5 Qxb2 18.Bd6 Bxg1 19.e5 Qxa1+ 20.Ke2 Na6 21.Nxg7+ Kd8 22.Qf6+ Nxf6 23.Be7# 1-0

Through the openings

  1. 1. e4King's Pawn Game
  2. 1... e5King's Pawn Game
  3. 2. f4King's Gambit
  4. 2... exf4King's Gambit Accepted
  5. 3. Bc4King's Gambit Accepted: Bishop's Gambit
  6. 4... b5King's Gambit Accepted: Bishop's Gambit, Bryan Countergambit

Source of the moves: en.wikipedia.org

More famous games

The Opera GameMorphy, Paris 1858Playing from a box at the opera, Morphy mates his two opponents in 17 moves. The Evergreen GameAnderssen, Berlin 1852Anderssen sacrifices his queen and mates with a bishop; more than 170 years on, the game is still fresh. The Game of the CenturyD. Byrne – Fischer, New York 1956Thirteen-year-old Bobby Fischer gives up his queen and wins. Kasparov's ImmortalKasparov – Topalov, Wijk aan Zee 1999A rook sacrifice on move 24 starts a hunt that chases Black's king across the whole board. Deep Blue Beats KasparovDeep Blue – Kasparov, New York 1997The last game of the first match a computer won against the world champion, over in 19 moves. The Game Spassky ApplaudedFischer – Spassky, Reykjavik 1972Fischer almost never opened 1.c4; here he did, and at the end even Spassky joined the applause. The Octopus KnightKarpov – Kasparov, Moscow 1985Kasparov's knight digs in on d3 and paralyses White; that match made him world champion. Botvinnik's Bishop SacrificeBotvinnik – Capablanca, AVRO 1938Botvinnik beats former world champion Capablanca with a bishop sacrifice on move 30. The Immortal Zugzwang GameSämisch – Nimzowitsch, Copenhagen 1923White still has plenty of pieces, but every move he could make loses.