Famous games, move by move.
The best way to feel how chess is meant to flow is to watch the greats do it. Step through these classics on the board, with a note at every turning point.
The Opera Game
Played in a private box at the Paris Opera while Morphy would rather have watched the show, this is the most famous teaching game in chess. Every move develops a piece with purpose, and the finish is a model of how a lead in development becomes a mating attack.
Play through itThe Immortal Game
The most romantic game ever played. Anderssen gives up a bishop, both rooks and the queen — and mates with his three remaining minor pieces. A monument to initiative over material from the age of attacking chess.
Play through itLégal's Mate
The oldest trap worth knowing. Légal offers his queen to deliver a checkmate with three minor pieces — the pattern that still catches unwary players three centuries later. Short, sharp, and unforgettable.
Play through itThe Evergreen Game
Named 'Evergreen' because its beauty never fades. Anderssen — the same attacker behind the Immortal Game — builds a kingside assault out of an Evans Gambit and closes with a stunning queen sacrifice and a quiet, deadly bishop check.
Play through itThe Game of the Century
A thirteen-year-old Bobby Fischer, playing Black, produced one of the most famous games in history. He offered his queen on move 17 not to force mate at once, but to unleash his minor pieces and rooks into a storm the great Donald Byrne could not survive. Machine-precise attacking chess from a boy — hence 'the Game of the Century'.
Play through itA Queen Sacrifice and Double Check
One of the most quoted miniatures ever played. Réti sacrifices his queen with check, and after the king is dragged into the open, a double check finishes the game in eleven moves. The perfect illustration of why double check is the most forcing move in chess.
Play through itRubinstein's Immortal
Often called the most beautiful combination ever played. Rubinstein lets his queen hang and answers every capture with another sacrifice, weaving a mating net out of two bishops and a rook. A masterpiece of piece harmony from one of the greatest players never to be world champion.
Play through itKasparov's Immortal
Perhaps the greatest attacking game of the modern era. Kasparov sacrifices a rook to prise open Topalov's king, then chases it from a7 all the way to e1 — the length of the board — with a stream of checks that looks like chaos but was calculated to the end. A monument to deep calculation and the value of the initiative.
Play through itThe Gold Coins Game
Home to what many call the most beautiful move ever played. Frank Marshall places his queen on a square guarded by three enemy pawns — and not one of them can take it. Legend has it the spectators were so delighted they showered the board with gold coins, giving the game its name.
Play through it