The Immortal Game (30 page)

O
THER
L
EGENDARY
G
AMES

True chess aficionados revel in the “brilliancy” of many hundreds of games over the past century or more. Here are just a handful of superb games. Each can be played out move by move online at
TheImmortalGame.com.

1. Bobby Fischer’s “Game of the Century”

In 1956 thirteen-year-old Fischer defeated top player Donald Byrne (brother of eventual
New York Times
chess columnist Robert Byrne) in a contest that stunned commentators quickly dubbed the Game of the Century. Like the Immortal Game, Fischer’s game also featured a number of prominent sacrifices—including Fischer’s Queen.

According to the online encyclopedia
Wikipedia
, Fischer (Black) demonstrates in this game “brilliance, innovation, improvisation and poetry. Byrne (playing white), after a standard opening, makes a minor mistake on move 11, moving the same piece twice (wasting time). Fischer pounces, with strong sacrificial play, culminating in an incredible Queen sacrifice on move 17. Byrne captures the Queen, but Fischer more than compensates by taking many other pieces. The ending is an excellent demonstration of pieces working together to achieve a checkmate.”

D
ONALD
B
YRNE VS.
R
OBERT
J
AMES
F
ISCHER
N
OVEMBER
17, 1956
N
EW
Y
ORK

1. Nf3 Nf6

2. c4 g6

3. Nc3 Bg7
Fischer has opted for a defense based on Hypermodern principles: he’s inviting Byrne to establish a classical Pawn stronghold in the center, which Fischer hopes to undermine and transform into a target. Fischer has fianchettoed his Bishop—moved it to the long diagonal of the board—so it can attack the a1–h8 diagonal, including its center squares.

4. d4 O-O
Fischer castles, concentrating on protecting his King immediately.

5. Bf4 d5

6. Qb3 d×c4

7. Q×c4 c6

8. e4 Nbd7

9. Rd1 Nb6

10. Qc5 Bg4
At this point, Byrne’s pieces are more developed, and he controls the center squares. However, Fischer’s King is well protected, while Byrne’s is not.

11. Bg5?
Here Byrne makes a mistake—he moves the same piece twice, losing time, instead of developing another piece.

11…. Na4!!
Fischer cleverly offers up his Knight, but if Byrne takes it with N×a4, Fischer will play N×e4, and Byrne then suddenly has some terrible choices.

12. Qa3 N×c3

13. b×c3 N×e4!
Byrne declined to take the Knight on move 12, so Fischer tries again by offering material to Byrne, in exchange for a much better position that is especially dangerous to White: an open e-file, with White’s King poorly protected.

14. B×e7
Byrne wisely decides to decline the offered material.

14…. Qb6

15. Bc4 N×c3!

16. Bc5 Rfe8+

17. Kf1 Be6!!
The move by Fischer that made this game famous. Instead of trying to protect his Queen, Fischer counterattacks with his Bishop and sacrifices his Queen.

18. B×b6 B×c4+
Fischer now begins a series of discovered checks, picking up material.

19. Kg1 Ne2+

20. Kf1 N×d4+

21. Kg1 Ne2+

22. Kf1 Nc3+

23. Kg1 a×b6
This move by Fischer takes time out to capture a piece, but it doesn’t waste time because it also threatens Byrne’s Queen.

24. Qb4 Ra4

25. Q×b6 N×d1
Fischer has taken a Rook, two Bishops, and a Pawn as compensation for his Queen; in short, he has gained significantly more material than he’s lost. In addition, Byrne’s remaining Rook is stuck on h1 and it will take precious time to free it, giving Fischer an opportunity to set up another offensive. Byrne has the only remaining Queen, but this will not be enough.

26. h3 R×a2

27. Kh2 N×f2

28. Re1 R×e1

29. Qd8+ Bf8

30. N×e1 Bd5

31. Nf3 Ne4

32. Qb8 b5

33. h4 h5

34. Ne5 Kg7
Fischer breaks the pin, allowing the Bishop to attack as well.

35. Kg1 Bc5+
Now Fischer “peels away” the White King from his last defender, and begins a series of checks that culminate in checkmate. In this interesting series of moves, Fischer shows how to use various pieces together to force a checkmate.

36. Kf1 Ng3+

37. Ke1 Bb4+

38. Kd1 Bb3+

39. Kc1 Ne2+

40. Kb1 Nc3+

41. Kc1 Rc2++ (Black checkmates White.)

(Adapted from an annotation written by David A. Wheeler, with help from Graham Burgess, John Nunn, and John Emms’s
The Mammoth Book of the World’s Greatest Chess Games
[Carroll & Graf, 1998]; Robert G. Wade and Kevin J. O’Connell’s
Bobby Fischer’s Chess Games
[Doubleday, 1972]; and James Eade’s
Chess for Dummies
[IDG, 1996]. Online at
http://www.dwheeler.com/misc/game_of_the_century.txt.
)

2. Paul Morphy’s “Opera Game”

This legendary game from 1858 was played during a performance of
Norma
in a private box very close to the stage in the Italian Opera House in Paris. The legendary American player Paul Morphy played White; two strong European amateurs—the German Duke of Brunswick and the French Count Isouard—played Black as a team.

P
AUL
M
ORPHY VS.
D
UKE OF
B
RUNSWICK AND
C
OUNT
I
SOUARD

P
ARIS
, 1858

1. e4 e5

2. Nf3 d6

3. d4 Bg4?

4. d×e5 B×f3

5. Q×f3 d×e5

6. Bc4 Nf6

7. Qb3 Qe7

8. Nc3
White prefers fast development to winning material.

8….c6

9. Bg5 b5?

10. N×b5!
Morphy chooses not to retreat the Bishop, which would allow Black to gain time for development.

10….c×b5

11. B×b5+ Nbd7

12. O-O-O
The combination of the Bishop’s pin on the Knight and the open file for the Rook will lead to Black’s defeat.

12…. Rd8

13. R×d7 R×d7

14. Rd1 Qe6
Compare the activity of the White pieces with the idleness of the Black pieces.

15. B×d7+ N×d7

16. Qb8+! Morphy finishes with a stylish Queen sacrifice.

16….N×b8

17. Rd8++

(Annotations from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera_game
.)

The Opera Game after 14….Qe6

3. Wilhelm Steinitz’s “Battle of Hastings”

Arguably the most exciting game in one of the most important chess tournaments in history, this contest pitted the aging former world champion Wilhelm Steinitz against the tournament leader Curt von Bardeleben. The play was evidently so intense, and the loss so devastating, that von Bardeleben fell apart at the end and could not finish in a sportsmanlike way.

W
ILHELM
S
TEINITZ VS.
C
URT VON
B
ARDELEBEN
H
ASTINGS
, E
NGLAND
, 1895

1. e4 e5

2. Nf3 Nc6

3. Bc4 Bc5

4. c3 So far, all of the moves have been natural developing moves. White’s fourth move furthers central control and the support of a Pawn on d4.

4…. Nf6

5. d4 e×d4

6. c×d4 Bb4+

7. Nc3 d5

8. e×d5 N×d5

9. O-O Steinitz has safeguarded his King and is now threatening to win a piece on d5, so Black is forced to do something about it. This game shows a familiar theme: one side leaves his King in the center too long, while the other side crashes through with the pieces and forces a checkmate. Moral: do not swap the e Pawns before your King is safe.

9…. Be6

10. Bg5 Another strong move restricting Black’s choice of reply. White has completed his development and at the same time has made an aggressive move. Black now retreats his Bishop.

10…. Be7

11. B×d5 White begins a set of exchanges because he has spotted that afterward the Black King will be stuck in the middle of the board.

11….B×d5

12. N×d5 Q×d5

13. B×e7 N×e7

14. Re1 f6

15. Qe2 Although Qa5+ was a good alternative, Steinitz preferred Qe2, probably because it was simpler. White now threatens mate and the winning of the e7 Knight, so Black’s choice of reply is very limited. White is now in a position to decide on Black’s moves as well as his own, and that makes life much easier!

15…. Qd7

16. Rac1 Simple chess: Black’s pieces are still tied down defending the e7 Knight, so White gets on with his development. Black should now have played 16…. Kf7, after which no variation clearly wins for White. It is quite common in chess that one side’s moves do not actually give him an advantage with best play, but they give the opponent a problem in that he continually has to find the best move just to survive. At last, Black slips and plays: