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the duo with a series of brilliant sacrifices to
mate. Victory of mind over material is the
poetry of chess.
4.Wilhelm Steinitz vs. Kurt von
Bardeleben, Hastings, 1895
Wilhelm Steinitz, the first official world
champion, begins this game as a Giuoco
Piano. He maneuvers deftly to keep his
opponent from castling into safety. Then he
sacrifices his pawn on d5 so that he can
make the square available for his knight. But
the most brilliant move of the game is 22.
Rxe7+. At first glance, it simply looks like a
blunder. All of White's pieces are attacked,
and if Black wasn't in check, he could play
… Rxc1+ with mate next. But if Black can't
take the rook—with either his king or
queen—he loses in all variations. And by not
taking it, he is eventually mated anyway. If
you're interested in these complex lines, you
can find a complete explanation of this clas-
sic game in many books.
5. Alexander Alekhine vs. O. Tenner,
Cologne, 1911
World Champion Alekhine was a chess
fanatic (he even named his cat "Chess") and
one of the greatest attacking players of all
time. Here he plays the unusual Bishop's
Opening and seems to be developing quietly.
Black even appears to be getting a good
game just at the time Alekhine is able to play
the swashbuckling 11. Nxe5, allowing Black
to capture his queen. Black's king is forced
to march to the center of the board, an
unhealthy spot for a monarch when so many
pieces are still on the board, where he is
mated. It's important to understand that such
sacrifices don't just happen illogically.
White's pieces again had a dominating com-
mand of the board, and Black allowed
White's pressure on f7, Black's most sensi-
tive defensive square when he hasn't castled,
to build into an explosion.
6. Gaudersen vs. Paul, Melbourne, 1928
This "miniature" of only 15 moves, starts off
as a French Defense in which White plays
the Advance Variation, placing his pawns on
d4 and e5. Black's 8th move, castling, was in
this case a blunder because his kingside is
attacked by many pieces and not effectively
defended. White's sparkling 9. Bxh7+ is an
example of a bishop sacrifice that's hap-
pened so often it has a name—the "Greek
Gift." White's 14. Nxe6+ is an example of a
discovered check, the dive bomber of
the chessboard. White's amusing 15th move
is a very rare example of checkmate with the
en passant capture.
7. Edward Lasker vs. George Thomas,
London, 1910
This masterpiece, a Dutch Defense, features
a famous example of the king’s walk to
mate. Edward, an American distant cousin of
the great world champion Emmanuel Lasker,
gets his pieces activated against Black's
kingside while the English champion
Thomas develops (gets his pieces off the
back rank and into play) too slowly. By 10.
Qh5, White is already threatening an all-out
blitzkrieg. His brilliant queen sacrifice 11.
Qxh7 is followed by a devastating discov-
ered double check, 12. Nxf6++. Then
Black's king has to walk the plank, all the
way across the board to g1, the normal spot
for the White king! Here he breathes his last.
8. Wilhelm Steinitz vs. A. Mongredien,
London, 1862
This game starts out as a Center Counter
(also called Scandinavian Defense). Black
loses too much time developing his pieces,
while White gets his into play aggressively.
Indeed, White's army dominates the all-
important center of the board as well as the
king's side. This sets the stage for a mating
attack. White's two-move maneuver 13. Rf3
and 14. Rh3 is called a rook lift, and is a
typical attacking strategy. This rook then
sacrifices itself on h7 in a way that allows
Steinitz to bring his other rook quickly into
the fray. White is a rook down, but all of his
forces take part in the assault, while the
Black queen's rook and bishop seem to be
waiting for the next game. They don't have
long to wait.
9. Aaron Nimzovich vs. S. Alapin,
Riga, 1913
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ENGLISH
tion.
Great Games
At the beginning of the game,
you may select one of sixteen of the
world’s greatest chess games by
pressing 2nd, then OPTIONS
twice to display GAME, and
then
pressing the -1 or +1 key to select a
game number
.
Along with the game number,
you will see the position of the
game after the first two moves were
played. Press the CLEAR key to
return to normal play starting at
move three. You take the winning
side. The display will show your
total great-game score in two digits
(zero at the start) on the left. On the
right, the display also shows the
amount of points you will win if
you play the correct next great-
game move.
If you don’t play the correct
great-game move, an error buzz
will sound and the points for this
move will be divided in half. If the
bonus goes to zero, the correct
move will automatically flash.
Most moves start with 4 bonus
points, but some brilliant moves
start with 8 points.
Go online to the World Chess
Hall of Fame & Sidney Samole
Museum to find out more about
chess and chess greats:
www.chessmuseum.org
The number, players, locations, and dates of
the great games are given below, along with
a brief explanation of each game. (All game
explanations are © 2000 by Al Lawrence; all
rights reserved.)
1. Adolf Anderssen vs. Lionel Kieseritsky,
London, 1851
This marvelous attacking game, a King's
Gambit, is widely known as "The Immortal
Game." Both players show the 19th-century
preference for attack at all costs, and
Anderssen was one of the most ingenious
attackers of all time. After
18. Bd6, he gives
away both of his rooks and his queen! In the
final position, his tiny force is deployed in
just the right way to bring the complete Black
army to its knees.
2. Adolf Anderssen vs. J. Dufresne,
Berlin, 1852
Again we see Anderssen bamboozling his
opponent. The game starts as an Evan's
Gambit, a form of the Giuoco Piano. White's
19th move, Rad1!! is one of the most cele-
brated in the history of the game. With his
reply, … Qxf3, Black actually wins a knight
and threatens mate. You'd think that would
be enough! But Anderssen follows with a
rook and queen sacrifice that forces check-
mate in a shower of brilliant blows. This
classic is known as the "Evergreen Game."
3. Paul Morphy vs. Duke Karl & Count
Isouard, Paris, 1858
While in Paris at the opera, the brilliant,
unofficial world champion from New
Orleans plays an offhand game against two
noblemen. In this case, we're sure it was over
before the fat lady sang! In a Philidor
Defense, the team of two played a weak 3.
… Bg5 that left Morphy with superior
development (more of his pieces are
deployed) and the bishop pair (two bishops
against a bishop and knight). These two
important advantages were all Morphy need-
ed. After Black wastes even more time with
another pawn move, 9. … b5?, Morphy hits
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ENGLISH