- The most instructive games of chess ever played
44 games, 1873-1961 - Think Like A Grandmaster
games from the Kotov's book
[Event "URS-ch sf"]
[Site "Leningrad"]
[Date "1938.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Peter Arsenievich Romanovsky"]
[Black "Genrikh Kasparian"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A48"]
[PlyCount "107"]
[EventDate "1938.??.??"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bf4 Bg7 4. e3 O-O 5. Nbd2 d6 6. Bc4 Nbd7 7. O-O Nh5 8.
Bg5 h6 9. Bh4 Bf6 10. g4 Ng7 11. g5 hxg5 12. Bxg5 Nb6 13. Bxf6 exf6 14. Be2 Bh3
15. Re1 Ne6 16. Kh1 Kg7 17. Rg1 Rh8 18. Rg3 Rh6 19. Ng1 Qh8 20. Nxh3 Rxh3 21.
Qg1 Rh6 22. f4 f5 23. Bd3 Kf8 24. c4 Re8 25. Nf3 Nd7 26. Re1 Nf6 27. Re2 Ng4
28. Kg2 c5 29. d5 Ng7 30. Kh1 Nh5 31. Rgg2 Nhf6 32. Ng5 Nh7 33. Nxh7+ Rxh7 34.
e4 fxe4 35. Rxe4 Rxe4 36. Bxe4 Nf6 37. Bc2 Rh4 38. Qf2 Qh6 39. f5 g5 40. Qg3
Ng4 41. Bd1 Ne5 42. Be2 Rh3 43. Qe1 b6 44. Kg1 Ke7 45. Bg4 Kf6 46. Qe2 Rd3 47.
b3 Qh4 48. h3 Rd4 49. a3 Rd3 50. b4 Rxa3 51. bxc5 bxc5 52. Qb2 Qe1+ 53. Kh2
Rxh3+ 54. Bxh3 1-0
[Event "?"]
[Site "Kiev"]
[Date "1936.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Zhukhovitsky"]
[Black "Poliak"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D18"]
[PlyCount "71"]
[EventDate "1936.??.??"]
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. e3 e6 7. Bxc4 Nbd7 8. O-O
c5 9. Qe2 cxd4 10. Nxd4 Bg4 11. f3 Bh5 12. Rd1 Bc5 13. Bxe6 fxe6 14. Nxe6 Qc8
15. Nxg7+ Kf8 16. Nxh5 Nxh5 17. b4 Bxb4 18. Qb5 Qxc3 19. Bd2 Qxd2 20. Rxd2 Bxd2
21. Qxd7 Bxe3+ 22. Kf1 Ng7 23. Rb1 b6 24. Qd6+ Kf7 25. Qd5+ Kf6 26. Re1 Rae8
27. Rxe3 Rxe3 28. Qd4+ Re5 29. f4 Rhe8 30. g4 h5 31. h3 hxg4 32. hxg4 R8e7 33.
Kf2 Ne8 34. Kf3 Nc7 35. g5+ Kg6 36. fxe5 1-0
|
|
97 games, 1893-1968 - Victor Korchnoi in Olympiads
206 games, 1960-2008 - Vienna 1873
|
Vienna, western capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and a city rich in culture and chess, hosted a World's Fair in the spring of 1873. In the tradition of earlier world exhibitions, great buildings were constructed, inventions and events were hosted and people all over the world were invited to come, observe, and participate in the modern Vienna.
The central hall of the exhibition was erected at the Prater and the fair opened on May 1st. Unfortunately for the city and the fair, the stock market crashed the following week (later known as the "Panic of 1873") and a cholera epidemic later swept through the city and its people in early July. Whereas previous world's fairs were attended by hundreds of thousands to millions of people, Vienna was virtually deserted during the summer following the market crash and the growing epidemic. In spite of these conditions, or perhaps because of them, Kaiser Franz Josef along with Baron Albert Rothchild and Ignatz Von Kolisch pooled together a large prize fund and organized an international chess tournament to be played from July 19th to August 29th, a period that would be during the worst of the epidemic. Games were played in the rooms of the Wiener Schachgesellschaft, and the tournament was organized differently from the previous world's fair competitions. The international chess tournament held at the London world's fair of 1851 was a knockout tournament. In 1862, it was the first all-play-all with draws to be replayed. At the Paris world's fair in 1867, double rounds had been played where draws were not counted. In Vienna an all-play-all system was devised, wherein each of the players were paired against each other and then made to play best of three rounds for each pairing. Unlike traditional scoring in previous tournaments, the results of all three games would be used to determine a sole winner for the pairing or if the two players were drawn. In the event a player won the first two games of the pairing, the third round need not be played. One of the goals of this format was to avoid replaying of draws and also to increase the chances of a definite result. Second round games were played with colors reversed, and if a third round game was required, the players would resume the colors they played in the first round. The schedule called for one game to be played a day, and twenty moves had to be played each hour. Every seventh day was a rest day, although chess masters who quickly dispatched an opponent could get "an extra rest day" on scheduled days for third round play.
Twelve chess masters were invited to participate in the elite event. Adolf Anderssen, who had won the previous world's fair competitions in 1851 and 1862, and Louis Paulsen participated on behalf of Germany. Joseph Henry Blackburne, Henry Edward Bird, and Wilhelm Steinitz (who had long played in Vienna prior) participated on behalf of Great Britain. Samuel Rosenthal, originally from Poland, participated on behalf of France. And the final six seats were occupied by chess masters of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, including Maximilian Fleissig, Oscar Gelbfuhs, Josef Heral, Philipp Meitner, Karl Pitschel, and Adolf Schwarz. Eight games from the tournament were decided by forfeit and they are omitted from this collection. Pitschel withdrew from the tournament after the completion of the eighth pairing's third round, so his six remaining games were forfeited. In the final pairing, both Fleissig and Meitner forfeited a game to each other. Although Anderssen was the clear favorite going into the competition, previous world's fair tournament participant and long time Viennese player Steinitz rose to the occasion and tied British chess master Blackburne in his international debut. Traditional scoring would have placed Blackburne a full point ahead of Steinitz in the final, but because the scoring followed best of three games for each pairing, both men finished with 10 points out of a possible 11 total. A two round playoff match was devised to determine a sole winner, and Steinitz, hot off a fourteen game winning streak to finish the tournament, swept the playoff match winning both games. His last sixteen wins here would contribute to an overall twenty-five game winning streak in professional competition, a record for chess history. Steinitz was crowned champion, being paid the prize fund of 1000 francs as well as an additional 200 golden ducats for winning the playoff match. Blackburne, as second, was awarded 600 francs, while Anderssen (as clear third) received 300 francs. Rosenthal received 200 francs for finishing clear fourth. The remaining players were compensated for their travel expenses. The tournament was later seen as a landmark moment in chess history, with the passing of the guard from Anderssen's reckless, swashbuckling style to Steinitz's more studied, "modern" play, a style that would come to influence the latter century of chess players and theory and herald a new era of competition. The final standings and crosstable:
=1st Blackburne 10/11 ** 11½ 101 00½ 110 11 11 110 11 110 1½1 011 <21½> =1st Steinitz 10/11 00½ ** 11 11 11 11 11 ½½1 ½½1 11 11 11 <20½> 3rd Anderssen 8½/11 010 00 ** 101 11 101 101 0½1 ½1½ 110 11 1½1 <19> 4th Rosenthal 7½/11 11½ 00 010 ** 0½1 00 110 11 11 11 011 11 <17> =5th Paulsen 6½/11 001 00 00 1½0 ** 11 0½1 11 1½1 1½0 11 11 <16> =5th Bird 6½/11 00 00 010 11 00 ** 10½ 11 11 11 11 11 <14½> =9th Heral 3/11 00 00 010 001 1½0 01½ ** ½10 01½ 10½ ½10 001 <12> =7th Fleissig 3½/11 001 ½½0 1½0 00 00 00 ½01 ** 101 01½ 010 11 <11½> =7th Meitner 3½/11 00 ½½0 ½0½ 00 0½0 00 10½ 010 ** ½11 1½½ 11 <11½> =9th Schwarz 3/11 001 00 001 00 0½1 00 01½ 10½ ½00 ** ½½½ 1½½ <10½> =9th Gelbfuhs 3/11 0½0 00 00 100 00 00 ½01 101 0½½ ½½½ ** ½11 <10> 12th Pitschel 1/11 100 00 0½0 00 00 00 110 00 00 0½½ ½00 ** <5> Playoff Match
1st Steinitz 2/2 1 1
2nd Blackburne 0/2 0 0
*Much of the historical content for this tournament comes from the incredible hard work of Jan van Reek and others.
|
|
163 games, 1873 - Vienna 1898
|
In the summer of 1898, Adolf Baron von Rothschild organized a double round robin tournament to be held in Vienna, Austria to celebrate the jubilee of Kaiser Franz Josef. He sent invitations to the best chess masters in the world, eventually garnering twenty participants. Among the notable absentees, World Champion Emmanuel Lasker declined his invitation on the grounds that too many players (over sixteen) had been invited to compete. Charousek was also invited but declined due to poor health. The twenty players, including old masters like Chigorin and Steinitz, as well as new masters like Tarrasch and Pillsbury, assembled at Baron von Rothschild's Heugasse palace on May 31st. The tournament was conducted within the club hall of Wiener Schachklub at Schottengasse 7. Games started promptly each morning at 10am, with a time control of thiry moves every two hours. The adjournment bell was rung at 2pm, with play resuming at 5pm to be continued until 9pm at which point a minimum of fifteen moves per hour must be made. It was forbidden to analyze adjourned games. Among the highlights of the tournament, the elderly Adolf Schwarz was forced to resign during his eighth round game and then leave Vienna due to health reasons. His remaining games in the first half were forfeited and he was removed from the schedule of the second half. In addition to these forfeited games, two more games were decided by forfeit, all of these games have been omitted from this collection. On the 26th of July a large banquet was held in the tournament hall for all the players to celebrate the end of the tournament. Prizes were awarded and several players made haste after the feast to catch the train to Koln where another tournament was being held at the start of August. Tarrasch and Pillsbury had finished the tournament tied for first, so a playoff mini-match of four games was devised to be played on consecutive days following the prize banquet. The remaining players stayed to observe the play off match and cheered Tarrasch as the eventual winner. Tarrasch won 6000 Kronen for first; the Krone being equal in value to the Franc or Mark at the time. Pillsbury won 4000 Kronen as well as a 400 Kronen bonus for a brilliancy prize. The tournament stands as the largest international tournament ever played as well as Tarrasch's greatest tournament victory in his whole chess career. The final standings and crosstable:
=1st Tarrasch 28½/37 ** 01 01 ½1 ½1 ½1 1½ ½½ ½1 1½ ½½ 11 11 11 1½ ½1 11 11 ½1 1 =1st Pillsbury 28½/37 10 ** 01 1½ ½1 10 ½0 1½ 10 ½1 11 11 ½1 ½1 11 11 11 11 11 1 3rd Janowski 26½/37 10 10 ** 11 1½ 11 ½1 00 ½½ 11 0½ 11 ½1 11 11 00 ½1 11 11 1 4th Steinitz 24½/37 ½0 0½ 00 ** ½1 01 ½½ 11 1½ 1½ ½½ 10 11 11 10 ½1 1½ 11 11 1 5th Schlechter 22½/37 ½0 ½0 0½ ½0 ** ½½ 11 ½½ ½½ 1½ 0½ ½1 ½1 1½ 11 ½0 ½1 11 11 1 =6th Chigorin 21/37 ½0 01 00 10 ½½ ** 01 01 1½ 1½ ½0 01 10 11 10 11 01 10 11 1 =6th Burn 21/37 0½ ½1 ½0 ½½ 00 10 ** ½1 0½ ½½ ½½ ½0 ½0 11 10 11 1½ 11 11 1 =8th Lipke 20½/37 ½½ 0½ 11 00 ½½ 10 ½0 ** ½½ ½½ ½0 1½ 11 1½ ½0 ½1 ½½ 11 ½½ 1 =8th Maróczy 20½/37 ½0 01 ½½ 0½ ½½ 0½ 1½ ½½ ** ½½ ½1 11 ½½ 10 0½ 01 ½1 ½½ 11 1 10th Alapin 19/37 0½ ½0 00 0½ 0½ 0½ ½½ ½½ ½½ ** 1½ 1½ 11 00 10 11 ½1 01 11 1 11th Schiffers 18/37 00 00 00 01 ½0 10 ½1 0½ 00 0½ ½½ ** 10 1½ 11 ½1 1½ 11 ½1 1 =12th Blackburne 17½/37 ½½ 00 1½ ½½ 1½ ½1 ½½ ½1 ½0 0½ ** ½½ 0½ ½0 0½ ½½ 00 11 1½ ½ =12th Marco 17½/37 00 ½0 ½0 00 ½0 01 ½1 00 ½½ 00 1½ 01 ** 11 ½1 1½ 1½ ½1 10 1 14th Showalter 16/37 00 ½0 00 00 0½ 00 00 0½ 01 11 ½1 0½ 00 ** ½1 11 11 01 11 1 15th Walbrodt 15½/37 0½ 00 00 01 00 01 01 ½1 1½ 01 1½ 00 ½0 ½0 ** 00 11 0½ 11 1 16th Halprin 15/37 ½0 00 11 ½0 ½1 00 00 ½0 10 00 ½½ ½0 0½ 00 11 ** ½½ ½1 1½ 1 17th Caro 13½/37 00 00 ½0 0½ ½0 10 0½ ½½ ½0 ½0 11 0½ 0½ 00 00 ½½
** 11 ½1 1
18th Baird 9/37 00 00 00 00 00 01 00 00 ½½ 10 00 00 ½0 10 1½ ½0 00 ** 1½ 1 19th Trenchard 6/37 ½0 00 00 00 00 00 00 ½½ 00 00 0½ ½0 01 00 00 0½ ½0 0½ ** 1 20th Schwarz ½/19 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ** Playoff match:
1st Tarrasch 2½/4 1 0 1 ½
2nd Pillsbury 1½/4 0 1 0 ½
*This collection could not have been possible without the efforts of <sneaky pete>. He has my special thanks as well as my eternal gratitude.
|
|
352 games, 1898 - Vladimir Kramnik - Immortal masterpieces
|
Vladimir Kramnik, the 14th Chess Worldchampion (2000 to 2007) belongs to the strongest chessplayers ever. He is extremely versatile and can either play exciting attacking chess or deep positional chess. Vladimir Borisovich possesses deep chess understanding and breathtaking technique. Regarding his endgame prowess he can be compared to all-time Greats such as Akiba Rubinstein, Jose Raul Capablanca and Anatoly Karpov. Volodya's games are also very instructive and that's why my description will point towards the decisive part of the game (e.g. endgame, novelty or attack). Sure, everything is connected to each other and this seldomly so clearly visible as in Kramnik's games where often the opening seems to flow into a slightly better endgame without an interruption. I for you to enjoy this small collection which gives but a brief summary of Kramnik's fantastic career.
|
|
82 games, 1990-2013 - Vladimir Kramnik's Best Games
90 games, 1990-2017 - WCC Index [Spassky-Korchnoi 1968]
10 games, 1968 - WCC Index [Zurich 1953]
These are the games in order according to David Bronstein's excellent book, "Zurich International Chess Tournament 1953." He participated in the tournament with the strongest in the world at that time as a Candidates match to determine the challenger for then world champion Mikhail Botvinnik. The complete list of participants in addition to Bronstein include: Smyslov, Keres, Reshevsky, Petrosian, Geller, Najdorf, Kotov, Taimanov, Averbakh, Boleslavsky, Szabo, Gligoric, Euwe, and Ståhlberg. A treasury of games, as Bronstein (and two of his fellow players who also compiled books) well knew, which are as interesting to read about as to play through. While specific games may have excerpts from Bronstein's book quoted, this list is meant as recommendation to purchase and read through this book yourself, and to give easy reference for people playing through the games.
|
|
210 games, 1953 - WINAWER
76 games, 1909-2008 - WINAWER POISONED PAWN
36 games, 1950-2008 - wolfshield's French Defenses
25 games, 1888-2008
|
Kibitzing
