Learn from the masters

Adolf Anderssen – Kieseritzky

Anderssen gives up a bishop, both rooks and the queen — and mates with three minor pieces. The most famous game ever played.

Donald Byrne – Robert James Fischer

13-year-old Bobby Fischer unleashes a windmill and a queen sacrifice against a leading master. Genius announced.

Garry Kasparov – Veselin Topalov

A rook sacrifice opens a king hunt across the whole board — perhaps the greatest game of the modern era.

Levon Aronian – Viswanathan Anand

Anand develops at blinding speed and sacrifices a knight then a bishop to smash open Aronian's king — hailed as 'Anand's Immortal'.

Adolf Anderssen – Jean Dufresne

A cascade of sacrifices crowned by a quiet, deadly queen move. Romantic chess at its peak.

Wei Yi – Lazaro Bruzon Batista

16-year-old Wei Yi plays Rxf7!! and chases the black king across the whole board with a sequence of quiet, deadly moves.

Georg Rotlewi – Akiba Rubinstein

Rubinstein coordinates every piece into one overwhelming combination — a model of attacking harmony.

Veselin Topalov – Alexey Shirov

In an endgame, Shirov plays ...Bh3!! — one of the most famous moves ever, sacrificing a bishop for a passed pawn.

Jinshi Bai – Ding Liren

Ding answers with a queen offer and two stunning rook moves, hunting the white king with the minor pieces in just 32 moves.

Stefan Levitsky – Frank James Marshall

Marshall's stunning queen move to g3 — spectators reportedly showered the board with gold coins.

Daniil Dubov – Sergey Karjakin

In a romantic Italian, Dubov throws everything at the king and sacrifices his queen to keep the attack roaring.

Glucksberg – Miguel Najdorf

Najdorf sacrifices all four minor pieces to mate. Brilliance with no material left to spare.

Mikhail Tal – Bent Larsen

The magician from Riga sacrifices to rip open the king and never lets the initiative cool.

David Navara – Radoslaw Wojtaszek

In the middlegame Navara marches his king from f1 all the way to h8 — all calculated at home — in one of the greatest king walks ever.

Edward Lasker – George Alan Thomas

A queen sacrifice drags the black king up the board to be mated on g1 — a textbook king hunt.

Magnus Carlsen – Viswanathan Anand

The final game of the 2014 match: Carlsen squeezes a Berlin endgame to defend his crown against Anand.

Bent Larsen – Boris Spassky

Spassky demolishes Larsen in 17 moves, finishing with a rook lift and ...Qxh2 mate threats.

Magnus Carlsen – Viswanathan Anand

The technical grind that broke the deadlock in Chennai and launched 22-year-old Carlsen toward his first world title.

Wilhelm Steinitz – Curt von Bardeleben

Steinitz keeps his rook en prise for moves on end, calculating a forced mate to the very last check.

Gukesh D – Ding Liren

From Gukesh's 2024 title match against Ding Liren — at 18 he became the youngest undisputed World Chess Champion.

Vladimir Kramnik – Levon Aronian

Kramnik gives up an exchange and a pawn for a relentless attack Grischuk called 'unbelievable from start to finish'.

Viswanathan Anand – Boris Gelfand

Anand traps the queen with Qf2 and Gelfand resigns after 17 moves — the fastest decisive game in World Championship history.

Veselin Topalov – Fabiano Caruana

The opening win of Caruana's legendary 7-out-of-7 start at the 2014 Sinquefield Cup, one of the great tournament performances.

Ding Liren – Ian Nepomniachtchi

A classical win from the 2023 match that ended with Ding Liren becoming the 17th World Chess Champion.

Boris Gelfand – Hikaru Nakamura

A model King's Indian attack: Nakamura storms the kingside and insists on a knight sacrifice on g2 to break through.

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov – Vladimir Kramnik

A long, high-level Candidates battle in which Mamedyarov grinds down Kramnik with precise pressure.

Alireza Firouzja – Fabiano Caruana

17-year-old Firouzja outlasts Caruana in a marathon, precisely calculated endgame at Norway Chess.

R Praggnanandhaa – Magnus Carlsen

From the 2023 World Cup final: Carlsen squeezes a win with Black against the 18-year-old Praggnanandhaa.

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave – Ian Nepomniachtchi

Vachier-Lagrave outplays Nepomniachtchi from a Najdorf structure on the way to winning the 2017 Sinquefield Cup.

Ian Nepomniachtchi – Hikaru Nakamura

Nepomniachtchi sacrifices on h7 to win material, then converts a long, instructive minor-piece endgame.

F Alexander Hoffmann – Alexander Petrov

F Alexander Hoffmann vs Alexander Petrov — 1844.

Henry Edward Bird – Paul Morphy

Henry Edward Bird vs Paul Morphy — 1858.

Carl Hamppe – Philipp Meitner

Carl Hamppe vs Philipp Meitner — 1872.

Robert Steel – NN

Robert Steel vs NN — 1886.

J Reinisch – Karel Traxler

J Reinisch vs Karel Traxler — 1890.

Rudolf Rezso Charousek – Jakob Wollner

Rudolf Rezso Charousek vs Jakob Wollner — 1893.

Harry Nelson Pillsbury – Emanuel Lasker

Harry Nelson Pillsbury vs Emanuel Lasker — 1896.

Geza Maroczy – Mikhail Chigorin

Geza Maroczy vs Mikhail Chigorin — 1903.

Jose Raul Capablanca – Jaime Baca Arus

Jose Raul Capablanca vs Jaime Baca Arus — 1912.

Heinrich Wagner – Wilhelm Schoenmann

Heinrich Wagner vs Wilhelm Schoenmann — 1919.

Edwin Ziegler Adams – Carlos Torre Repetto

Edwin Ziegler Adams vs Carlos Torre Repetto — 1920.

Alexander Alekhine – Richard Reti

Alexander Alekhine vs Richard Reti — 1922.

Efim Bogoljubov – Alexander Alekhine

Efim Bogoljubov vs Alexander Alekhine — 1922.

Friedrich Saemisch – Aron Nimzowitsch

Friedrich Saemisch vs Aron Nimzowitsch — 1923.

Richard Reti – Alexander Alekhine

Richard Reti vs Alexander Alekhine — 1925.

Aron Nimzowitsch – Systemsson

Aron Nimzowitsch vs Systemsson — 1927.

Mir Sultan Khan – Jose Raul Capablanca

Mir Sultan Khan vs Jose Raul Capablanca — 1930.

Efim Korchmar – Abram Borisovich Poliak

Efim Korchmar vs Abram Borisovich Poliak — 1931.

Chris De Ronde – Hendrik Hermanus Kamstra

Chris De Ronde vs Hendrik Hermanus Kamstra — 1938.

Bogdan Sliwa – David Bronstein

Bogdan Sliwa vs David Bronstein — 1957.

Lev Polugaevsky – Nezhmetdinov

Lev Polugaevsky vs Nezhmetdinov — 1958.

Boris Spassky – David Bronstein

Boris Spassky vs David Bronstein — 1960.

NN – David Bronstein

NN vs David Bronstein — 1961.

Nezhmetdinov – Oleg L Chernikov

Nezhmetdinov vs Oleg L Chernikov — 1962.

Robert Eugene Byrne – Robert James Fischer

Robert Eugene Byrne vs Robert James Fischer — 1963.

Per Ofstad – Wolfgang Uhlmann

Per Ofstad vs Wolfgang Uhlmann — 1963.

Yakov Estrin – Hans Berliner

Yakov Estrin vs Hans Berliner — 1965.

Anatoly Karpov – Wolfgang Unzicker

Anatoly Karpov vs Wolfgang Unzicker — 1974.

Liu Wenzhe – Jan Hein Donner

Liu Wenzhe vs Jan Hein Donner — 1978.

Anatoly Karpov – Garry Kasparov

Anatoly Karpov vs Garry Kasparov — 1985.

Lembit Oll – Mikhail Ulibin

Lembit Oll vs Mikhail Ulibin — 1989.

Vassily Ivanchuk – Artur Yusupov

Vassily Ivanchuk vs Artur Yusupov — 1991.

Grigory Serper – Ioannis Nikolaidis

Grigory Serper vs Ioannis Nikolaidis — 1993.

Gata Kamsky – Vladimir Kramnik

Gata Kamsky vs Vladimir Kramnik — 1994.

Alexey Shirov – Judit Polgar

Alexey Shirov vs Judit Polgar — 1994.

Vassily Ivanchuk – Alexey Shirov

Vassily Ivanchuk vs Alexey Shirov — 1996.

Garry Kasparov – Vladimir Kramnik

Garry Kasparov vs Vladimir Kramnik — 1996.

Suat Atalik – Gyula Sax

Suat Atalik vs Gyula Sax — 1997.

Baadur Jobava – Evgeny Bareev

Baadur Jobava vs Evgeny Bareev — 2003.

Magnus Carlsen – Sipke Ernst

Magnus Carlsen vs Sipke Ernst — 2004.

Andrei Kharlov – Veselin Topalov

Andrei Kharlov vs Veselin Topalov — 2004.

Zdenko Kozul – Sergei Rublevsky

Zdenko Kozul vs Sergei Rublevsky — 2004.

Vladimir Kramnik – Viswanathan Anand

Vladimir Kramnik vs Viswanathan Anand — 2004.

Michael Adams – Garry Kasparov

Michael Adams vs Garry Kasparov — 2005.

Viswanathan Anand – Veselin Topalov

Viswanathan Anand vs Veselin Topalov — 2005.

Konstantin Landa – Evgeny Shaposhnikov

Konstantin Landa vs Evgeny Shaposhnikov — 2005.

Sergey Karjakin – Viswanathan Anand

Sergey Karjakin vs Viswanathan Anand — 2006.

Veselin Topalov – Levon Aronian

Veselin Topalov vs Levon Aronian — 2006.