Black's pawns leave a strong impression in the final position
McDonnell vs La Bourdonnais, 1834  (B32) Sicilian, 37 moves, 0-1
Very famous classic game with a great mating finish
Morphy vs Duke Karl / Count Isouard, 1858  (C41) Philidor Defense, 17 moves, 1-0
The first known game with Bxh7+ and Bxg7
Lasker vs J Bauer, 1889  (A03) Bird's Opening, 38 moves, 1-0
d5 is a great pawn sacrifice, and the stairway checks are showy
Steinitz vs Von Bardeleben, 1895  (C54) Giuoco Piano, 25 moves, 1-0
Strong and direct attacking play by Schlecter
Schlechter vs Gunsberg, 1901  (D31) Queen's Gambit Declined, 44 moves, 1-0
White walks the king up with his knight dominating the bishop
Alekhine vs Yates, 1922  (D63) Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense, 38 moves, 1-0
The first known execution of Reti's main plan with Qa1
Reti vs F Fischer, 1923  (A13) English, 39 moves, 1-0
White took a piece, but could barely move after that
Saemisch vs Nimzowitsch, 1923  (E18) Queen's Indian, Old Main line, 7.Nc3, 25 moves, 0-1
The plan of d5, Nd4 and Nc6 is worth studying closely
Reti vs Rubinstein, 1923  (A06) Reti Opening, 50 moves, 1-0
White's endgame play is famous
Capablanca vs Tartakower, 1924  (A40) Queen's Pawn Game, 52 moves, 1-0
20. Qe3 is a studylike move, even though 20. Rd6 is stronger
Botvinnik vs N Sorokin, 1931  (D60) Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense, 55 moves, 1-0
This game is a positional masterpiece. Bc5 is a great move
Alekhine vs Flohr, 1931  (D26) Queen's Gambit Accepted, 29 moves, 1-0
Capablanca executed Reti's Qa1 plan and played calmly to win
Capablanca vs Lilienthal, 1936  (A12) English with b3, 54 moves, 1-0
Probably the deepest queen sacrifice ever played
Y Gusev vs E Auerbach, 1946  (B72) Sicilian, Dragon, 37 moves, 1-0
Black's sacrifice on a1 and dark square play is studylike
F Zita vs Bronstein, 1946  (E64) King's Indian, Fianchetto, Yugoslav System, 30 moves, 0-1
17. Ne5 sacrifices a pawn to open up the bishop pair with power
Botvinnik vs Euwe, 1948  (D46) Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav, 32 moves, 1-0
14. Be3 damages the structure, but wins the d6 square
Boleslavsky vs Smyslov, 1950  (D16) Queen's Gambit Declined Slav, 22 moves, 1-0
This is a great example of running away to safety
Geller vs Euwe, 1953  (E26) Nimzo-Indian, Samisch, 26 moves, 0-1
Petrosian's Re6 is a classic sacrifice, preparing Ne7
Reshevsky vs Petrosian, 1953  (E58) Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, Main line with 8...Bxc3, 41 moves, 1/2-1/2
16. Na2, the knight tour, and the sacrifices after are classic
Petrosian vs C Guimard, 1955  (D37) Queen's Gambit Declined, 62 moves, 1-0
This is regarded as the "Game of the Century"
D Byrne vs Fischer, 1956  (D92) Grunfeld, 5.Bf4, 41 moves, 0-1
A nice queen sacrifice by Larsen
Larsen vs B Soderborg, 1957 (D86) Grunfeld, Exchange, 40 moves, 1-0
Rxf4!! was a great queen sacrifice
Polugaevsky vs R Nezhmetdinov, 1958  (A54) Old Indian, Ukrainian Variation, 4.Nf3, 33 moves, 0-1
Enticing king walk and breakthrough by Petrosian
Petrosian vs Unzicker, 1960  (D30) Queen's Gambit Declined, 55 moves, 1-0
This is one of Fischer's nicest wins
R Byrne vs Fischer, 1963  (E60) King's Indian Defense, 21 moves, 0-1
Rf6!! is a great blocking sacrifice
Fischer vs Benko, 1963  (B09) Pirc, Austrian Attack, 21 moves, 1-0
Thematic KIA play and a nice mate at the end
Fischer vs Myagmarsuren, 1967  (A07) King's Indian Attack, 31 moves, 1-0
Ruy Lopez masterpiece with Karpov dominating the bishop pair
Karpov vs Gligoric, 1973  (C95) Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer, 63 moves, 1-0
Shashin's king run is very unique
A Shashin vs Korchnoi, 1973  (E56) Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, Main line with 7...Nc6, 35 moves, 1-0
24. Ba7!! is a fantastic blocking idea to dominate the file
Karpov vs Unzicker, 1974  (C98) Ruy Lopez, Closed, Chigorin, 44 moves, 1-0
Nb1 and the finale Rxd8 are moves every player should see
Karpov vs Spassky, 1974  (B83) Sicilian, 35 moves, 1-0
Rd5 showed players how to play Rauzer structures with White
Kasparov vs A Sokolov, 1975  (B67) Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer Attack, 7...a6 Defense, 8...Bd7, 32 moves, 1-0
Petrosian tried to attack Tal, but his attack was refuted
Petrosian vs Tal, 1976  (A15) English, 28 moves, 0-1
This game is known as the pearl of Sochi. Superb attack
Gufeld vs B Ivanovic, 1979  (B33) Sicilian, 34 moves, 1-0
Groszpeter sacrifices his queen to mate. Gross White king
J Diaz vs A Groszpeter, 1980  (B93) Sicilian, Najdorf, 6.f4, 22 moves, 0-1
Do not give up when you have a strong passed pawn
L Day vs S Barbeau, 1980 (B25) Sicilian, Closed, 52 moves, 0-1
A rook sacrifice for pawns that redefined a variation
Polugaevsky vs E Torre, 1981  (D44) Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav, 40 moves, 1-0
White defends by covering all key focal points near his king
G Kraehenbuehl vs R Akesson, 1981 (A86) Dutch, 38 moves, 1-0
One of the best defensive games, involving a queen sacrifice
H B Pedersen vs C Hansen, 1981  (B02) Alekhine's Defense, 42 moves, 0-1
Defensive queen sacrifice, then solid g4 knight blocks checks
Ljubojevic vs J Szmetan, 1981 (E97) King's Indian, 44 moves, 1-0
Larsen covers all of the squares near his king and wins
J Bellon Lopez vs Larsen, 1981 (C47) Four Knights, 39 moves, 0-1
Direct play pushing the queenside majority and queening. Power
Karpov vs Portisch, 1982  (B92) Sicilian, Najdorf, Opocensky Variation, 40 moves, 1-0
22. Rxb4! is a deep and impressive exchange sacrifice
Andersson vs Seirawan, 1983  (A37) English, Symmetrical, 41 moves, 1-0
Dreev wins the quintessential French Defense endgame
Dreev vs Bareev, 1986  (C11) French, 41 moves, 1-0
This is the most famous king walk in chess history
Short vs Timman, 1991  (B04) Alekhine's Defense, Modern, 34 moves, 1-0
23. c5! steamrolled Kasparov
Ivanchuk vs Kasparov, 1991  (B51) Sicilian, Canal-Sokolsky (Rossolimo) Attack, 38 moves, 1-0
Yusupov's mating idea was very unique
Ivanchuk vs Yusupov, 1991  (E67) King's Indian, Fianchetto, 39 moves, 0-1
Classic Ruy Lopez play crowned with a piece sacrifice
Fischer vs Spassky, 1992  (C95) Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer, 50 moves, 1-0
This was a superb case of domination
Karpov vs Kasparov, 1993  (E86) King's Indian, Samisch, Orthodox, 7.Nge2 c6, 27 moves, 0-1
Serper's piece sacrifices for mobile pawns are amazing
Serper vs I Nikolaidis, 1993  (E70) King's Indian, 48 moves, 1-0
Karpov sacrificed both of his rooks, creating an immortal game
Karpov vs Topalov, 1994  (A32) English, Symmetrical Variation, 39 moves, 1-0
Zvjaginsev sacs a rook to put the king in a mating net
R Cifuentes Parada vs Zvjaginsev, 1995  (D45) Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav, 35 moves, 0-1
White had two killer outposts
Ivanchuk vs Kramnik, 1996  (E81) King's Indian, Samisch, 34 moves, 1-0
White's Qg7!! idea is extremely in-your-face
Ivanchuk vs Shirov, 1996  (D44) Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav, 35 moves, 1-0
Bh3!! in the endgame is a stunning sacrifice for time
Topalov vs Shirov, 1998  (D85) Grunfeld, 53 moves, 0-1
Rxd4! was a practical sacrifice, confusing Topalov
Kasparov vs Topalov, 1999  (B07) Pirc, 44 moves, 1-0
The most famous exchange sacrifice ever played, shaming a 2700
Movsesian vs Kasparov, 2000  (B80) Sicilian, Scheveningen, 32 moves, 0-1
57 games |