Famous Chess Games
A hundred games worth knowing, from Morphy in 1857 to Gukesh in 2024. Each one can be printed as art.
A hundred games worth knowing, from Morphy in 1857 to Gukesh in 2024. Each one can be printed as art.
Looking for the all-time greats? See the Top 100 chess games.
London 2000. Kramnik attacked Kasparov's Nimzo-Indian head on, and the champion resigned after only 25 moves. Kasparov had held the title since 1985. Kramnik went through the whole match without losing a game and took the crown 8.5-6.5.
Brissago 2004. Kramnik opened his first title defence by winning with Black. He answered 1.e4 with the Petrov and outlasted Leko over 65 moves. That early point proved vital, because the match finished level at 7-7 and a tie kept the title with the champion.
Brissago 2004. Kramnik walked into Leko's Marshall Attack and never got out of the preparation. Leko won with Black in 32 moves to lead the match with six games left, closer to the world title than he would ever come again.
Brissago 2004. One point down with one game to play, Kramnik had to win with White to stay champion. He chose the sharp Advance line against Leko's Caro-Kann, kept the pressure on for 41 moves and levelled the match 7-7.
Elista 2006. The match that ended thirteen years of rival world champions began with a Kramnik win. Topalov had chances in the Catalan ending and let them slip, and Kramnik converted after 75 moves.
Elista 2006. Topalov built a winning attack against Kramnik's Slav and then missed the finish. Kramnik held on, turned the game around and won with Black to go 2-0 up in the reunification match.
Elista 2006. After the bathroom dispute and Kramnik's forfeit of game five, Topalov scored his first win over the board. He beat Kramnik with Black in a Meran Semi-Slav, and the match was level.
Elista 2006. Topalov won again the next day. His pieces broke through on the f-file against Kramnik's Slav, and after 39 moves he led a world championship match for the first time. Kramnik levelled in game ten and won the rapid playoff.
Bonn 2008. Anand's team prepared a razor-sharp Meran Semi-Slav, and it paid off in the third game. Anand won with Black in 41 moves, the first decisive game of the match.
Bonn 2008. Anand went back to the same Meran line and beat Kramnik with Black again. A knight landing on e3 decided it in 35 moves, and Anand was two points clear.
Bonn 2008. A day after game five, Anand won with White as well, against the Nimzo-Indian, and led 4.5-1.5. Three wins in four games settled the match, and Anand kept the title 6.5-4.5.
Bonn 2008. Kramnik's only win of the match. Needing points, he beat Anand's Nimzo-Indian in 29 moves to keep his hopes alive, but Anand drew game eleven and the title stayed with him.
Sofia 2010. Flights were grounded by the Icelandic ash cloud, so Anand drove for 40 hours to reach the match. He mixed up his Grünfeld preparation in the first game, and Topalov's attack won in 30 moves.
Sofia 2010. Anand beat Topalov in his own city with the Catalan, winning in 32 moves. It was his second win in three games and put him ahead in the match.
Sofia 2010. Topalov levelled the match with a slow squeeze in a Slav ending. His king walked all the way to h6, and Anand resigned after 56 moves.
Sofia 2010. The last game, with the score level. Topalov refused to settle for a draw against Lasker's Defence, opened his own king, and Anand won with Black to keep the title 6.5-5.5.
Moscow 2012. Six draws, then Gelfand struck first. He outplayed Anand in a Semi-Slav and won in 38 moves, and at 43 the challenger led a world championship match.
Moscow 2012. Anand hit back the very next day. Gelfand's queen took the rook on h1 and was trapped there, and he resigned after 17 moves. It is the shortest decisive game in world championship history.
Moscow 2012. The classical games finished 6-6, so the title went to rapid chess. Anand won the second tiebreak game after 77 moves of pressure, and that single win kept him champion.
Chennai 2013. Carlsen's second win in two days, played in Anand's home city. The Berlin ending should have been a draw, but Carlsen kept asking questions for 67 moves until Anand's defence gave way.
Chennai 2013. Anand needed to win and threw everything at Carlsen's king in a Nimzo-Indian Sämisch. Carlsen promoted on b1, Anand blundered with 28.Nf1, and a draw in the next game made Carlsen world champion at 22.
Sochi 2014. Carlsen's first win of the rematch. He turned a quiet 4.d3 Ruy Lopez into a kingside attack, and when Anand slipped with 34...h5 the game ended a move later.
Sochi 2014. Anand answered straight away. His Queen's Gambit preparation ran deep into the middlegame, Carlsen never found his way out, and the match was level after 34 moves.
Sochi 2014. The deciding game. Anand gambled with 27...Rb4, giving up the exchange in a Berlin ending, and Carlsen calmly took it. He won in 45 moves to keep the title 6.5-4.5.
New York 2016. After seven draws Carlsen pushed too hard for a win, and Karjakin beat him with Black. For the first time in his reign, Carlsen trailed in a world championship match.
New York 2016. Carlsen levelled the match with a 75-move grind in a 4.d3 Ruy Lopez, wearing Karjakin down long after the position looked drawn.
New York 2016. The classical games ended 6-6, and the rapid tiebreak fell on Carlsen's 26th birthday. After two draws he won this third game against Karjakin's Sicilian, and a win in the fourth sealed the title.
Dubai 2021. Carlsen's fourth win, and the one that ended the match 7.5-3.5 with three games unplayed. Nepomniachtchi's Italian went wrong in the middlegame, and Carlsen queened a pawn on h1 to finish it.
Astana 2023. Ding's slow 4.h3 handed Nepomniachtchi the initiative, and the Russian won with Black in 29 moves. It was the first decisive game in the match to replace Carlsen as champion.
Astana 2023. Ding's first win in a world championship game. He broke down Nepomniachtchi's position in an English Four Knights and levelled the match 2-2.
Astana 2023. Nepomniachtchi took the lead back the next day with a Closed Ruy Lopez. His kingside pawns marched to f6 and h5, and Ding resigned after 48 moves.
Astana 2023. Ding levelled again at once. From a London-style opening his queen and knight hunted Nepomniachtchi's king, and the game was over in 44 moves.
Astana 2023. Ding spent too long early against the French Defence and collapsed in time trouble. Nepomniachtchi won in 37 moves to lead for the third time. Ding still won the title in the rapid tiebreak.
Singapore 2024. Ding arrived badly out of form, then surprised Gukesh with the French Defence and won the first game with Black. Few had given the champion a chance before the match began.
Singapore 2024. Gukesh's first win in a world championship game. Ding fell far behind on the clock in the opening, and Gukesh won in 37 moves to level the match.
Singapore 2024. Gukesh opened 1.Nf3, pressed Ding on the clock, and took the lead with three games left when the champion's defence cracked after 29 moves.
Singapore 2024. Ding answered the very next day with his cleanest game of the match. His English Opening won in 39 moves, and the score was level at 6-6 with two games left.
Singapore 2024. The final classical game was heading for a draw and rapid tiebreaks. Then Ding played 55.Rf2, allowing a pawn ending that Gukesh won, and at 18 Gukesh became the youngest undisputed world champion.
Lviv 2016. Hou Yifan challenged champion Mariya Muzychuk in Muzychuk's home city and took the lead with this 32-move win in the Open Ruy Lopez.
Lviv 2016. The win that ended the match 6-3 and returned the women's world title to Hou Yifan. Her passed pawns decided it, with the a-pawn one step from promotion when Muzychuk resigned.
Taizhou 2013. Hou Yifan took back the women's world title from Anna Ushenina, winning 5.5-1.5 on home soil. This 24-move win with Black against the Nimzo-Indian was one of her four victories.
Tirana 2011. Hou Yifan defended her women's world title against Humpy Koneru. This 97-move Ruy Lopez, won on patience in a long ending, all but settled the match, which she won 5.5-2.5.
Mexico City 2007. Anand won the world title outright in an eight-player tournament, unbeaten on 9 out of 14. His first win came with Black against Aronian's Semi-Slav.
Mexico City 2007. Svidler, a Marshall Attack expert, got his favourite opening and still lost. Anand's knight landed on h6 and his bishop took on g5, one of four wins that made him world champion.
Mexico City 2007. Anand's d-pawn reached d7 and his knight delivered the final check on g6. This 50-move Ruy Lopez was another step towards the undisputed world title.
Mexico City 2007. A wild English Attack Najdorf in which Morozevich queened a pawn on h1. Anand still came out on top in 56 moves for his fourth and last win of the tournament.
Mexico City 2007. Kramnik gave up his title in this tournament, finishing second behind Anand. He signed off by beating Aronian in the last round, his pawn marching from d4 to e7.
Elista 2007. Sixteen-year-old Carlsen's first Candidates match, against Aronian. He won this game with a pawn storm to h7 and g5 and forced tiebreaks before Aronian won the match.
Kazan 2011. The only decisive game of the Candidates final. Gelfand beat Grischuk's Grünfeld in 35 moves, and at 42 he had earned a world championship match with Anand.
San Luis 2005. Topalov won the FIDE world title with 10 out of 14 and a start of 6.5 from 7. The run began here, with Black against Leko's English Attack Najdorf.
San Luis 2005. Another win with Black for Topalov, a 74-move fight against Morozevich's Moscow Variation of the Sicilian that he finally won after the queens came off.
San Luis 2005. Topalov's attacking run continued against Michael Adams. His rooks took over the c-file and the seventh rank, and Adams resigned after 38 moves.
San Luis 2005. Topalov beat the runner-up Svidler with Black in a Najdorf, and by the end of the first half he had scored 6.5 out of 7. Nobody caught him.
Bonn 2006. The reigning world champion played 34...Qe3 and overlooked mate in one. Deep Fritz answered 35.Qh7#, perhaps the most famous blunder a world champion has ever made.
London 2018. All twelve classical games were drawn, a first in world championship history. In the rapid tiebreak Carlsen won three in a row, this one with Black in his Sveshnikov Sicilian.
London 2018. The game that kept Carlsen champion. He promoted a pawn on c8 in a Sicilian and completed a 3-0 sweep of Caruana in the rapid tiebreak.
Wijk aan Zee 2004. Thirteen-year-old Magnus Carlsen sacrificed against Sipke Ernst's Caro-Kann and hunted the king into the open. He won the C group that year, and the chess world started paying attention.
Reykjavik 2004. Thirteen-year-old Carlsen drew with Garry Kasparov, then the world number one, in a rapid knockout game. Kasparov needed the second game to get through.
Moscow 2002. Judit Polgar's first win over Garry Kasparov, in the Russia vs Rest of the World match. She cracked his Berlin Defence, the opening he had failed to break against Kramnik two years earlier.
Philadelphia 1996. Deep Blue had just won game one, the first time a computer beat a world champion under classical time controls. Kasparov levelled the next day with a patient 73-move Catalan and won the match 4-2.
Moscow 1985. Kasparov planted a knight on d3 with 16...Nd3, and it paralysed Karpov's whole position. Kasparov won in 40 moves and took the lead in the match.
Moscow 1985. Karpov had to win the last game to keep his title. Kasparov met him with a Scheveningen, won with Black in 42 moves, and became the youngest world champion in history at 22.
London and Leningrad 1986. One of the richest games of their rivalry. Kasparov's Ruy Lopez turned into a tactical storm, his d-pawn reached d7, and Karpov resigned after 41 moves.
Moscow 1974. Karpov's model attack against the Dragon. He opened the h-file with 14.h5 and 15.g4 and finished with 27.Qh8+. He won the Candidates final and became world champion when Fischer declined to defend.
Brussels 1991. The Candidates quarter-final went to a rapid playoff, and Yusupov produced a King's Indian attack that is still shown in books. His queen and knights closed in on White's king, and Yusupov won the match.
New York 1995. Anand had just won game nine. Kasparov replied with a prepared sacrifice in the Open Ruy Lopez, letting Black take a rook on a1 while his bishops tore through the kingside. He won in 38 moves and never trailed again.
Buenos Aires 1994. Judit Polgar's knights ran riot against Shirov's Sicilian attack. 16...Ne3 hit the queen, 18...Nxc2+ forked king and rook, and Shirov resigned after 29 moves.
Wijk aan Zee 1985. John Nunn gave up the exchange twice in a King's Indian, 12...Rxf3 and 16...Rxf2, and his knights and queen hunted Beliavsky's king in the centre. It is one of the most admired King's Indians ever played.
Reykjavik 1972. The Match of the Century began with a shock. In a drawn ending Fischer grabbed the h2 pawn with 29...Bxh2, his bishop was trapped, and Spassky won after 56 moves.
Reykjavik 1972. Two points down after a loss and a forfeit, Fischer insisted on playing in a back room away from the cameras. There he beat Spassky for the first time in his life, with the startling 11...Nh5 in a Modern Benoni.
Reykjavik 1972. Fischer's knights outplayed Spassky's bishops in a Nimzo-Indian, and when Spassky blundered with 27.Qc2, 27...Bxa4 ended it. The match was level.
Reykjavik 1972. Fischer, who almost always opened 1.e4, played 1.c4 for the second time in the match and won the English in 37 moves to lead 5-3.
Reykjavik 1972. Back to 1.e4 and his beloved Ruy Lopez, Fischer beat Spassky's Breyer Defence in 56 moves and pulled three points clear.
Reykjavik 1972. Fischer took the poisoned pawn on b2 in his favourite Najdorf, and Spassky had the refutation ready. The champion won in 31 moves, and Fischer never played the line in the match again.
Reykjavik 1972. The most complex game of the match. Fischer's Alekhine Defence led to an ending where his passed pawns fought Spassky's rook, and after 74 moves the pawns won.
Reykjavik 1972. The last game of the Match of the Century. It was adjourned after 41 moves, and Spassky resigned by telephone the next day. Fischer won 12.5-8.5 and ended 24 years of Soviet world champions.
New York 1963. Fischer won the US Championship 11-0, and this was its masterpiece. After 15...Nxf2 Byrne resigned on move 21, while grandmasters in the commentary room still thought White was better.
New York 1963. A casual game against Reuben Fine, once one of the best players in the world. Fischer played the Evans Gambit, opened lines against Black's king, and Fine was lost in 17 moves.
Sousse 1967. Fischer's King's Indian Attack at its best. His h-pawn marched to h5, his rook swung to h4, and 31.Qxh7+ finished it. Fischer left the tournament soon after while leading.
Siegen Olympiad 1970. The only game Spassky and Fischer played between 1966 and Reykjavik. Spassky won it in a Grünfeld Exchange, and the rivalry that led to the Match of the Century grew sharper.
Moscow 1960. Tal threw a knight onto f4 in a King's Indian with 21...Nf4, a sacrifice analysts still argue about. Botvinnik could not solve it at the board, and Tal won in 46 moves on his way to the title.
Bled 1961. Petrosian was famous for defence, but here he gave up his queen with 19.Qxf6+ and drove Pachman's king up the board. Two moves later it was caught with 21.Bg7.
Bled 1959. Tal met Smyslov's Caro-Kann with the offbeat 2.d3 and won in 26 moves. He won the Candidates tournament, then beat Botvinnik for the world title the following year.
Varna Olympiad 1962. Tal let his queen go on a4 for a pawn storm, trusting that his pieces would do more than the queen could. They did, and he won the ending in 49 moves.
Stockholm 1962. Leonid Stein, one of the great attackers never to play for the title, smashed Portisch's Sicilian with 19.Nxg7 and won in 21 moves.
Santa Monica 1966. Bent Larsen set up the Maroczy Bind against world champion Petrosian's Accelerated Dragon and broke through on the kingside. His rook swung to g3 and Petrosian resigned after 30 moves.
Monte Carlo 1968. At 56, Botvinnik gave up both rooks, starting with 16.Rxc7, to rip open Portisch's king. It is one of the most famous combinations of his career.
Petropolis 1973. Bronstein gave up a rook on g1, then his queen with 37.Qxf5, so his d-pawn could promote. It queened on d8 the next move and won the game.
New York 1924. Capablanca had not lost a game for eight years. Réti beat him with hypermodern ideas, 1.Nf3 and 3.b4, controlling the centre from a distance.
Copenhagen 1923. Nimzowitsch played the quiet 25...h6 with the board still full of pieces, and Sämisch resigned. Every White move now lost material, so White had nothing left to do.
Zurich 1934. The world champion against his predecessor, then 65. Alekhine's knights reached d6 and f5, and 26.Qxg6 ended it.
Amsterdam 1938. The AVRO tournament gathered the eight best players in the world. The young Botvinnik beat the reigning champion Alekhine in a 51-move Semi-Tarrasch ending.
Amsterdam 1938. Paul Keres won the AVRO tournament on tiebreak ahead of Fine, and beat former champion Capablanca in this French Defence ending.
New York 1927. Capablanca's a-pawn marched to a7 and tied Spielmann's pieces in knots. It is a model of how to play with a queenside majority.
Dresden 1926. Nimzowitsch won the tournament, and this 46-move English against Rubinstein shows his style: restraint first, then a slow squeeze.
London 1922. Alekhine rated this among his best games. His rooks doubled on the seventh rank and his king walked up to e5 to finish.
Cambridge Springs 1904. World champion Lasker against the young Napier's Dragon, a tactical brawl that ended with Lasker's king marching up to f5.
Moscow 1935. Botvinnik chased Chekhover's king from the kingside all the way to b2. Queen and bishops drove it across the board before it was caught.
New York 1857. At the First American Chess Congress, Morphy sacrificed his queen with 17...Qxf3 and his bishops chased Paulsen's king until the game was won. Morphy took the tournament and became a legend at twenty.
Amsterdam 1889. The original double bishop sacrifice. Lasker gave up both bishops, 15.Bxh7+ and 17.Bxg7, to strip Bauer's king bare. The pattern still carries his name.