Immortal Chess
Famous Games, Move by Move
Replay chess history on a real board — every move, every idea, and the tactic that decided it.
22 annotated games · 9 tactical tricks
Filter by level
0 of 22 lessons marked completed
Paris · 1858 · 17 moves
The Opera Game
Paul Morphy vs. Duke Karl of Brunswick & Count Isouard
Played in a box at the Italian Opera House in Paris and finished in seventeen moves.
Lesson: Development and castling
Paris · 1750 · 7 moves
Legall’s Mate
Legall de Kermeur vs. Saint Brie
A pinned knight jumps anyway, the queen is offered, and three minor pieces mate on move seven.
Lesson: A pin is only real if moving the piece actually loses.
Italian Game · 1750 · 6 moves
The Légal Trap Declined
Teaching line
The same trap, but Black stays calm: take the knight, not the queen.
Lesson: Before every capture ask what your opponent gets in return.
Vienna · 1910 · 11 moves
Back Rank Mate
Richard Réti vs. Savielly Tartakower
Réti gives up his queen to drag the king onto the mating square.
Lesson: Make an escape square before your back rank becomes a target.
Blackburne Shilling Gambit · 1880 · 7 moves
Smothered Mate
Teaching line
Black offers a “shilling gambit”, White grabs everything, and a knight mates on f3.
Lesson: A king surrounded by its own pieces is in danger of a knight mate.
New Orleans · 1850 · 18 moves
Blindfold Brilliancy
Paul Morphy vs. Alonzo Morphy (his father)
The boy Morphy gives up a rook before the first move and finishes with the rarest mate in chess: castling.
Lesson: Attack the uncastled king
Ruy Lopez · 1900 · 11 moves
The Noah’s Ark Trap
Teaching line
Three quiet pawns build a cage and a bishop drowns in it.
Lesson: Count escape squares before you push a piece forward.
Open Game · 1900 · 11 moves
Arabian Mate
Teaching line
Rook and knight team up: Rxh7 is mate because the knight on f6 guards the rook.
Lesson: Rook and knight mate together; neither can do it alone.
Two Knights Defence · 1600 · 11 moves
The Fried Liver Attack
Teaching line
A knight is given away on f7 to drag the black king into the open on move six.
Lesson: f7 is the weakest square in the opening: two attackers and only the king defending is already a real attack.
New York · 1857 · 28 moves
The Immortal Queen Sacrifice
Louis Paulsen vs. Paul Morphy
Morphy hands over his queen with 17...Qxf3 and finishes the first American Chess Congress final with two bishops.
Lesson: Children think "if I win a queen I must be winning". Morphy teaches the opposite: if all your pieces are attacking and your opponent's king is exposed, activity can be worth more than a queen.
Berlin · 1852 · 24 moves
The Evergreen Game
Adolf Anderssen vs. Jean Dufresne
Anderssen brings his last rook into the attack, then gives away knight, rook and queen to mate with two bishops.
Lesson: Don't attack with just your queen. Bring every piece into the attack, open lines toward the king, and remember that sacrifices only work when your pieces are already active.
London · 1851 · 23 moves
The Immortal Game
Adolf Anderssen vs. Lionel Kieseritzky
Anderssen gives away a bishop, both rooks and his queen — and mates with three minor pieces.
Lesson: Sacrifices work when your pieces are active and the opponent’s are not.
London · 1912 · 18 moves
The Greek Gift
Edward Lasker vs. Sir George Thomas
Bxh7+ is offered — and the black king is marched all the way to g1.
Lesson: Sacrifice on h7 only when the follow-up pieces are ready.
Italian Game · 1900 · 10 moves
Anastasia’s Mate
Teaching line
A knight on e7 takes away g6 and g8, and the rook does the rest.
Lesson: Mating nets are built by taking away squares, not by giving checks.
London · 1853 · 15 moves
Boden’s Mate
Schulder vs. Samuel Boden
A queen is given away just to open a diagonal — and two bishops do the mating.
Lesson: Two bishops pointing at the same king are a mating net; clearing their diagonals is worth material.
Hastings · 1895 · 25 moves
The Magic Rook
Wilhelm Steinitz vs. Curt von Bardeleben
Steinitz builds pressure one quiet move at a time, then plays 22.Rxe7+!! — a rook that checks forever and can never be taken.
Lesson: Building pressure before tactics
New York · 1956 · 41 moves
The Game of the Century
Donald Byrne vs. Bobby Fischer
Thirteen-year-old Fischer gives up his queen on move 17 and mates with three pieces.
Lesson: Develop first; the tactics appear on their own once every piece is working.
New York · 1924 · 49 moves
Preventing Problems Before They Happen
Jose Raul Capablanca vs. Savielly Tartakower
Capablanca answers every black idea before it starts, then walks his king into the enemy camp to win a rook endgame.
Lesson: Restriction and preventing counterplay
Moscow (World Championship, Game 10) · 1966 · 30 moves
Spotting Threats Before They Get Dangerous
Tigran Petrosian vs. Boris Spassky
Iron Tigran calmly defuses Spassky's kingside attack, then wins with one of the greatest exchange sacrifices ever played.
Lesson: Prophylaxis and defensive thinking
Moscow (Candidates Final) · 1974 · 30 moves
Patience Beats Rushing
Anatoly Karpov vs. Viktor Korchnoi
Karpov spends five moves quietly improving pieces, brings his worst rook to d1, and only then unleashes Bxh7+.
Lesson: Patience and improving the worst piece
Moscow (World Championship, Game 6) · 1960 · 46 moves
Calculated Sacrifice
Mikhail Botvinnik vs. Mikhail Tal
Tal gives away a knight with 21...Nf4!! and a single pawn on f3 does the rest.
Lesson: A sacrifice is a calculation, not a mood. Tal gave up a knight because he had counted the pawn that follows.
New York (World Championship, Game 10) · 2016 · 75 moves
Technique And Persistence
Magnus Carlsen vs. Sergey Karjakin
Seventy-five moves of patient pressure: Carlsen improves every piece until the position simply falls apart.
Lesson: Winning endgames is about never rushing: improve your worst piece, keep both wings under pressure, and let your opponent run out of good moves.