Anand Magnets

Viswanathan Anand versus Kiril Ninov, Baguio, 1987. Anand’s innocuous g6* signals the end of Ninov's defence.

Viswanathan Anand versus Kiril Ninov, Baguio, 1987. Anand’s innocuous g6* signals the end of Ninov's defence.

Michal Krasenkow versus Hikaru Nakamura, Barcelona, 2007. Krasenkow plays Bxf6 thinking that he’s captured a free piece as the move reveals his rook to attack Nakamura’s queen. Unfortunately for Krasenkow his opponent spotted an exceptional tactic: Qxf2* sacrificing the queen. This sucked out the king to middle of the board whereupon seven moves later Krasenkow resigned.

Magnus Carlsen versus Hans Harestad, Copenhagen, 2003. Carlsen sacrifices the queen which leads to a forced checkmate. Carlsen was 12. Harestad’s rating was about 2250. Fast forward 20 years and surely Magnus Carlsen is the greatest ever chess player.

Magnus Carlsen versus Hans Harestad, Copenhagen, 2003. Carlsen sacrifices the queen which leads to a forced checkmate. Carlsen was 12. Harestad’s rating was about 2250. Fast forward 20 years and Magnus Carlsen is surely the greatest ever chess player.

Edward Lasker versus George Thomas, London, 1912. Lasker had sacrificed his queen earlier to send Thomas’s king fleeing to the other end of the board. Rarely does a king get the opportunity to give checkmate. Exceptionally cool.

Hikaru Nakamura versus Vladimir Kramnik, Istanbul, 2012. Nakamura calculates that under-promoting gains him tempo to capture e2 scuppering Kramnik’s promotion. Nakamura goes onto win. Nakamura is immense.

Wiede versus Alphonse Goetz, Strasbourg, 1880. Under-promoting a pawn to a knight to checkmate his opponent was elegant and classy. Respect.

Gata Kamsky versus Anatoly Karpov, Dortmund, 1993. Karpov places his king on what seems a completely absurd square. A few moves later though his pieces have been given space to attack.

Alexander Shuvalov versus Maurice Ashley, Saint Martin, 1993. Shuvalov was on the attack but Ashley’s Nxg3 completely exposes white’s king. Shuvalov must have been stunned by Ashley’s counterattacking.

Vladimir Kramnik versus Garry Kasparov, Moscow, 1994. Kramnik sacrifices his bishop and uses his f pawn to bust through Kasparov’s control of the centre. Fifteen moves later this pawn is pushed forward to the 7th rank and signals Kasparov’s resignation.

Levon Aronian versus Santosh Vidit, www, 2020. The game looked to be drawn but Vidit snapped up the pushed pawn b2-b4 at which point Aronian’s bishop stepped back to trap Vidit’s bishop. This was quickly followed by the rest of black’s pieces being trapped leaving Aronian’s a pawn, with a smile upon its face, to skip its way to the top of the board. An exceptional tactic by Aronian.

Mikhail Botvinnik versus Lajos Portisch, Monte Carlo, 1968. Botvinnik had seen the trap and had an answer for it: R1xc6 paves the way to victory. Boom!

Garry Kasparov versus Viswanathan Anand, New York, 1995. Kasparov sacrifices his bishop to bust wide open Anand’s defence. Ultimately a devastating move.

Wiede versus Alphonse Goetz, Strasbourg, 1880. Under-promoting a pawn to a knight to checkmate his opponent was elegant and classy. Respect.

Nigel Short versus Jan Timman, Tilburg, 1991. Short’s king marches up the board heading to the dizzy heights of h6 to assist the queen in checkmating. Exceptionally rare that a king finds himself at such a position during the middle game. Brilliant stuff.

Vladimir Kramnik versus Garry Kasparov, Moscow, 1994. Kramnik sacrifices his bishop and uses his f pawn to bust through Kasparov’s control of the centre. Fifteen moves later this pawn is pushed forward to the 7th rank and signals Kasparov’s resignation.

Tigran Petrosian versus Ara Minasian, Yerevan, 2006. Petrosian’s queen sacrifice is arguably the move of the game but the pleasure of delivering checkmate with a pawn is also to be celebrated.

Alisa Galliamova versus Alina Kashlinskaya, Moscow, 2020. Sacrificing the queen gives Kashlinskaya a forced checkmate in five moves. Nice, very nice.

Judit Polgar versus Nona Gaprindashvili, Novi Sad, 1990. The brutal rook sacrifice by Gaprindashvili resulted in an instant resignation from Polgar. Both of these players are genuinely inspirational.

Bobby Fischer versus Pal Benko. Fischer places his sacrificial rook on an empty square to block a pawn defence. Ultimately this move leads to Benko’s resignation.

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave versus Ian Nepomniachtchi, Wijk aan Zee, 2011. Vachier-Lagrave places his rook on an empty square to be captured freely. However, if it is captured then it’s checkmate next move but if it’s not captured then it’s checkmate in two moves. Ooft!

Viswanathan Anand versus Garry Kasparov, New York, 1995. Kasparov offers up both of his rooks but whichever one Anand takes it is game over. BOOM!

Rashid Nezhmetdinov versus Oleg Chernikov, Rostov-on-Don, 1962. Nezhmetdinov’s queen sacrifice is astonishing; a zen-like understanding of his position. Simply outstanding.

Bobby Fischer versus Pal Benko. Fischer places his sacrificial rook on an empty square to block a pawn defence. Ultimately this move leads to Benko’s resignation.

Fabiano Caruana versus Ruslan Ponomariov. Re7 is a bonafide visionary move. Caruana forces Ponomariav to take his sacrificial rook and again Ponomariav is forced to take Caruana’s sacrificed bishop and then finally is forced to accept checkmate.

Ian Nepomniachtchi versus Sergei Rublevsky, Moscow, 2006. Nepomniachtchi’s knight went walkabout and jumped straight into the lion’s mouth where it could be taken by three pieces. This is play full of swagger from a young lad who went onto win. Here at ChessRules we’re big fans of Ian Nepomniachtchi.

Ian Nepomniachtchi versus Sergei Rublevsky, Moscow, 2006. Nepomniachtchi’s knight went walkabout and jumped straight into the lion’s mouth where it could be taken by three pieces. This is play full of swagger from a young lad who went onto win. Here at ChessRules we’re big fans of Ian Nepomniachtchi.

Martin Ortueta Esteban versus Jose Sanz Aguado, Madrid, 1933. Some could argue that the follow up moves c4 and a5 were better, but either way Aguado played a bunch of incredible moves.

Ossip Bernstein versus José Raúl Capablanca. When you find the perfect square and the game ends instantly; Capablanca throws and hits the bullseye!

Mikhail Tal versus Hans-Joachim Hecht, Varna, 1962. The pawn is mightier than the queen! Tal ignores the threat to his queen and marches forth with his pawn and marches forth to victory. Incredible!

Richard Reti versus Savielly Tartakower. This incredible queen sacrifice by Reti leads to an undiscovered check and a forced checkmate in two moves. Brilliant!

Viswanathan Anand versus Garry Kasparov, New York, 1995. Kasparov offers up both of his rooks but whichever one Anand takes it is game over. BOOM!

Fabiano Caruana versus Ruslan Ponomariov. Re7 is a bonafide visionary move. Caruana forces Ponomariav to take his sacrificial rook and again Ponomariav is forced to take Caruana’s sacrificed bishop and then finally is forced to accept checkmate.

Fabiano Caruana versus Ruslan Ponomariov. Re7 is a bonafide visionary move. Caruana forces Ponomariav to take his sacrificial rook and again Ponomariav is forced to take Caruana’s sacrificed bishop and then finally is forced to accept checkmate.

Martin Ortueta Esteban versus Jose Sanz Aguado, Madrid, 1933. Some could argue that the follow up moves c4 and a5 were better, but either way Aguado played a bunch of incredible moves.