Anand Mugs

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.

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.

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

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.

Bai Jinshi versus Ding Liren, Tianjin, 2017. After having sacrificed his queen Liren had to keep applying the pressure. Rd4 is sublime. Right this moment Ding Liren is World Champion. Bravo!

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.

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

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.

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!

Prince Andria Dadiani of Mingrelia versus M. Bitcham, Zugdidi, 1892. The prince busts open his opponent’s defence by sacrificing his knight and then his queen and then mates with his remaining knight. Boom!

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.

Andrey Esipenko versus Magnus Carlsen, Wijk aan Zee, 2021. Esipenko’s g4 on move eight signalled his intent; the 18-year-old was not to be intimidated. Ncxb5 had Carlsen on the back foot for the rest of the game. Outstanding play from Esipenko.

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

Stefan Levitsky versus Frank Marshall, Breslau, 1912. Marshall moves queen to g3 threatening checkmate next move. It's a stunning play because the queen can be taken by three different pieces but regardless of the sacrifice each move will lead to Levitsky being checkmated. Astonishing!

Vera Menchik versus Sonja Graf-Stevensen, Semmering, 1937. Menchik’s sacrificial rook is used to distract black’s queen. If the rook is taken then it is checkmate in two. Astonishing vision.

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.

Boris Spassky versus Bobby Fischer, Reykjavik, 1972. The pressure on these two players at that time is hard to comprehend. The eyes and ears of the spies of the world were watching! So to be able to still play incredible moves is testament to the brilliance of both Spassky and Fischer, but on this occasion Fischer’s Bxa4 was the winner.

Gilles Andruet versus Boris Spassky, Bundesliga, 1988. A queen sacrifice that is counterintuitive to the objective makes it impossible to see; except of course if you’re a genius - and who is to argue that Boris Spassky isn’t?

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.

Vera Menchik versus Sonja Graf-Stevensen, Semmering, 1937. Menchik’s sacrificial rook is used to distract black’s queen. If the rook is taken then it is checkmate in two. Astonishing vision.

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.

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

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov versus Daniil Dubov, www, 2021. Down two pawns in the endgame Dubov found a stunning idea, Rf1 initiated the trap, Mamedyarov thought he had snapped up a bishop, but Dubov walloped him with stalemate! Absolutely brilliant.

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

Kaagaz ke phool by san art studio

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.

Gunnar Gundersen versus A. H. Faul, Melbourne, 1928. Gundersen’s move celebrates all things beautiful, checkmate with en passant.

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

Gilles Andruet versus Boris Spassky, Bundesliga, 1988. A queen sacrifice that is counterintuitive to the objective makes it impossible to see; except of course if you’re a genius - and who is to argue that Boris Spassky isn’t?

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!

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.

Daniil Dubov versus Anish Giri, Moscow, 2019. Dubov's queenside castle is a totally unintuitive move as it left the king completely exposed to Giri's attack. Dubov's ballsy tactic paved the way to victory.