Mikhail Tal Mugs

Description: Mikhail Tal chess champion

Description: Mikhail Tal chess champion

Description: 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!

Description: 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!

Description: 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.

Description: Magnus Carlsen versus Sergey Karjakin, New York, 2016. Carlsen sacrifices his queen to become World Champion! Absolute class. There were no such flamboyant moves in the recent world championship match but what Carlsen showed was that his mental stamina is phenomenal. (We are aware here at ChessRules that Hikaru Nakamura played this exact same tactic in 2002!)

Description: 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.

Description: 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.

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

Description: Laurent Fressinet versus Alexandra Kosteniuk, Villandry, 2007. Endurance should also be celebrated in chess. Kosteniuk’s Rh2 was her 251st move that finally brought the game to an end. Epic!

Description: 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.

Description: 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!

Description: 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.

Description: 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!

Description: 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!

Description: Donald Byrne versus Bobby Fischer, New York, 1956. Fischer's bishop move sacrifices his queen but the subsequent demolition job was absolutely incredible. At age 13 this move signalled the arrival of one of the greatest players to ever play chess.

Description: Henry Bird versus Paul Morphy, London, 1858. Morphy’s visionary rook sacrifice against Bird opens up the third rank allowing the queen to slide across the board with the intention of itself being sacrificed on a3. Sacrificing both queen and rook to win the game is pure class.

Description: 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.

Description: Henry Bird versus Paul Morphy, London, 1858. Morphy’s visionary rook sacrifice against Bird opens up the third rank allowing the queen to slide across the board with the intention of itself being sacrificed on a3. Sacrificing both queen and rook to win the game is pure class.

Description: 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.

Description: Magnus Carlsen versus Sergey Karjakin, New York, 2016. Carlsen sacrifices his queen to become World Champion! Absolute class. There were no such flamboyant moves in Carlsen's world championship match but what he showed was that his mental stamina is phenomenal. (We are aware here at ChessRules that Hikaru Nakamura played this exact same tactic in 2002.)

Description: Alexey Shirov versus Judit Polgar, Buenos Aires, 1994. Polgar’s knight move is an exceptionally imaginative move from one of the very best attackers to have ever played the game.