Judit Socks

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: 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: 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: 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.

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: 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: 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.

Description: 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.

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

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

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: 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: 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.

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: Veselin Topalov versus Alexei Shirov, Linares, 1998. Shirov drops his bishop onto h3. He spotted that tempo was fundamental and sacrificed his bishop to create game winning tempo. Genius. Considered one of the greatest moves ever.

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 attackers to ever play chess.

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: 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: 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!

Description: “If the shirt fits, I try to wear it” is a quote by Ian Nepomniachtchi made during an interview at the candidates tournament in Madrid, 2022. We at ChessRules have great respect for the humour and wisdom of Nepomniachtchi’s mind. This version is in Cyrillic in respect to Nepomniachtchi but there is an English alternative available.

Description: “If the shirt fits, I try to wear it” is a quote by Ian Nepomniachtchi made during an interview at the candidates tournament in Madrid, 2022. We at ChessRules have great respect for the humour and wisdom of Nepomniachtchi’s mind. This version is in Cyrillic in respect to Nepomniachtchi but there is an English alternative available.