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

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.

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

Anish Giri versus Alexander Morozevich, Beijing, 2012. At a time in the game when Giri might have considered re-grouping he carried on attacking. Bf6* is a stunning game-winning move.

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.

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.

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.

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!

Hou Yifan versus Babu Lalith, Gibraltar, 2017. Opening with g4 Hou Yifan makes a statement and takes a stand. Here at ChessRules we respect an individual who raises their head above the parapet. In our world Hou Yifan rocks.

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

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.

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!

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!

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.

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.

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.

The Tale of Genji,written in Japan in the early years of the 11th Century is probably the first surviving novel. We don't know the name of the female author, despite also having her diaries.She is known to posterity as Murasaki Shikibu after the heroine of her epic novel. I have depicted her by the standards of beauty of her time. She has a round face and long flowing hair. She has also shaved her eyebrows and painted soft smudgy 'bufferfly' brows much higher up her forehead. She would also have blackened her teeth. Her words are radiating out in wispy tendrils from her hand. Marbled paper collage.

"I like the moment when I break a man's ego" is a classic quote by Bobby Fischer.

N. Kosolapov versus Rashid Nezhmetdinov, Kazan, 1936. Nezhmetdinov's Qxh2* is an absolutely explosive queen sacrifice, a knockout blow, devastating, brutal.

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!

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!

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.

N. Kosolapov versus Rashid Nezhmetdinov, Kazan, 1936. Nezhmetdinov's Qxh2* is an absolutely explosive queen sacrifice, a knockout blow, devastating, brutal.

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.

N. Kosolapov versus Rashid Nezhmetdinov, Kazan, 1936. Nezhmetdinov's Qxh2* is an absolutely explosive queen sacrifice, a knockout blow, devastating, brutal.

every game is somewhat influenced by animals, just like art...

“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.

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

“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.

“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.

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.

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