Nakamura T-Shirts

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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?

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.

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

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.

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

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!

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!

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

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!