Today, I will go over a famous game by the great Adolph Anderssen, against Kieseritzky; this game is known as "the Immortal Game" ..the game was played in London in 1851. It is a very exciting game, which Anderssen sacrificed with Aplomb his Queen, 2 rooks and a Bishop! We see how mistakes are made and how a really great game is created! Remember, it takes TWO to make a beautiful game, and the mistakes are part of it !
As always, any comments, suggestions good, bad or indifferent are encouraged and read and thought on !
Lets Enjoy!!:
White: Adolph Anderssen
Black:Kieseritsky[/b]
King's Gambit Accepted
1. e4, e5
2. f4 The King's Gambit, a very venerable opening that is also played to day by amateurs and GM's alike It can lead to fireworks very rapidly! 2...ef4 The Gambit Accepted.
3. Bc4, Qh4+ This was a common variation in the 1800's, before better ways were found to defend against the Gambit.
4. Kf1, b5 To get the Bishop sights off the F7 square.
5. Bxb5, Nf6 Developing
6. Nf3, Qh6
[pgn=12]1. e4 e5 2. f4 ef4 3. Bc4 Qh4+ 4. Kf1 b5 5. Bxb5 Nf6 6. Nf3 Qh6 7.d3! Nh5 8. Nh4 Qg5 9. Nf5 c6
10. g4 Nf6 11. Rg1 cxb5 12. h4 Qg6 13. h5 Qg5 14. Qf3 Ng8 15. Bxf4 Qf6 16. Nc3 Bc5?? 17. Nd5? Qxb2
18. Bd6? Bxg1?? 19. e5! Qxa1+ 20. Ke2, Na6 21. Nxg7+ Kd8 22. Qxf6+ Nxf6 23. Be7! ++[/pgn]
7.d3!N A novelty at the time, this move consolidates the e4 pawn and opens the diagonal for White's Q-Bishop. Curiously enough and of interest is that Nigel Short in 1998 beat none other than Gary Kasparov in this opening! Some this game I give you without annotations, as it is a rare Kasparov defeat! ( 7. Nc3, g5; 8. d4, Bb7; 9. h4, Rg8; 10. Kg1, gxh4; 11. Rxg4, Qg6; 12. Qe2, Nxe4; 13. Rxf4, f5; 14. Nh4, Qg3; 15. Nxe4 and Kasparov resigned!!) 7...Nh5 Black could get equality with 7...Ng4; 8.Nc3, Bb7; 9.h3=
8. Nh4 preparing to go to F5. 8...Qg5-= Black can be slightly better here...
9. Nf5, c6
10. g4 White attacks and doesn't consider 10. Ba4, g6; 11. h4, Qf6 Where Black keeps his slight advantage. 10...Nf6 Attacking the g pawn.
11. Rg1!? A very enterprising move! White sacrifices his K-Bishop for prospects of an attack! 11...cxb5 Black accepts the piece but he could stay equal with 11...h5!? ie. 12. h4, Qg6
13. h5, Qg5
14. Qf3 Stacking up on the F pawn 14...Ng8
15. Bxf4, Qf6 White is better here and way ahead of development, count how many Queen moves Black has made!
16. Nc3 more development 16...Bc5?? A very bad move, which preempts White opening the flood gates of an all out attack on the Black position! 16...Qc6 was better: ie 17. Nd4, Qb6; 18. Ncxb5+=
17. Nd5? White misses a game closer in 17. d4!~ with the continuation of 17...Ne7; 18.dxc5, 0-0; 19.Bd6, Nxf5; 20.Qxf5, Bb7; 21.Qxf6, gxf6; 22.g5, Rc8; 23.gxf6, Kh8 and White has a practically own game. 17...Qxb2
[pgn=34]1. e4 e5 2. f4 ef4 3. Bc4 Qh4+ 4. Kf1 b5 5. Bxb5 Nf6 6. Nf3 Qh6 7.d3! Nh5 8. Nh4 Qg5 9. Nf5 c6
10. g4 Nf6 11. Rg1 cxb5 12. h4 Qg6 13. h5 Qg5 14. Qf3 Ng8 15. Bxf4 Qf6 16. Nc3 Bc5?? 17. Nd5? Qxb2
18. Bd6? Bxg1?? 19. e5! Qxa1+ 20. Ke2, Na6 21. Nxg7+ Kd8 22. Qxf6+ Nxf6 23. Be7! ++[/pgn]
18. Bd6? again playing to the crowd, Anderssen misses a very easy way to end the game 18. Nc7+!, Kd8; 19.Re1, Bb7; 20.Nxa8, Bxa8; 21.Bxb8 Bxg1; 22.Nxh6, gxh6; 22. Qf7, Qc3 and Black is lost. 18...Bxg1?? fortune favors the brave! Indeed, Kieseritsky is blind to the move which he could play to WIN and this is 18...Qxa1+!!with the moves 19. Ke2, Qb2 and it is Black , not White that wins! In the heat of a battle, many players, especially OTB get caught up in the excitement and fire of the game and it is not uncommon to miss things being so involved in the attacks and multiple decisions to be made at the board, let's be glad these 2 did just that or we would never have a game this beautiful!
19. e5! White is now on the winning path! 19...Qxa1+
20. Ke2, Na6?? Again a horrible blunder that loses the game period. There was more fight in 20...Ba6 and tho White is still winning, it is harder to close the game than the move actually played.
21. Nxg7+, Kd8
[pgn=42]1. e4 e5 2. f4 ef4 3. Bc4 Qh4+ 4. Kf1 b5 5. Bxb5 Nf6 6. Nf3 Qh6 7.d3! Nh5 8. Nh4 Qg5 9. Nf5 c6
10. g4 Nf6 11. Rg1 cxb5 12. h4 Qg6 13. h5 Qg5 14. Qf3 Ng8 15. Bxf4 Qf6 16. Nc3 Bc5?? 17. Nd5? Qxb2
18. Bd6? Bxg1?? 19. e5! Qxa1+ 20. Ke2, Na6 21. Nxg7+ Kd8 22. Qxf6+ Nxf6 23. Be7! ++[/pgn]
22. Now a beautiful move which caps off the sacrifices made my Andsersson, can you see it?? Qxf6+ gorgeous!!..and leading to mate in all variations! 22...Nxf6
23. Can you see the Checkmate?? Be7! ++
A beautiful game, where you can see how hard it can be to calculate all variation in the face of what Looks like an insurmountable attack! Black has chances but he was too worried about Andersson's fierce reputation to calculate properly and by the time the smoke cleared, Andersson kept his head and won a beautiful game; the Brillancy Prize and the "Immortal Game" tag forever!
I hope you enjoyed this game as much as I have enjoyed showing it to you
