White: Adolf Anderssen; Black: Lionel Kieseritsky
London 1851
Kings Gambit

This game was played during the 1851 Great Exhibition. The loser Lionel Kieseritsky, chess tutor at the Café de la Regence, Paris, where he gave lessons at 5 francs a hour, was so impressed by the brilliance of Anderssen's play that he immediately telegraphed the moves to a waiting audience in Paris. Ever since, this game has been known by the name, the Immortal Game.

     1. e4      e5
     2. f4      exf4 
     3. Bc4     Qh4+ 
     4. Kf1     b5 
Here Black sacrifices his pawn to lure White's bishop away from its attacking position and to create an avenue of development for his own queen's bishop from b7. In 1851 even masters regarded this as sufficient compensation for the loss of a pawn.

     5. Bxb5    Nf6 
     6. Nf3     Qh6 
     7. d3      Nh5
This is a mistake. Black would have been better advised to play … Bb7. The knight's threat of … Ng3+ is too easily parried.

     8. Nh4     Qg5 
     9. Nf5     c6 
    10. g4      Nf6
Black here expects to win White's g4 pawn, expecting the continuation 11 Bc4 Qxg4. However White sacrifices his bishop, the first of many sacrifices in this game.

    11. Rg1     cxb5 
    12. h4      Qg6 
White has the initiative, every move now poses a forced threat.

    13. h5      Qg5 
    14. Qf3 
White now poses the terrible new threat of Bxf4, trapping Black's queen. In order to create an avenue of escape, Black has to retreat one of the pieces he has developed

    14.         Ng8 
    15. Bxf4    Qf6 
    16. Nc3     Bc5 
    17. Nd5 
Here White will sacrifice both rooks and his queen to deliver checkmate.

    17.        Qxb2 
    18. Bd6    Qxa1+ 
Black wins his first rook.

    19. Ke2     Bxg1 
Black does not believe White's attack and takes the second rook. White is now down two rooks and a bishop. He must go for a knockout blow, otherwise Black can recover and win on sheer material.

    20. e5      Na6 
    21. Nxg7+   Kd8 
Now the queen sacrifice.

    22. Qf6+    Nxf6 
    23. Be7     checkmate
The most spectacular knockout in the entire history of chess.

It has also been pointed out by Mod that this game is symbolically played out in Blade Runner between J. F. Sebastian (A man with a very limited lifespan) and Dr. Tyrell (Who is the Creator).

This is one of many subtle messages in the film.

  1. e4 e5
  2. f4 exf4
  3. c4 h4+
  4. f1 b5
  5. xb5 f6
  6. f3 h6
  7. d3 h5
  8. h4 g5
  9. f5 c6
  10. g4 f6
  11. g1 cxb5
  12. h4 g6
  13. h5 g5
  14. f3 g8
  15. xf4 f6
  16. c3 c5
  17. d5 xb2
  18. d6 xa1+
  19. e2 xg1
  20. e5 a6
  21. xg7+ d8
  22. f6+ xf6
  23. e7 checkmate

Using Unicode on E2

Log in or register to write something here or to contact authors.