What happened
Anderssen gave up both rooks, a bishop and his queen, then mated with the last two minor pieces. The game was played for fun during the first great international tournament, but it became the defining romantic masterpiece.
Guides
Famous games
Nine games that matter.
Every chess player inherits a short list of games. These nine run from the romantic sacrifices of the 1850s to Kasparov’s king hunt in 1999 and the night a machine beat the world champion. Step through each one, read the idea, and take the PGN with you.
9classic games
148years covered
3eras
The library
Choose a game. Move at your pace.
London 1851 (casual game)
The Immortal Game
Adolf Anderssen vs Lionel Kieseritzky · 1851
1-0
Read-only chess board with white pieces at the bottom, black pieces at the top. Each square announces its coordinate and the piece on it.
Starting position 0 / 45 plies
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Key moment · 18.Bd6!!
A quiet move that cuts the black queen off from the defence. White is not trying to save the bishop; every piece is being used to remove escape squares.
Why it matters
It shows that material is only a means to an end. White’s pieces never stop pointing at the black king, and every sacrifice buys a tempo rather than a pawn.
The lesson
Count development and king safety before material. If every one of your pieces joins the attack, being down a queen can be irrelevant.
PGN — copy or download 45 plies
[Event "London 1851 (casual game)"] [Site "?"] [Date "1851.??.??"] [White "Adolf Anderssen"] [Black "Lionel Kieseritzky"] [Result "1-0"] 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 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. Qf6+ Nxf6 23. Be7# 1-0
How to study a classic
Do not just replay it. Predict it.
Cover the moves, put the position on a board, and guess the next move before you reveal it. When your guess is wrong, that is the lesson. A classic game is not a museum piece; it is a set of decisions you can compare with your own.
01Read the story
Know what each player was trying to do before the tactics start.
02Guess the move
Play through on a board and pause at every critical moment.
03Take the PGN
Load it into the analysis board and test your own ideas against the engine.