This is actually nothing more than a copy
of my 'GeoCities' chess
web-site page,
dedicated to the "Best All-Time Chess Games."
(Geo-Cities keeps dumping my whole site
(temporarily) for, "exceeding the data-transfer limit."
What this means is that they are punishing me for getting lots of hits!
I think this is grossly unfair and want my fans to be able to have a
"back-up," if need be.
So here is an almost complete copy of one of my most popular web pages.)
For instance: was Botvinnik's BEST game ever the great game where he played and defeated Capablanca at A.V.R.O. 1938? (You know the one I am talking about. White sacrificed TWO minor pieces in a very simplified setting. As one student said, "This game takes my breath away!") Or was it Botvinnik's little known game where he sacrificed a whole box full of pieces against GM L. Portisch at Monaco, 1968? (This game was played at a time when Portisch was easily in the "Top Five Non-Soviet Players in the World.") Or was it some other game?
***
What
was Bobby Fischer's GREATEST ALL-TIME game?
(Now there's a really tough choice to make!!)
( My choice would be his win
over Donald Byrne at the New York Rosenwald Tournament
of 1956. This is known as, "The
Game of the Century." But he also played dozens
of other beautiful games that one could easily classify as his best.
03/2002
I just recently concluded analyzing - to a great depth - Fischer's game
vs. L. Portisch.
(Stockholm Izt, 1962.) This is one of the finest R+P endings ever played.
Click here.
Or click HERE
to see another great Fischer game. Another great game is Fischer's
win over GM Oscar Panno. Its here!
{November, 2002.} )
***
What was Garry
Kasparov's best
game? Was
it his win over V. Topalov?
Or was it his win
over Karpov - from the 1985 World Championship Match?
(This is the game Garry himself considered his "supreme creative
achievement" ...
for many, many years.) Or was it some other game that Kasparov has played?
(Click here
to see his game vs. Portisch from Niksic, Yugoslavia; 1983.)
***
What
was Paul Morphy's greatest game? Anderssen's
best chess game?
What
was Steinitz's best ever chess game? What was Emanuel Lasker's
greatest achievement over the chess board? (Click here
to see one of
Lasker's game. While maybe not his greatest win, it is a very original idea -
at the time it was actually played. Feb. 24th, 2003. A friend gave me a
new
book for my birthday. In this game the author made reference to the game
Emmanuel Lasker - Lee; London, 1899. I went over this game in another
book. Truly one of Lasker's best games. Hopefully I will annotate this game
and bring it to you in the VERY near future!)
What was Capablanca's greatest
game? (Or this game?)
And so on?
***
How about one of the greatest
tactical geniuses who ever lived,
The (late) Great Mikhail
Tal?
What was his
most explosive brilliancy?
(Tal played SO MANY great and epic games ... it is hard to pick just
one!!
GM A. Soltis - and many others! - consider his win over Hjartarsson his best
game.
This is the game, GM
M. Tal - GM J. Hjartarsson; Reykjavik, 1987.)
***
What was GM
Anatoly Karpov's greatest game?
(I am almost clueless here. Curiously ... I can only find Karpov's
losses in GM A. Soltis's book, "The 100 Best!")
(I have several books on Karpov, including the latest: "My 300 Best Games.")
Possibly two games could be nominated as Karpov's best:
S.
Tatai - A. Karpov; Las Palmas, 1977.
(Karpov DOMINATED this tournament as the reigning World Champ.
He scored 13.5 out of 15, and was 2.5 points ahead of GM B. Larsen.)
This win is one of timeless beauty.
The other game would probably be:
GM A. Karpov - GM Veselin Topalov; Linares, 1994.
(Karpov also dominated this event as well, scoring 11 out of 13.
Kasparov was a very long distance away {tied for 2nd} with 8.5 points!!)
This game - a Rook sack from nowhere - is a flight if fancy that Fischer
or Tal would have been proud to play.
***
What about one of my favorite
players, GM Vicktor Korchnoi?
What is his very best game?
(GM Andy Soltis seems to think it was his win over fellow Soviet player,
Mikhail Tal ... U.S.S.R. Championship; Erervan/RUS/1962.
A simply fantastic game of chess ... and Its
here! 12/15/02)
***
What was Issac Boleslavsky's greatest game? (click here)
What was GM Nigel Short's greatest game of chess? (click here)
***
How about your favorite player? What was his (or her) best game?
***
Let me know what YOU think!!!
One reader/fan/visitor wrote me an e-mail (Mar./Apr. 2001) that said:
<<
How about one of the greatest tactical geniuses who ever lived ...
World champion Mikhail Tal? When he was asked what was the happiest
day of his life, he (Tal) referred to this game:
Nezhmetdinov - Tal, Baku; 1961.
Tal, (who was the teacher of
Alexei Shirov), had nothing but praise for Rashid
Nezhmetdinov, (Tal's trainer); after he (Tal) defeated Mikhail Botvinnik. (In
1960.)
This must always be considered as one
of the very best games he [Nez] ever played:
Polugayevsky
- Nezhmetdinov; Sochi, 1958. >>
(Soltis - and many others! - consider
this to be one of the Ten Most beautiful games
of all time. [See Below.] I personally feel that this may be rating this game
too
highly ... it may have been largely the result of home preparation;
but it certainly ... easily!, belongs in anyone's Top 50 list.)
***
An interesting side-note: When Sig
Smith attended a [recent-May 2001] tournament
in Pensacola, he was selling a book called, "Super Nez."
This book was about
Nezhmetdinov's life and games. Apparently he was quite a player, and even had
plus scores against some world-class GM's!!
***
Look for a link to one of these games soon!!
***
{
Just to let you know, I have many Tal games that I like,
but it would be too hard to pick 10 of the very best.
>
Tal sacked so
many pieces so many times, its hard to pick the one that
you like the most!
Nearly everyone has his own favorite Tal game!
<
Certainly his game against Hjartarsson,
[Both Soltis and Nunn rank this game very highly!];
and his game vs. Rantanen must be two of his very best efforts. I also like the
White French Winawer he played vs. Botvinnik (game # 1, Moscow, 1960) in his
first [chess] World's Championship. And several of his games from the Soviet
Championships, during the period 1957-1960 stand out. (Like his game vs. Geller
in 1957.) And his game vs. Spassky from the Montreal 1979 tournament must
surely be one of his best. His games against Simagin, Bobotsov, and Panno
are also very outstanding games.
(Soltis thinks Tal's draw vs. Aronin {Moscow, 1957.} may be the nicest
draw ever made!)
Maybe I will have to make a collection of 50 of Tal's best games for you to
download.
And maybe put the 10 best here on my website! }
In 1989, BCM
(The British Chess Magazine) (Editor - GM
Murray Chandler)
took a poll of their readers. (Other polls had been taken previously.) They
asked
what the best chess games ever played were. They received many responses,
with the following games occupying the top five slots:
Richard
Reti - Alexander Alekhine; Baden-Baden, 1925.
(An unbelievable game ending in a queenless attack.)
Yefim
Bogolyubov - Alexander Alekhine; Hastings, 1922.
(A great brilliancy, many consider it Alekhine's best.)
Donald
Byrne - Robert J. Fischer; New York, 1956.
(The 'Game of the Century.')
Mikhail
Botvinnik - Jose R. Capablanca; A.V.R.O, 1938.
(Botvinnik's Immortal Game.)
Harry
N. Pillsbury - Seigbert Tarrasch; Hastings, 1895.
(A very beautiful, but lesser known game.)
(This game is NOT considered by many sources when naming the best
games of chess ever played. But it probably belongs on anyone's
list
of the 'Top 100.')
***
In 1989, IM Jack Peters
- The columnist for The Los Angeles Times,
also did a survey of his readers.
( Many 19th Century games were
mentioned very highly on the list.
Like - Paul
Morphy vs. Allies;
or A.
Anderssen - J. Dufresne; Berlin, 1852. {The EVERGREEN Game.} )
He then obtained the following list: (20th Century Games)
Robert
Byrne - Robert J. Fischer; U.S. Championship, 1963-64.
(One of Bobby's best! One of the "Ten Best" of all-time
short games.)
R.
Reti - A. Alekhine; Baden-Baden, 1925.
(A game that ends with an unbelievable queenless attack.)
Emanuel Lasker - J. R.
Capablanca; St. Petersburg, 1914.
(One of the great games of chess literature.)
Donald
Byrne - R.J. Fischer; New York, 1956.
("The Game of The Century.")
M.
Botvinnik - J.R. Capablanca; A.V.R.O, 1938.
(Botvinnik's 'Immortal Game'.)
Emanuel Lasker - William E.
Napier; Cambridge Springs, 1904.
(A beautiful attack that is refuted by Lasker.)
F. Samsich - A. Nimzovich;
Copenhagen, 1923.
(The "Immortal Zugzwang Game.")
David
Bronstein - Ljubomir Ljubojevic; Petropolis, 1973.
(One of the most complicated games ever played. An incredible
Alekhine's Defense.
GM Andy Soltis ranks this game in the "Top 100" of the 20th
Century!)
"Any E. Geller win" - R.J. Fischer; [Several]
By now, you should be noticing that several games have repeated themselves. And if you compare the lists given below, you will see many more of these repetitions. This means certain games that are repeated many times on several of these lists are certainly candidates to be in the "25 Best Chess Games Ever Played."
See also the "Comparisons" discussion at the bottom of this page.
(© 1987) This book gives a
list of the 60 greatest chess games, (pg. # 100) but gives the games
chronologically, so there is no way to be sure as to what their list of the
"Top Ten" would be. Since it is so hard to tell what the authors
'favorite ten' would be, I have not tried.
(This is, by the way, a GREAT "Chess-for-the-fun-of-it" book!)
(Click HERE
to go to a page where you can re-play nearly ALL of these games!!)
[ They begin with the following ten games:
# 1.) LaBourdonnais
- MacDonnell;
The 50th Match Game, 1834.
A Queen's Gambit Accepted. One
of the first really great games of chess.
(So says GM
Ruben Fine.) Tartakower says it is one of the very first
examples
of a positional
sacrifice. (Easily) One of the best games of the 19th Century!!
# 2.) McDonnell
- LaBourdonnais;
62nd Match Game, 1834.
A very cute game, where
three Black Pawns defeat the whole of White's army.
Another game that is
very brilliant ... and also good to study. A true,
great masterpiece of the
chess board.
# 3.) A.
Anderssen - Kieseritsky; Casual (Match) Game, London, 1851.
(The 'Immortal Game.')
The name says it all.
# 4.) A.
Anderssen - J. Dufresne; Casual (Match) Game, Berlin, 1852.
(The 'Evergreen Game.')
Again, the name says it all.
# 5.) L.
Paulsen - P. Morphy; New York, 1857.
(One of the more
brilliant games of the 19th century.)
(His game against Theodore
Lichtenhein was ALSO an incredible
brilliancy! Click
here
to see that game.)
# 6.) P.
Morphy - The Duke of Brunswick and The Count Isouard, {Allies};
Paris Opera House, 1858.
Perhaps the most published and well-known
game of chess ever
played. (So says the chess legend, GM Frank Marshall.)
# 7.) J.
Zukertort - J. Blackburne; London, 1883. (The Zukertort
'Immortal Game.')
This is easily one of the
very best games of the whole of the 19th Century.
# 8.) Emmanuel
Lasker - J.H. Bauer; International Tournament.
Amsterdam, 1889.
One of Lasker's Best
Games. A game that should have brought notice of his talent.
(The famous
"2-Bishop" sacrifice game. The ORIGINAL!!)
# 9.) H.N.
Pillsbury - S. Tarrasch; Hastings, 1895. A pretty
game, one of Pillsbury's best.
# 10.) W.
Steinitz - C. Von Bardeleben; Hastings, 1895. One of the best
of the 19th
century.
("The Immortal Giuoco Piano Game."). One of Tal's favorite
games!! ]
***
( I
now feel - after having studied each one of these games {immediately
above}
in depth - that the above list could also
{easily} be:
"The
Ten Most Beautiful Games of the Nineteenth
{19th} Century!!!!!" )
*****
Simply starting at the end of their
list and working backwards,
(This is obviously not a scientific method, nor [probably] was it the
method intended by the authors.); we get the following list:
"The Chess Addict's Ten Greatest Games of Chess"
Nigel Short - Garry Kasparov;
Brussels, (OHRA) 1986.
(Sicilian Defense.)
G.
Kasparov - A. Karpov; 16th
Game, World Championship Match, 1986.
(Ruy Lopez.) (See below.)
G.
Kasparov - A. Karpov; 16th
Game, World Championship Match,1985.
(Sicilian Defense) (See below.)
A. Belyavsky - J. Nunn;
Wijk aan Zee, 1985.
(King's Indian Defense.) A great game by an Englishman.
V. Smyslov - Z. Ribli;
Candidates Semi-Final, 1983.
(Queen's Gambit Declined.)
G.
Kasparov - L. Portisch;
Niksic', 1983.
(Queen's Indian Defense.) Mostly a product of preparation.
V. Korchnoi - G. Kasparov;
Lucerne Olympiad, 1982. (Modern Benoni.)
(Easily one of the best and momentous clashes on Board One of any Olympiad.)
A. Karpov - T. Miles;
European Team Championships, Skara, 1980.
(St. George's Defence) GM Tony Miles defeats the reigning World Champ!
A. Karpov - Dorfman; Soviet
Championship, Moscow, 1976.
(Sicilian Defense.) A great game, but one of the all-time best???
A. Karpov - V. Korchnoi; 2nd
Game, Candidates Final, 1974.
(Sicilian Dragon.) Truly a great contest, and one of best Dragon
games.
I must admit that these British
Authors (Mike Fox & Richard James) certainly
give a little too much credence to games by British/English players.
Several of these games are certainly
some of the
best chess played in the period 1974 to 1986!
(The
Mammoth Book of)
"The
World's Greatest Chess Games,"
by Nunn, Emms & Burgess.
***
Since I personally rank this as one
of the 10 best chess books ever written,
(See My "Best Books" Page.);
I thought it would be appropriate to mention
which games this book rates very highly. (May 22, 2001.)
Since this book was written by Two
[British] GM's who are very well-respected author's in their own rights, (GM
John Nunn, GM John Emms.); and the very well-known FM Graham Burgess; I thought
it would be very tantalizing to try to figure out what the "Ten Most
Beautiful Games"
ever played were, at least according to these gentlemen.
This book's criterion is not nearly as strict as that of Soltis. Basically, each author was given a list of around 200 games. The games were chosen for their quality and brilliance of play by both contestants, originality, their instructive value, and their historical significance.
Then each author was asked to rate the games from 1 to 5,
using the following scale:
. 5 - One of the greatest 20 games [of Chess] ever played.
. 4 - In the Top 50 Games of Chess ever played.
. 3 - In the Top 100 games of Chess.
. 2 - The game does not belong in the Top 100.
. 1 - The game is unsuitable for inclusion in the book.
Thus, the best any game could score was 15. In the end, only two games in their book scored this elusive perfect score. (The first two games listed below.) After that, I just had to go by their scoring system to figure out what was the 10 best games of chess ever played were.
NOTE: The authors do
NOT rate the games this way. If
asked to do this, they
may have balked. But certainly this fairly precise system is a good indicator of
which games the authors thought very highly of.
Games
that are given the same score by the authors have been
given a sequence that is my
own
choosing.
Now according to these illustrious
authors, {see above!}
{from (Mammoth Book of) "The World's Greatest Chess
Games"}
The "10 Greatest Games of Chess Ever Played,"
are:
A.
Karpov - G. Kasparov; Chess World Championship Match, Moscow, 1985.
(Game # 16.) This is the game where Garry Kasparov sacrificed a pawn in a
Sicilian, and tied his opponent up hand and foot. He then finished off
brilliantly to cap an immortal performance, especially at the World
Championship level. It is maybe one of the most brilliant WCS games
ever played, very certainly in - or near the top ten in anyone's book.
A favorite of MANY
modern-day Grand-Masters! (Score of 15.)
A chess editor (in a northern state) sent out an unofficial survey via
e-mail. (And
in a flyer inside their magazine.) This game was picked more by his readers
than
any other game. (By over a 3-to-1 margin.)
Over 200 people responded to this survey.
(Strangely, this is only game # 89 in the Soltis book.)
Note: I have been working on annotating this game for over 3
years now ... although
I will readily admit I have been anything but consistent! The bottom
line? While this
game is really good - much better than average - I no longer think it is as
good as
I once did. Not only this, I may have found several new improvements.
08/25/02
M.
Botvinnik - J.R. Capablanca; A.V.R.O; 1938.
Another incredibly beautiful game at the highest level - as this
tournament was to determine a challenger for Alekhine. (The tournament was
won by Fine and Keres.) Botvinnik plays an incredibly brilliant game
through-out and caps off his masterpiece by sacrificing two pieces in an
incredibly simplified situation. One of my students once remarked that this
game, "Just takes my breath away." Me too! One of the greatest
masterpieces ever created over the chess-board.
A favorite of MANY
GM's that I have asked, over the years! (15.)
(It would probably have to be on my 'Top Ten' list of the best chess
games ever played.)
Note: According to Burgess, Emms, and Nunn; the above two games
were the ONLY ones to get a perfect score of 15. (See above.)
(This is only game # 21 in Soltis's book. This is a very low rating,
considering
how highly it placed with most other GM's. Many GM's have told me
they thought
this was one of the most beautiful games ever
played.)
G.
Kasparov - A. Karpov; Chess World Championship Match,
Leningrad 1986. (Game # 16.)
This is Garry's masterpiece, one of my favorites. It is easily one of the
most complex and amazing games played at the World Championship level. (Most
W.C.S. games are boring, safe, and timid affairs.) Garry sacrifices a whole
bundle of pieces. And the notes are full of many more incredible
possibilities that are much more stunning than the game! This may be one of
the "Ten Prettiest Ruy Lopez" (Opening) games ever played, and
that is saying a lot. Karpov does not handle the defense perfectly, but it
is still a great game, none-the-less. (14.)
(Strangely enough, I could not find this game in the Soltis book! This is
especially curious, as I have seen this game mentioned in many
magazines
and books. I wonder how Soltis would have ranked this game. Surely,
having
looked at over 7000 games, this was one of the ones he examined? Why
was
this game left out? Curious minds want to know!)
R.
Reti - A. Alekhine; Baden-Baden, 1925. (Tournament Game.)
This is the famous Alekhine brilliancy where Reti declines a possible
repetition, and Alekhine sacrifices an entire box of pieces for mate. What
is so unusual about this game is: A.) The unbelievable and intricate way the
variations hold together; and B.) The fact that Queens had already been
exchanged! I saw this game many, many years ago, but I still remember it
well. I particularly remember a very pleasurable afternoon spent with my
friend - and very strong Pensacola Chess Player - Phil Snyder, going over
this game. I also remember spending nearly an entire day with a young Navy
[candidate] pilot. He was so stunned by this game, he demanded to go through
it several times. He then asked me in awe, "Is this the most beautiful
game of chess ever played?" It certainly is one of the most beautiful
queenless attacks ever played!!!
A favorite of MANY
well-known chess authors and chess historians! (14.)
(I originally stated, "It would probably have to be on my 'Top
Ten' list of the best
chess games ever played." But AFTER playing over this game
- connected with
preparing this list - I decided that it was NOT worthy for
inclusion in the top ten
best games ever played. White spurns a nearly forced draw, after
repeating moves.
And White's 27th move is nearly a blunder. There were just too many
other pretty
chess games - that did not contain such flaws - for me to include this
game.)
(This is game # 20 in the Soltis books. Originally I had said this game
was left
out, but I was mistaken.)
M.
Botvinnik - L. Portisch; Monte Carlo, 1968. (Tournament
Game.)
Another one of Mikhail Botvinnik's greatest games. It starts off as an
English, and then turns into a Reversed Sicilian Dragon. The grand old man
of chess, (as he was then being called); then [seemingly] tries to sacrifice
his entire army of pieces. A brilliant game. A virtuoso performance that was
certainly dreamt up at the board. This game should easily go into any
critic's top 25 games of chess, even if you are NOT a fan of
Botvinnik! A true piece of chess artistry. (Score of 14.)
(Certainly on ANYBODY's list of, "The 100 Most Beautiful
Games of Chess Ever Played." !! I don't care who you are, or what your
criterion is!)
(Strangely, this is game # 75 in the Soltis book. Apparently Andy did not
think as
highly of this game as did Nunn and Emms. And I have seen other
writers, such
as Krabbe and Gaige, {and others!} who rate this game very highly.)
Robert
J. Fischer - Boris Spassky; FIDE Chess World Championship Match,
Reykjavik,
Iceland; 1972. (Game # 6.)
An epic game by anyone's standards. Firstly, there was this match. East
(Russia) vs. West (U.S.A.) at the height of the "Cold
War." (This match is the chessic equivalent of Ice Hockey's,
"Miracle On Ice.") This was the only time in chess history
that a chess match was THE
leading story on all three networks every evening. (When there was only NBC,
CBS, and ABC. An era before cable and CNN, which any youngsters out there
may not even remember.) The coverage of the match also dominated the
written media.
Then there was this game. For the first time in his life in an important
game, Bobby
played something other than 1. P-K4. (1. e4.) The game starts off as an
English, then
transposes to a Queen's Gambit Declined, another first for
Bobby with the White pieces.
And you should also be reminded that Boris was playing his favorite "T.M.B."
System,
a line he had NEVER lost with in an important
game! (Despite the fact that he had
played it in numerous Soviet Championships, Candidates Matches, numerous
International Tournaments, and even other World Championship Matches!!)
And this was a game to confound the critics and other GM's. I have heard
this many
times from sources who are 100% reliable, (Many were actually in
Iceland during
the Match. Others, such as Shelby Lyman and others were watching the game as
it was being played, and even commenting on them for the press.); that the
Soviet
GM's failed again and again to correctly
appraise this position while this game
was actually being played!!!
(One very strong Russian GM labeled Fischer's 19. NxB/e6!, to be a blunder,
giving up a good Knight for a bad Bishop, and giving Black a solid
wall of
pawns in the center.)
Fischer played perfect chess in this game, outflanking Spassky and suddenly
and unexpectedly putting great pressure on Black's King. Fischer then
proceeds to play with great patience and artistry, tying up poor Spassky
hand and foot. He then virtually places him in Zugzwang, an unheard of thing
at this level. He then finishes off with an elegant exchange sacrifice,
cracking open Spassky's King and forces resignation.
I do not care who you are, this has to be one of the single greatest games
of chess ever played. It certainly has to be one of the Ten Prettiest played
at the World Championship level! And considering all the beautiful games
played over the years, that is saying a lot!
(The authors only give this game a score of 14, but it certainly
deserves much higher praise. I give it a perfect ten!!!)
(It would probably have to be a very strong candidate for my 'Top
Ten' list of the best chess games ever played. {A.J.G.})
(Strangely, I don't believe this game is even in Soltis's "Top
100." I don't understand this.)
W.
Steinitz - C. von Bardeleben; Hastings, 1895. (Tournament
game.)
This is an ultra-brilliant game, and perhaps the "Immortal Giuoco Piano
Game." Here the old lion, Steinitz, proves he still has teeth; although
he was well-past his prime when this game was played. Bardeleben does very
little wrong, yet he is destroyed.
In some sacrificial attacks, you must give your imagination free reign. And
Steinitz completely unfetters his imagination here. Here Steinitz plays like
Tal.
I can give no higher compliment.
( In fact, in response to
chess historian Issak Linder's 3rd question: "What game -
not one of your own - made the greatest impression on you? Which game
had the
greatest impact on you?" The late, great Tal
picked this one game!! )
One of Steinitz's most beautiful and imaginative games. (13.)
(It would probably have to be a very strong candidate for my 'Top
Ten' list of
the best chess games ever played. {A.J.G.})
(Strangely, I don't believe this game is even in Soltis's "Top
100.")
G.
Rotlevi - A. Rubinstein; Lodz, 1907/08. (Tournament Game.)
A true classic of great beauty. An incredible piece of chess artistry.
Notice that this game appears on many "Top Ten" lists, including
Chernev's!!!
( Scroll down the page to see what I wrote about this game in the Soltis
list. )
Another classic.
A favorite of MANY
Masters! (When I have asked the question, "What
do
you think is the most beautiful game of chess ever played?) (Score
= 13.)
Notice that MANY chess writers and historians have picked this game
as one of the all-time best.
(It would definitely have to be on my 'Top Ten' list
of the best chess games
ever played. {A.J.G.})
The experts all seem to be in a consensus about this game. It is game #
10 in
the Soltis book. Everyone seems to agree that this is one of the most
beautiful games ever played.
R.
Reti - E. Bogoljubow; New York, 1924. (Tournament
game.)
The first truly ultra-brilliant game by a hyper-modern. Certainly this must
have been a wake-up call to die-hard classical players everywhere.
Reti starts off with his beloved invention, 1. Nf3. Bogo counters
with a QGD set-up that just doesn't quite make it, especially considering
Reti's super-accurate play. The game proceeds to a series of tactical shots,
where many masters who were watching did not know what the outcome would be.
It even looked as if the great Bogo had found an adequate defense, but
eventually Reti crashes through with a combination that justly won him the First
Brilliancy Prize. A gorgeous game and one every chess lover should see.
The end of this game has been featured in countless magazines and
books.
A real classic.
A favorite
of MANY well-known chess authors and
chess historians!
(Score = 13.)
(I do not believe Soltis even thought this game worthy of inclusion in his
list.
In fact, it is his fourth {4th} "Most Over-Rated Game."
See pg. # 20 of his book.)
July, 2002. I just spent almost the whole day studying this game. This
is a truly
great game of chess. Artistry of the 64 squares!!
Donald
Byrne - Robert J. Fischer; Rosenwald Tournament, 1956.
"The Game of the
Century." (Tnmt. Game, equal to the U.S.
Championship.)
This had to have been, "The chess shot heard 'round the world."
(!!) This was young Bobby's 'business card' to the chess world as a whole.
It served notice that this young man, barely 13 at the time this game was
played, was a true genius and was going to be a serious contender for the
very highest honors in the game.
The game started off as 1. Nf3 and then transposed to a Gruenfeld Defence.
Fischer's 11...Na5!!! was a move of unparalleled imagination and brilliance.
(At first glance, the move looks like an incredible blunder!!) The true
beauty and depth of his conception was not realized until he unleashed his
move, 17...Be6!! (Sacrificing his Queen.) The game does not clearly become
won for Black until many moves later. Eventually Bobby has a Rook and
two minor pieces + a few pawns for the Queen - that he
invested into this attack. Byrne does not resign, so Bobby tracks down the
White King and mates him. Another often over-looked fact about this game is
that Donald Byrne was easily one of the 5 - 10 or so strongest players in
the U.S.A. at the time this game was played.
I personally believe this to be one of the most complicated games ever
played in an actual game of chess, over-the-board. (Not postal or the
product of adjournment analysis.) Inspiration and intuition must have surely
played a part in this conception, as not even an IBM Super-Computer [Deep
Blue?] could have calculated this combination from start to finish.
Kmoch called this game, "The Game of the Century." Kirby
called it, "A Game for
the Ages." Fine called Fischer's 11th move, "Perhaps the
most beautiful, brilliant
and imaginative move ever played in a game of chess." Chernev
called it,
"Remarkable." He considered it one of the two greatest games ever
played by a
prodigy, the other being Capablanca-Corzo. (Match Game;
Havana, 1900.)
Reinfeld, (In his book, "Great Games by Chess
Prodigies."); said the game left
him speechless. I could go on and on, but I trust by now that you get the
point.
A favorite
of MANY well-known chess authors and
chess historians!
( Score of 13.)
(It would probably have to be on my 'Top Ten' list of the best chess games
ever played.)
{ This game also contains (IMOHO) TWO of the most amazing
chess moves ever
played. See my web
page of "The Best Chess Moves Ever Played."
}
This is game # 28 in the Andy Soltis book. As it almost made it into
GM Soltis's "Top 25," I am more or less satisfied with that
ranking.
***
That is it for the list from Burgess, Emms, and Nunn. I am more or less satisfied with this list, as I am familiar with all of the games on their "Top 25." There might be a few oversights in this book, and I would have been highly curious to see what their original list of games was. It would also been interesting to see which games were dismissed and why. But overall, you could simply pick all the games that they chose with scores of 13 or better. From this list you would be very hard pressed to eliminate ANY of these games, as they are all classics of the game of chess. I highly recommend this book. In fact ... this book is in my list of, "The Ten Best Chess Books Ever Written." See my web page on the best chess books for more information.
I skipped a few games to get to this
last three in this list. They ALL had
identical scores of 13 by Nunn, Emms, and
Burgess. The games I skipped were:
Anderssen - Kieseritsky; London, 1851. (The 'Immortal Game')
Nimzowitsch - Tarrasch; St. Petersburg, 1914.
Averbakh - Kotov; Candidate Tournament, 1953.
L. Polugaeyevsky - E. Torre; Moscow, 1981.
Kasparov - Portisch; Niksic, 1983.
Kasparov - Anand; PCA World Champ. (10); 1995
***
(Now all of these games ARE beautiful. But I skipped them for this list.)
***
My main reasons for skipping these games were as follows:
# 1.) I do not
consider the Anderssen game, (His "Immortal Game.") a piece of
trash
or rubbish - as does GM Robert Hubner. The game is beautiful and was an
amazing
(even unbelievable) concept in its day. But I do think the game has many
incorrect ideas,
(minor tactical flaws) that have analytical holes in them. And
it has been superseded
by far prettier games of chess. (And I personally prefer
Anderssen's "Evergreen Game.")
But it is still a grand game of chess.
----> And a must for any student to study, if he is trying to learn tactics. (!!!)
# 2.) The
Nimzovich - Tarrasch game is perhaps the German Teacher's greatest
brilliancy. But the "Two Bishop" sacrifice is a theme that was
played in many games
before and was probably best [originally] done in Lasker-Bauer. Also Nimzovich's
play probably left a lot to be desired. But it is still a great game of chess,
and one
of Tarrasch's very best games.
# 3.) The
Kotov game is an incredible brilliancy. But yet I think it (the key
part of
the game) may have been figured out by a team of
analysts made up of a group
of Russian GM's, during an adjournment. (The
queen sacrifice came after move 40.)
(It still belongs in anyone's 'Top 100,' and may be A. Kotov's greatest game.)
# 4.) The
Polugaeyevsky game is an incredible brilliancy, but has two main flaws:
a.) It is mostly opening preparation by Polu; and b.) Torre missed
many chances
to strengthen his resistance and play better defense, especially in the endgame.
#
5.) It would been unfair to allow Kasparov to dominate this list
if I had included
the last two games of his. And its entirely possible that both
games listed above
were largely (or entirely!) the result of opening preparation by Kasparov
and his team.
(Click here
to read more.)
***
(But they are still pretty games and they all deserve to be in the 'Top 100' most beautiful games of chess ever played. In fact I would bet if I got many judges to gather together their favorite 25 "Best Games of Chess," Kasparov would certainly have 10 - or more! - games included in ALL the lists. He has played some of the most beautiful and exciting games of chess of the 20th century, and my hat is off to him.)
I just recently (May, 2001.) purchased the book:
"The
100 Best Chess Games of the 20th
Century," (Ranked)
by GM Andy Soltis.
***
I first want to say this is a very fine hard-back book. (It was also very expensive, some dealers are charging between fifty and one hundred bucks for this book! Maybe it will be cheaper when - and if - it comes out in paperback.) But it may be Soltis's best book ever. (!!)
He made a very large list of over 7,000 games, (!) then narrowed this list down to around 300 games, and then winnowed it down to the best 100 - using come of the most exacting criteria and the most rigorous research data I have ever seen used for chess games.
***
He graded the games according
to the following criteria:
(On a scale of 1 to 20!)
# 1.) Overall Aesthetic Quality.
# 2.) Originality.
# 3.) Level of Opposition.
# 4.) Soundness, Accuracy, Difficulty.
# 5.) Breadth and Depth.
***
Now, before I give you his list of the ten best chess games, I will tell you I have problems with his list. (And his methodology. See below.) For instance, he rejects Adams - Torre (New Orleans, 1920.); as a possible fabrication. I think this is unfair and unproven.
(I personally like that game very much and would probably place it in one of the prettiest games ever played. Its maybe THE game for exploiting a weak back-rank. If you click on the name(s), [above] you will be taken to a page where you can replay the entire game on your monitor with a java-script board and moveable pieces.)
He also dismisses 2 other games as fakes, and they probably are. (Alekhine's infamous 5-Queen game vs. N. Grigoriev is positively, absolutely a fake. And there are strong enough suspicions about Botvinnik - Chekover; Moscow, 1935 - to disqualify it.)
He also considers postal games
together with regular, over-the-board chess, and I have a slight objection to
that, as it is like comparing apples and oranges. He also blows off some other
pretty good games, such as Nimzovich's "Immortal Zugzwang Game," which
was a personal favorite of mine. And he tosses several others for lacking
"breadth and depth." (Games like Spassky - Petrosian;
Game # 19, World Champ. Match, 1969. Or Keres - Botvinnik;
USSR Absolute Championship Tournament, 1941. Both of these games, IMOHO, deserve
to be in the, "100 Most Beautiful Games of All Time.") And
upon reflection, I must admit that some of his criticisms are valid in certain
cases. But overall, his list is interesting, yet in a way - controversial. But
when a writer of Soltis's stature picks a list like this, you have to pay
attention.
(And I will also admit to
being a big fan of Andy's - - - I have MANY of his books!!)
***
A note on Andy Soltis's methodology.
At first glance, it would be easy to look at this book, and assume that GM
Soltis was very objective. But upon deeper examination, there are MANY
problems with the methods that he used. For instance, he had five categories,
and he numbered these from 1-20. But what were the exact criteria used?
Logically, the larger the gap, the more open to interpretation the numbers
are.
[ For instance: I might grade a game as an "18" for originality.
Soltis might give the same game a score of only 15. (Or much less!) ]
I would have chosen a much smaller bandwidth, with a very exact criteria.
For instance, "10" might be "GM opposition with above
average defense." A "9" might be GM opposition with only average
defense. Etc. If Soltis had been more exact in his criteria, or further
elucidated what his standards were, then we would know more - and have a greater
confidence - in the choices that he made and the methods that he used. As it is,
I think his choices are as subjective as the next person. The only thing that
gives his choices any weight at all is the name of the author. And I do not
believe that is enough. Personally, I have much more confidence in the methods
used by Nunn, Emms, and Burgess in their list.
(But still he tried harder - and attempted to do this in scientific manner.
MUCH more so than any other player has ever done!)
********
Without
any further ado, I give you
GM
Andy Soltis' list of:
THE TEN BEST GAMES OF CHESS OF THE 20TH
CENTURY!
Y.
Estrin - Hans Berliner; (0-1) Correspondence, 1965-68.
This is indeed a beautiful chess game. It contains one of the most important
theoretical innovations of the last half of the century. It is also a very
finely played game of chess. Black's attack is brilliantly and forcefully
prosecuted. Then a transposition into a Rook and Pawn ending occurs, and it
is one of the most accurately played end-games of that type on record. (But,
to me, its a little unfair to include postal games in this list.)
(I could not include this game in my 'Top Ten' list, but it certainly
belongs in the Top 100.)
[Two Knight's, C57.]
( This is game # 55 in the Mammoth book. [Overall score-10.] )
L.
Polugayevsky - R. Nezhmetdinov; (0-1) Soviet Champ, Sochi, 1958.
Another one of the most beautiful attacks of all time. Using Soltis' own
strict criteria, I would have to rate this as maybe one of the prettiest
games played over the board, in this or any century. (I am not sure if
I could include it in my 'Top Ten.')
(What most people don't know is that this game may have been the result of
"home cooking" by "Super NEZ." {Polu had been
using this variation for
a very long time prior to this game, and had even used it in speed chess.}
And Polu really does not handle the defense
well, in my opinion. - In fact,
Lev Polugayevsky has a distinctly inferior position before move 20 as
White!
This is obviously NOT good chess!!
But its still one of the classics of chess literature.)
[English/King's Indian, A50.]
( This is game # 40 in the Mammoth book. [Overall score-11.] )
A favorite
of MANY Masters!
J.
Capablanca - F. Marshall; (1-0) New York, 1918.
The very famous debut of the Marshall Attack in the Ruy Lopez. Marshall
spent years preparing this innovation, and Capa had to face it for the first
time, over-the-board. One of the finest examples of defense ever seen in
face-to-face play. Its also a very beautiful game. Andy does a superb
job of annotating this game.
(This game would not be on my 'Top Ten' list, but easily belongs in the Top
100.)
[The Marshall Attack of the Ruy Lopez, C89.]
(This is game # 15 in the Mammoth book. [Overall score: 11.] So the experts
seem to agree. This win by Capa is easily in the list, "The
Best 100 Games of
Chess Ever Played." This game has also been highly rated by
J. Hanken
and Tim Krabbe. AND ... many, many others!)
Y.
Bogolyubov - Dr. A. Alekhine; (0-1) Hastings, England, 1922.
One of the most brilliant and original games of chess ever played. (Indeed.
Chernev - among many others! - considers this to be THE
most beautiful game of chess ever played!) Alekhine rips Bogo's position to
pieces in one of the classic games of chess literature. There are dozens of
fine points in Alekhine's combination.
(This game would have to be at least a strong candidate for my 'Top Ten'
list.)
[QP- 1...f5; or the Dutch Defense. A90.]
(Strangely enough, this game
is NOT to be found in the Mammoth book!
An oversight?)
G.
Kasparov - V. Topalov; (1-0) Wijk aan Zee, 1999.
One of the most beautiful games of the century, although I personally
believe much of this game was the result of extensive home preparation by
Garry. Garry shreds his opponent's position in one of the most forceful and
elegant attacking games ever played. Maybe the game that holds the record,
(in my book, anyway); for the most double exclam moves. A spectacular game
against maybe the strongest opposition. (Veselin Topalov has been
consistently in the Top Ten in the world for many years now. He also handles
the defense in this game very well.)
(Many GM's consider this to be one of the greatest games ever
played. See for example:
GM Larry Christiansen's [new] book, "Storming The
Barricades."
Also GM Yasser Seirawan absolutely raved about this game in his
[now defunct] magazine, 'Inside Chess.' Many
other authors and writers have called this one of the best games ever
played!)
(This game would at least be a strong candidate to be in my 'Top Ten' list.)
[Pirc Defense, B07]
(This is game # 90 in the Mammoth book. The game receives a relatively low
rating. [Overall score 12. This might be considered high for these
authors, but certainly this game is close to being a 15?] And
considering how many other authors have ranked this game highly. When I saw
GM A. Yermolinsky in New Orleans a few years ago, I asked him to name
"The prettiest games of chess ever played." While he could not
give me a complete list off the top of his head, he did mention this game as
maybe one of the very best of all time. It certainly is a modern
masterpiece)
A favorite
of MANY modern-day Grand-Masters!
A.
Lilienthal - V. Ragozin; (0-1) Moscow, 1935.
A pleasant surprise. This is a game that someone showed me when I was very
young. Its not that I don't believe this isn't a great game, nor was I
surprised that it was listed - its just that "The Big-Name
Players," usually claim all the top spots for, "The Best
Games." (I was pleasantly surprised to see it given so high a spot in
Andy's list!) This is a beautiful attack where Black uses virtually uses
every tactical trick in the book. Indeed, this game has NO White move that
you could hang a question mark on, it is very hard to be sure where the
first player went wrong. Soltis calls this game,
"A glittering lesson on
the relationship between material and position."
Using GM Andy Soltis's own
criteria, this game would be a hard candidate
for the most beautiful game
ever played!
(It would probably at least a strong candidate to be on my 'Top Ten' list
of the best chess games ever played.)
[Nimzo-Indian Defense, E24.]
(Strangely enough, this game is not even mentioned in the Mammoth book.
Perhaps it was not included in their initial list of games to
consider?)
E.
Gufeld - L. Kavalek; (0-1)
World
Student Olympiad, Marianske Lazne, 1962.
Another beautiful game. Black assumes the initiative early in the
game, and the
whole of this encounter was played with incredible energy by Black.
Perhaps
Kavalek's finest achievement. Certainly one of the prettier games won by
Black
ever recorded.
(I would not have this game on my 'Top Ten' list, but after reading
Soltis' review
and analysis of this game, I guess I would definitely include it in my
'Top 100.')
[Ruy Lopez, C64.]
(This is game # 47 [Overall score of 12.]; in the Mammoth book.)
G.
Stoltz - H. Steiner; (1-0) Stockholm Interzonal, 1952.
As a young teenager, (or perhaps earlier); I thought this must have
been one of
the, "50 Prettiest Games Ever Played." I thought this, I said
it. Repeatedly.
Even in public. I was also ridiculed for this opinion by one of the
stronger players
in Pensacola at that time. (He said, "What do you know about
chess?"
Unfortunately the fellow has died quite a few years ago. Because if he
were still
around I'd have to go the club and show him Andy's book and remind him of
that
episode.) Maybe one of the prettiest and finest attacking games ever
played.
Again, I was very pleasantly surprised to see this game so highly
ranked.
(Usually, it is the games of the "BIG-name Masters that seem to
garner most of
the accolades.) It certainly deserves to be better known than it is.
One of the prettiest
games ever played, and almost an unrecognized masterpiece.
Definitely one of the all-time best, no matter who you are.
(Maybe a strong candidate to be on my 'Top Ten' list.)
[English Opening, A21.]
(Strangely enough, this game is NOT listed in the Mammoth book at all!
This
is a terrible oversight, as many people have told me this is one of
the most
brilliant games ever played, especially by a player in an Interzonal.)
September, 2002: The
more I study and analyze this game, the more I like it.
No blatantly ugly moves, the
opening is even OK by the latest of theoretical
standards. And the
combination is as brilliant as anything ever played!!!
(It is also sound!! YEARS if study has revealed NO refutation!!)
M.
Tal - J. Hjartarsson; (1-0) Reykjavik, 1987.
One of Tal's prettiest ever wins. Certainly a beautiful game. I
remember seeing it in a chess magazine shortly after it was played, and
thinking it almost took my breath away. This is true Tal stuff and a very
great game. Tal's attack covers the length and breadth of the board and
also features an almost completely unbelievable journey by one of White's
Knights. Certainly one of Tal's prettiest ever wins, and that in itself is
saying a lot! Maybe this could be Tal's very best game! (That
in itself is also saying something.)
(It would probably have to be on my 'Top Ten' list of the best chess games
ever played.)
[Ruy Lopez, C99.]
(This is game # 82 in the Mammoth book. Since several players - two
were
GM's! - have told me this is Tal's greatest brilliancy, this seems
an undeservedly
low ranking. It also received a relatively low overall score. [11]
I also want to point
out the Mammoth authors games are arranged chronologically and the
game's
point score is what is important.)
October 2002: I have almost finished annotating this game. BUT ... at
least for now,
there is a very briefly annotated, js-replay version of this game.
G.
Rotlewi - A. Rubinstein; (0-1) Lodz, Poland. 1907/08.
The "Polish Immortal." I have seen this game quite a few
times over the years. I have seen it in magazines and I have seen it in
quite a few books. (Too many to name here!!) Yet I never
tire of it. I will look at this game with anyone who wants to look at a
game of chess. I might have been only eight when a friend showed this game
to me, and it seemed more like magic to me at the time than a game of
chess. The chess artist in me greatly appreciates the purity and beauty of
this one game. The ultra-brilliance of this game never fails to elicit
"ahh's" and "ooohh's" when you show it to someone (who
really understands good chess) for the very first time. The shock value of
Black's 22nd and 23rd move has also not dimmed for me, even though I must
have been over this game literally dozens of times. (Probably more than
200 times now.) A fantastic game by one of the greatest chess
geniuses who ever lived.
(It would definitely have to be on my 'Top Ten' list of the best chess
games ever played.)
[Queen's Gambit Declined, D40.]
(This is game # 11 in the Mammoth book. [Overall score - 13. Only 2 short
of perfect.] Since dozens of players - including MANY Masters -
have told me this would be one of the most brilliant games ever played, I
would think this ranking is about right.)
A favorite of
MANY Masters! ... and chess fans too!
***
(Additional Note. Many people think G. Rotlewi was just a fish. He was
not. He played in and won at least one International Tournament. He played
several times in the Polish National Championships. {He won the
"B" section of this tournament once.}
GM Andy Soltis gives the
additional information about this player:
" Gersh
Rotlewi {1889-1920},
is one of the tragic losses of 20th Century chess. He was an obscure Pole
until winning an amateur section at Hamburg, 1910. This
earned him the Master Title, and the right {and invitation}
to compete at Carlsbad, 1911. [One of the strongest of the
pre-World War I events!] To the amazement of the spectators he
held his own with the world's best players. He beat Aaron Nimzovich, Carl
Schlecter, Frank Marshall, and Rudolf Spielmann." {He
also drew many fine game of chess with some of the world's best. A.J.G.}
Soltis continues: "And he
would have tied for First Place ... had he won his final game. (!!)
But after this brilliant debut at age 22, Rotlewi was stricken by a
serious nervous disorder and never played again."
(Perhaps someone could write a book on this nearly forgotten player?)
***
Well, that's it for Andy Soltis's
list. (My list would certainly have been different!)
But first, these are beautiful games in their own right, and every chess
player who likes good chess should go over them at least once!
Certainly 10 of the very best-quality and most brilliant chess games ever played!
***
Now I could argue greatly against Andy Soltis's choices. Black wins a great number of these games, and I was taught that when Black wins a game it generally means that White went sadly astray somewhere, especially in a shorter game.
I also don't see any Fischer wins
here, despite the fact that they both played some of the most beautiful chess of
the 20th century. And the game Botvinnik - Capablanca; (A.V.R.O; 1938) deserves
perhaps to be higher rated. I also think the game Anatoly Karpov - Jan Smejkal;
from one of the Olympiads is easily one of the "Top Ten" positional
masterpieces of all-time in chess. (This game is left completely OUT of
Soltis's book. Did he miss it?) And I could list other games that a strong case
could be made for including them here.
And I could go on and on. But I won't.
A funny story is when I bought this book, I expected to see a handful of games I had seen before, and dozens of games that I had not encountered previously. Yet after thorough perusal of this book, I can safely say I was already familiar with every game presented here. I do not know if this is an argument that I am a very erudite chess scholar, or that Andy basically picked the same games every writer picks again and again. Certainly it is a testament to the size and quality of my chess library, as many of these games are in various books that I have.
The following is interesting to note between the Nunn book and the Soltis book. Both books seem to rate several games very highly, i.e. The Tal - Hjartarsson game, and the game, G. Rotlewi - Akiba Rubinstein. Both books rate the Botvinnik - Capablanca game (A.V.R.O. 1938) very highly, but Nunn and his group rates it as nearly perfect, where its only in Soltis's 'Top 25.' Both books rate Kasparov's Sicilian Game (where he played Black vs. Karpov, from Moscow, 1985), very highly, yet Nunn and his group rates it much more highly than Soltis. The Kasparov Brilliancy from his 16th Match game for the 1986 W.C. series, (London/Leningrad) is also rated very highly by many authors. (Including the ones referred to here!) Fischer's game vs. Spassky, (Game # 6 Iceland; 1972.); is also rated highly by several authors. What I am trying to get at is that while no two persons or groups pick the exact same set (group/list) of games, there does seem to be a definite consensus as to what makes up a really great chess game.
Maybe what we really need to do is all write Chess Life, and see if they could not do a survey of 50 to 500 of the world's Top GM's and the best chess writers. Let each pick his "Top Ten" best chess games and then tabulate the results. We might see that there would be a firm agreement as to what the "Top Ten Chess Games of All Time" would be. Until then we will have to be happy with web pages like this one and lists like the ones above.
***
Another one of the nice things about Soltis's book? He goes into great detail about some of the other efforts to define the best games. He also has some of the "Near-Misses," (Games other authors may have - or may not have - ranked very highly. All very thoroughly annotated.) and some of the "Most Over-Rated Games." (Games Soltis considers to be not worthy of the best games list.)
The Andy Soltis List of the "Most Over-Rated Games" :
R.J. Fischer - M. Tal;
Olympiad Game, Leipzig, 1960. (French Defense.)
A great game, but it contains many mistakes and was played a little
nervously by both parties. Many other authors have considered this to be a
great game and an epic encounter.
F. Samisch - A. Nimzovich;
Tournament Game, Copenhagen, 1923. (Q.I.D.)
This is Nimzovich's "Immortal Zugzwang Game."
(A personal favorite of mine, especially in my youth.)
Soltis almost gleefully points out the [minor] flaws in this game and
berates it
no end. What he fails out to point out that this game contained many
concepts that
were new at the time. But after reading the Soltis's annotations of this
game,
I would not be able to include it in my 'Top Ten.'
E. Lasker - W.E. Napier;
Tournament Game, Cambridge Springs, 1904. (Sicilian)
A very famous game that many other authors - such as Chernev - have written
very
highly of it. I personally remember going over this game - I think it was in
a book by
R.N. Coles - where every other move is given an exclam or even a double
exclam.
But after going over Soltis's carefully annotated version of this game,
where he
carefully points out all the mistakes ... AND shows he was aware of what
virtually
every other annotator has written about this game ... I probably
would have great
difficulty including this game in my 'Top 100 list. To say it was an,
"Eye-opening
experience," is not to do it justice.
R. Reti - Y. Bogoyubov;
Tournament Game, New York, 1924. (Reti Opening.)
(Scroll up the page to the Mammoth
Book List, and read what was written
about this game.)
This is another personal favorite of mine, and Soltis really rakes it over
the coals. I simply cannot agree with Soltis's annotations, and I believe he
is much too harsh on this game. (I would still - easily - include this game
on my 'Top 100' games of chess.) He uses question marks where a '!?' might
suffice. And historically, many of the Hyper-Modern concepts were brand new
to most players, and therefore highly original. I will say Soltis is
certainly more objective than many other authors have been, and one of the
first to question many of the moves played in this game. The end of this
game is pretty and featured in many problem books ... how many other games
can boast this accomplishment? I still think it is a wonderful game.
Emanuel Lasker - Jose R.
Capablanca; Tournament Game, St. Petersburg, 1914.
(Ruy Lopez.)
One of the most celebrated games of chess literature, and ranked VERY highly
by dozens of other authors. (It occurred in one of the greatest and
most historic encounters in all of the history of chess.) Yet Soltis shows
that the game was very inconsistent, had a
few mistakes, and probably played by the great Cuban on an 'off' day. (Of
course in many of the "epic encounters" when the top players meet
in tournaments, these games are very rarely played well by both
players.) Lasker's 35. e5!! and 36. Ne4! remain as one of the great actual
examples of a clearance sacrifice by an actual player in a real game. (And
not in a composed problem.) Fine called this game, "A landmark of chess
history," and it was. Yet Soltis is one of the first to point out that
it is also, "One of the worst games Capablanca ever played." (Amos
Burn.) The game is still a great game, and many a student would profit by
studying it carefully. And I still would have to include it in my 'Top 100'
chess games list. Yet after looking at what Soltis has written about the
game, I would probably have to move it much farther down the list. (Please
note: Soltis does NOT include this game in his 'Top 100,' and this is
very unfortunate. It was and is an epic encounter, and deserves a better
fate.)
Any real lover of chess would greatly enjoy this book. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves fine chess books. Destined to be a classic. And maybe Soltis's best book ever!!!
Aside from the
books mentioned above, (mainly the Soltis Book and
The Mammoth Book); several of the other books that I have consulted {frequently}
in building these pages are: "[The] 1000 Best Short Games of Chess,"
by Irving Chernev; "The King-Hunt in Chess," by Cozens
and Nunn; "The Golden Treasury of Chess," by I.A.
Horowitz; "The Fireside Book of Chess," by Chernev and
Reinfeld; "The Chess Companion," by Irving Chernev;
"Modern Chess Brilliancies," by GM Larry Evans;
About a dozen [different] books on "Miniatures," (from various
openings) by Bill Wall; "Epic Chess Clashes," and "Epic
Battles of the ChessBoard," [both] by R.N. Coles; "Lesser
Known Chess Masterpieces," by Wilson; "The World's Great
Chess Games," by R. Fine; "The Complete Chess Addict,"
by Fox and James; and "Chess Strategy and Tactics,"
by Irving Chernev and Fred Reinfeld. While this is not a complete list, it
should give you an idea of the EXTENSIVE research that went into building these
web pages. These are all excellent books for reading, studying and just having
fun in general.
Check them out! And enjoy!
This is the list of the games I
consider to be the ten best ever played.
Originally, I had no strict criterion for these games other than a deep study
of the books and the games listed on this page.
(I later went back and assigned a
"One-to-Five" criterion for several
different categories. These games still won out.)
I have also tried to
give a great deal of weight and consideration to what other strong
players have said and written about the best games of chess are!
I also have tried to limit
each player to one game.
I have tried to avoid draws, and also
only pick games that were played in actual, serious over-the-board
contests.
(I feel postal chess is different
and should be kept separate.)
You
definitely will want to scroll up the page and read what I have written
about these games previously, I will not
repeat anything here.
Garry
Kasparov - Veselin Topalov; Wijk aan Zee, 1999.
Easily one of the most brilliant games ever played. The more I have studied
this game,
the more I like it. Maybe the game that holds the record for the most moves
that could
be awarded a double exclam. Certainly already a classic of chess literature.
(1-0)
(When I did an informal survey of all the writers and chess editors I knew,
{May 2001 - on the Internet} this game was mentioned more than any
other.)
(This game is BOTH in the Soltis book AND in the Mammoth book! ...
And many others!!)
(The notes and analysis of this game were maybe the most interesting - and
the most work - of any game I think I have ever
annotated. Real meat!!)
(Note: Sept, 2001. I have now thoroughly annotated this game in preparation
for
posting on the Internet. I am now completely convinced this game belongs in
the
"Top Ten." One of the greatest achievements of OTB chess of
all-time.)
A favorite
of MANY modern-day
Grand-Masters!
(This game took nearly 12 weeks of continuous work, during which this
project was virtually the only chess task I was working on, other than
lessons.
(And I had already studied this game MANY times!!! On the computer!
In fact - it took nearly two years to finish annotating this game in
CB.)
{I was working in ChessBase. I often worked 5-7 hours at a time on
this game - sometimes more.} Then I converted it into an HTML document.
{CB Does this automatically, although the initial document produced by CB
is very, very ugly.} Then it took over
four weeks of nearly continuous work to
make this document ready for publication on the Internet. {I had to check
ALL
the lines and color-code them.} Then I took another week to play
through every
move and compare the HTML document to the document in the ChessBase
format, {move-by-move} to insure as few errors as humanly possible crept
through. Only AFTER this extremely labor-intensive process was completed,
was I ready to publish this game on my web page. Please visit this page
and let me know what you think.)
Mikhail
Botvinnik - Jose R. Capablanca; A.V.R.O. 1938.
In a simplified setting, Botvinnik sacrifices two pieces. Many GM's have
said
they consider this one of the most brilliant games ever played. MANY
GM's have
told me this is one of the prettiest games of chess ever played. (I could
have also
just as easily picked Botvinnik's
game against Portisch. Its just as pretty.) (1-0)
(This game is BOTH in the Soltis book AND in the Mammoth book!)
A favorite
of MANY GM's over the years! (And many
fans and writers too!)
Andre
Lilienthal - Vyacheslav Ragozin; Moscow, 1935.
Easily one of the prettiest - and certainly one of the least well known - of
all
the great games of chess ever played. A true classic. Like a diamond, it is
beautiful in every facet. It is worth studying again, and again and
again!
***
After nearly three months of study, I am convinced this is indeed a
beautiful game.
It is VERY worthy of the number three spot I have given
it.
***
For instance, GM Andy Soltis gives this game a lot of exclams. In fact
White gets like
4 (four!) exclams. Black gets like NINE exclams, (9) and TWO
(2!!) DOUBLE EXCLAMATION - point moves. On top of this, there is not a
single move that Soltis could hang a question mark on. (Black wins this
game.) Perhaps a rare case of one plan being defeated by a superior one.
This game could easily have been # 1. A truly wondrous game. Certainly a masterpiece
of the chess-board ... one that has many different movements, just like a
symphony by one of the great composers. (0-1)
The more I study this game,
the more I like it!
(This game is NOT in the Mammoth book, as far as I can
determine.)
Yefwim
Bogolyubov - Alexander A. Alekhine; Hastings, 1922.
Easily one of the most profound conceptions ever conceived of over the chess
board. Many authors -
most notably Irving Chernev - consider this the
BEST
game of chess ever played!! (I had to subtract a few points for Bogo's less
than
perfect defense.) (0-1)
(This game is NOT in the Mammoth book. And I do not
understand this, either!)
A
favorite of MANY well-known chess
authors and chess historians!
Mikhail
Tal - Robert J. Fischer; Candidates Tournament. Zagreb, 1959.
Picking Tal's "greatest
brilliancy" was not easy, he played too many great games!
(The games against: Simagin, Tolush, Panno; his many great games from
the two
USSR Championships that he won, back-to-back; a handful of his games from
his
World Championship encounters with Botvinnik; and his games with Spassky
[esp. Montreal, 1979], Thorbergersson, Hjartarsson,
Hecht, and Rantanen all come
immediately to mind. Especially for me! Tal played maybe more 'pretty' games
of
chess than any other player who ever lived. Having personally watched him
play
chess at a New York Open one year, I can safely say every Tal win is a thing
of beauty. )
But this game, against another one of the best chess players ever to come
down
the pike; may well be the great Tal's very best effort. He plays brilliantly
and creatively,
sacs material, and then puts Bobby in Zugzwang. Destined to be one of the
great
games of chess literature. This game is also in both the Nunn and the
Soltis books.
(This is also one of the few games I have found in over a dozen different
books
devoted to great and/or outstanding games of chess.) (1-0)
Donald
Byrne - Robert J. ("Bobby") Fischer;
Rosenwald Tournament. NY 1956.
Again, Fischer played so MANY great games of chess, its hard to pick
just one game.
But this game is a personal favorite of mine. (It is also in BOTH Nunn's and
Soltis's books!) A really deep and profound conception. One of the most
brilliant games ever played. The famous "Game
of The Century." (0-1)
(Be sure to scroll op the page and read what I said about this game
previously!)
A favorite
of MANY Masters and writers!
[ A fan recently {Jan. 2002} sent me a copy of Fischer's games
- he apparently took
the trouble to convert both of Fischer's books to ChessBase files.
Going over these
I was greatly impressed by the fact that Fischer seemed to play a
really outstanding
game of chess in about one out of every ten games that he played. I
recently
finished working on the game, R.J.
Fischer - L. Portisch; Stockholm Interzonal,
1962. (I worked on this game ... on-and-off ... for well over 6
months!) I was so
impressed with this game that I think it belongs in the list of
the ten greatest
Rook-and-Pawn endings ever played!!! This game coming soon! ]
Jose
R. Capablanca - Frank J. Marshall; Tournament Game.
New York, 1918.
Since several players authors, and historians have all mentioned this game,
I must include it in my list also. It IS a great - no a super game of chess.
(1-0)
(It is also in BOTH Nunn's and Soltis's books!)
(Again, I have gone over dozens - if not hundreds - of Capa's games. So many
of these have left a lasting impression, it is difficult to pick just one!!)
Marshall prepared this trap years in advance and then sprung it on Capa.
But Capa managed to defend in a truly Herculean effort. This and the fact
that so many beautiful possibilities live only in the notes, make
this a truly
classic game of chess. The ending of this game is rather surprising also.
Boris
Spassky - David Bronstein; U.S.S.R. Championship.
Leningrad, 1959.
(Some sources give this epoch game as being played in the year, 1960.)
Easily one of the most brilliant games of chess ever played. (And maybe
Spassky's best game ever!) It is also one of the finest specimens of a
King's
Gambit ever played on a chess board. It is in MANY
books devoted to the
greatest games of chess ever played. It is also maybe one of the few games
of chess to be featured in a well-known movie.
(Kronstein - vs. McAdams. The 'James Bond' movie, From Russia
With Love.)
I do not want to spoil this game for you, but Spassky's 15th move is
more a
flight of fancy and unbelievable inspiration ... than it is
a chess move. A
great game of chess played in perhaps the sternest of
tournaments. (1-0)
(It is also in BOTH the
Mammoth book and in the Soltis book!)
Gersh
Rotlewi - Akiba Rubinstein; Tournament game.
Lodz, (Poland); 1907/08.
One of the most beautiful, brilliant and inspiring games of chess ever
played.
(You should definitely scroll up the page and see what else I have written
about this game!) The Rubinstein Immortal Game from the man who probably won
more brilliancy prizes than any other chess-player who ever lived! After you
have gone over this game, you will see why dozens of chess writers, authors,
and columnists have simply raved about this game. It is truly a work of
chess art. (I could have also picked Rubinstein's
game vs. K. Hromkada; its equally as brilliant.) (0 - 1)
(This game is also in BOTH Nunn's and Soltis's books!)
A favorite
of MANY Masters! (And fans,
... and chess authors too.)
L.
Polugayevsky - R. Nezhmetdinov; Soviet Champ, Sochi, 1958.
Simply too many GM's have picked this as one of the most beautiful games of
chess
ever played. (From a survey done in the Russian Magazine, Shachmatny
Bulletin,
during the 1970's.) Another real chess artist, former World Champ
Vassily Smyslov,
called this, "A Real Chess Masterpiece." (He also ranked it as
maybe one of the best
of all time.) High words of praise from a man who also created dozens
of great chess
games! (I consider Smyslov and Rubinstein to be among the few true
chess artists!)
( Vassily
Smyslov's
14th Match Game against M. Botvinnik, from their
World Championship, 1954 ... is one of the prettiest games
ever played;
and is game # 11 in GM A. Soltis's book. In fact ... if
the Polu-Nez game
was ever shown to be unsound, I would probably replace it with this
game!!
March 24, 2002. )
It (Poluguaeyevsky - Nezhmetdinov); is a truly beautiful game. One of the
prettiest
in all of chess. Many Master's (and
other chess fans - see the top of this page)
have told me that they consider this game one of THE greatest ever
played. (0 - 1)
(It is also in BOTH Nunn's and Soltis's books! And ranked very high in
both!!)
A favorite
of MANY Masters and GM's! (And
fans and chess authors too.)
(Of the 30 or so Masters that I contacted over the
Internet, 11 named this
game as one of the prettiest games of all time.) BUT
... I still have lingering
questions as to the overall soundness of this game!!
***
#
1.) The greatest king march ever played. (Click HERE.)
# 2.) The most complicated game ever played? (Click HERE.)
Well, that's it for my list. I reflected for months before finally setting it down on paper. (And on my computer.) While you may not necessarily agree with this list, it represents some really great players, (Some of the all-time greatest!) and some truly fantastic and monumental games of chess. You should definitely go to ChessBase or ChessLab and download these games.
(Hopefully one day ALL the games on ALL of these lists will be here, thoroughly annotated for you to enjoy. Many of these games are finished in my database. But it takes a great deal of work to annotate these games and bring them to you!)
These games (and others) all annotated for you to see and enjoy.
***
(May 23, 2001. You can already go to
a js-replay board to play over one {or more} of the
games on this page by clicking on the players names. In the very near future, I
hope to
have ALL of these games on java-script (replay) board for your
enjoyment.)
***
(12/10/01)
Since I did NOT include draws in my list, several people have written
or e-mailed me and requested I do
a list of the "Ten
Most Beautiful Draws."
Maybe coming soon?
***
Can't wait for me to finish? Want some of these games now? Then go to ChessLab's
web-site and download
the games. Or go to ChessBase's website
(or their on-line database)
and download CB lite; and then download your favorite game!!!
( Click HERE to
go to the page with the game that I think was the,
"Best Game of Chess EVER
Played." )
(Click HERE
to go to my page on
"The Best SHORT Games [of Chess] Ever Played.")
Click HERE to return to my "Chess Down-Loads" Home Page.
***
This page last updated: Wednesday; May 14th, 2003.
This pages' correct URL: (was)
http://www.angelfire.com/games3/AJs01Downloads/best-games_list.html
Copyright A.J. Goldsby I. © A.J. Goldsby, 1977 - 2006.
Copyright (©) A.J. Goldsby, 2007. All rights reserved.