The Catalogue · 1851 — 2025
The games that made chess a story worth telling — each with its editions, read as it was played.
Adolf Anderssen v. Lionel Kieseritzky
Anderssen gives away both rooks, a bishop, and finally the queen — and mates with the three minor pieces he has left. The defining game of Romantic chess, played casually between tournament rounds in 1851.
21 June 1851 · Casual game, played during the London 1851 tournament · Romantic Era · C33
Also told in 2 worlds · The Saga of King Arthur, Space Explorers: Galaxy Rivals
The game page →/games/immortal-gameAdolf Anderssen v. Jean Dufresne
Anderssen's second masterpiece: a quiet rook move to d1 hides a queen sacrifice, a double check, and a two-bishop mate. Steinitz called it the evergreen in Anderssen's laurel wreath.
1852 · Casual game · Romantic Era · C52
Paul Morphy v. Duke Karl / Count Isouard
Paul Morphy's legendary game played at the Paris Opera in 1858, a textbook example of rapid development and open-file attacks.
1858 · Paris · Romantic Era · C41
Also told in 4 worlds · The War of the Three Kingdoms, The Saga of King Arthur, Malibu vs Venice: Two Coasts of LA, +1 more
The game page →/games/opera-gameWilhelm Steinitz v. Curt Von Bardeleben
The Battle of Hastings, 1895: Steinitz's rook stands untouchable inside Black's position for four straight moves. Von Bardeleben walked out of the hall rather than watch the ten-move mate arrive.
17 August 1895 · Hastings tournament · C54
Gersz Rotlewi v. Akiba Rubinstein
Rotlewi attacks Rubinstein's queen — and Rubinstein simply doesn't move her. Rook, queen, rook, bishop: every black piece hangs, and none may be taken. The most beautiful combination of the pre-war era.
26 December 1907 · Lodz · D32
Stepan Levitsky v. Frank Marshall
Breslau, 1912: with his queen attacked, Marshall puts her on g3 — a square where all three ways of taking her lose at once. Legend says the spectators showered the board with gold pieces.
20 July 1912 · 18th DSB Congress, Masters Tournament · C10
José Raúl Capablanca v. Frank Marshall
The debut of the Marshall Attack: Marshall springs a piece sacrifice he had saved up for years, and Capablanca — king chased to c2 — finds the one safe path through it at the board and wins.
23 October 1918 · Manhattan Chess Club Masters · C89
Also told in 1 world · Malibu vs Venice: Two Coasts of LA
The game page →/games/capablanca-vs-marshallDonald Byrne v. Bobby Fischer
Thirteen-year-old Bobby Fischer leaves his queen to be taken and buys her back with a windmill of checks — then mates with the minor pieces. Donald Byrne's extra queen never gets a move.
17 October 1956 · Third Rosenwald Trophy · A15
Also told in 4 worlds · Harry Potter, The Great War of Kurukshetra, The Game, +1 more
The game page →/games/game-of-the-centuryRobert James Fischer v. Boris Spassky
Fischer opens with 1.c4 for almost the first time in his life, plays a flawless Queen's Gambit, and takes the lead in the Match of the Century — Spassky joined the audience in applauding him.
23 July 1972 · World Championship Match, Game 6 · D59
Nigel Short v. Jan Timman
Tilburg, 1991: with the pieces still on the board, Short sees that nothing Black has can cross the light squares — so the white king himself marches up the board, Kh2, Kg3, Kf4, Kg5, to deliver mate in person. Timman resigned bef…
21 October 1991 · Interpolis 15th · B04
Deep Blue v. Garry Kasparov
The last game a reigning World Champion played against Deep Blue: a knight sacrifice straight out of the machine's opening book collapses Kasparov's Caro-Kann in nineteen moves and decides the 1997 rematch.
11 May 1997 · IBM Man-Machine Rematch, Game 6 · B17
Garry Kasparov v. Veselin Topalov
Kasparov throws a rook onto d4 and drives Topalov's king on a forced march from b8 across the whole board and back into the mating net — widely called the greatest attacking game ever played.
20 January 1999 · Hoogovens Tournament · B07
Magnus Carlsen v. Vasyl Ivanchuk
14 October 2015 · World Blitz Championship 2015 · Modern
Also told in 1 world · The Saga of King Arthur
The game page →/games/magnus-carlsen-vs-vasyl-ivanchukYi Wei v. Lazaro Bruzon Batista
Danzhou, 2015: sixteen-year-old Wei Yi plays 22.Rxf7 and drags the black king from f7 to h3 — across the entire board, through White's own camp — before mating it with the last piece it can never take. Hailed at once as the first…
3 July 2015 · 6th Hainan Danzhou GM · Modern · B40
Bill Gates v. Magnus Carlsen
18 September 2020 · Magnus Carlsen vs Bill Gates 2014 · Modern · B00
Also told in 3 worlds · Harry Potter, The Great War of Kurukshetra, Malibu vs Venice: Two Coasts of LA
The game page →/games/bill-gates-vs-magnus-carlsenD Gukesh v. Viswanathan Anand
20 December 2025 · Tech Mahindra Global Chess League 2025 · Modern · D00
Also told in 1 world · The Great War of Kurukshetra
The game page →/games/gukesh-dommaraju-vs-viswanathan-anand
