Famous games

The emblem of the Romantic era. Anderssen gives up a bishop, both rooks and his queen, then mates with three minor pieces while Black's army sits undeveloped.

Named by Wilhelm Steinitz for its lasting freshness. An Evans Gambit becomes a race between Black's attack on g2 and White's attack on the king, settled by a queen sacrifice and a double check.

Played in a box at the Paris Opera during a performance, this is the most famous lesson in development ever recorded. Morphy brings every piece into play, opens lines toward the uncastled king and finishes with a queen sacrifice.

A Caro-Kann that lasts eleven moves. White castles queenside with a queen sacrifice already in mind, and the double check that follows decides at once.

One of the most famous king hunts. A queen sacrifice on h7 drags Black's king from g8 all the way to g1, where a quiet king move delivers mate.

Thirteen-year-old Bobby Fischer sacrifices his queen on move 17 and then hunts down White's king with a swarm of minor pieces. The chess writer Hans Kmoch gave the game its name.

Fischer, who almost always opened 1.e4, plays 1.c4 and outplays Spassky in a Queen's Gambit Declined. Spassky was reported to have joined the audience in applauding.

The game that decided the first match a reigning world champion lost to a computer. Kasparov allows a known knight sacrifice in the Caro-Kann and resigns after nineteen moves.