Annotated game reviews

Paul Morphy's famous Opera Game, explained move by move in plain English — develop fast, open lines, attack the king. Step through it or play it out on the board, no sign-up.

Anderssen vs Kieseritzky, London 1851 — the Immortal Game. A King's Gambit where White gives up both rooks, a bishop and the queen to checkmate with minor pieces. Replay it or play the finish.

Anderssen vs Dufresne, Berlin 1852 — the Evergreen Game. An Evans Gambit finished by a queen sacrifice and a forced king hunt. Replay it or try to find the mating combination yourself.

Donald Byrne vs Bobby Fischer, New York 1956 — the Game of the Century. A 13-year-old Fischer plays a stunning queen sacrifice (17…Be6!!) and mates. Replay it or try the sacrifice yourself.

Edward Lasker vs George Thomas, London 1912 — a queen sacrifice on move 11 chases the king the length of the board to a checkmate by castling. Replay it or try the king hunt yourself.

Garry Kasparov vs Veselin Topalov, Wijk aan Zee 1999 — 'Kasparov's Immortal'. A stunning rook sacrifice (24.Rxd4!) starts a king hunt across the whole board. Replay it or try the sacrifice yourself, no sign-up.

Georg Rotlewi vs Akiba Rubinstein, Łódź 1907 — 'Rubinstein's Immortal'. A combination Carl Schlechter called 'perhaps the most magnificent of all time', built on two bishops and a rook. Replay it or try the finish.

Stepan Levitsky vs Frank Marshall, Breslau 1912 — the famous 23...Qg3!!, a queen offered on a square where three pieces can take it, and none can. Legend says spectators showered the board with gold coins. Replay it or try it.

Wilhelm Steinitz vs Curt von Bardeleben, Hastings 1895 — a rook hangs on e7 for four moves of checks while every black piece is paralysed, ending in a forced mate in ten. Von Bardeleben walked out rather than resign. Replay it.

Mikhail Tal vs Bent Larsen, Candidates 1965 — the 'Magician from Riga' offers a knight with 16.Nb5!! to strand the black king in the centre, then squeezes a win. Replay it or try the sacrifice yourself, no sign-up.

Anatoly Karpov vs Garry Kasparov, World Championship 1985 Game 16 — Kasparov plants an 'octopus' knight on d3 that paralyses White for nearly twenty moves. Voted one of the greatest games ever. Replay it or try the key move.

Paulsen vs Morphy, New York 1857 — Morphy's famous queen sacrifice 17...Qxf3!! tears open the white king. Replay the whole game or try the combination yourself, no sign-up.

Bird vs Morphy, London 1858 — Morphy's daring 17...Rxf2 rook sacrifice and king hunt. Replay this casual masterpiece or try the combination yourself, no sign-up.

McDonnell vs La Bourdonnais, London 1834 — chess's first immortal, finished by three connected passed pawns marching to the back rank. Replay it or play the famous finish.

Anderssen vs Zukertort, Barmen 1869 — the old master crushes his future rival in an Evans Gambit, sacrificing for a king-side breakthrough. Replay it or play the finish.

Zukertort vs Blackburne, London 1883 — 'Zukertort's Immortal'. A slow positional build-up explodes into 28.Qb4! and a stunning queen sacrifice. Replay it or play the finish.

Blackburne vs Schwarz, Berlin 1881 — the 'Black Death' doubles rooks on the h-file and finishes with a queen and rook sacrifice. Replay it or try the combination yourself.

Staunton vs Horwitz, London 1846 — the opening that bears Staunton's name, played by the man himself. A long, instructive attacking win. Replay it move by move, no sign-up.

Staunton vs Williams, London 1851 — a patient strategic game from the first international tournament, won by Williams's central pawn play. Replay it move by move, no sign-up.

Paulsen vs Schwarz, Leipzig 1879 — the great defensive master shows his attacking side with a classic Bxh7+ Greek-gift sacrifice. Replay it or try the combination yourself.

Emanuel Lasker vs Johann Bauer, Amsterdam 1889 — the original double-bishop sacrifice. Two bishops crash through to expose the king. Replay it or try the combination, no sign-up.

Akiba Rubinstein vs Carl Schlechter, San Sebastian 1912 — a game Capablanca adored. Rook to the seventh, an active king, and flawless technique decide a level ending. Replay it, no sign-up.

Harry Pillsbury vs Emanuel Lasker, St. Petersburg 1896 — opposite-side castling and a race of attacks. Lasker's …Rxc3! cracks open the white king first. Replay it or try the breakthrough.

Frank Marshall vs Amos Burn, Paris 1900 — a famous 18-move miniature. Marshall storms the h-file with sacrifices on g6 and finishes with mate. Replay it or try the attack, no sign-up.

Mikhail Chigorin vs Wilhelm Steinitz, Havana 1892 World Championship — the Romantic Chigorin's King's Gambit against the positional champion. Steinitz defends and counters. Replay it.

Akiba Rubinstein vs Georg Salwe, Łódź 1908 — a model game against the isolated queen's pawn. Rubinstein blockades, trades down, and wins by pure technique. Replay it, no sign-up.

Emanuel Lasker vs Capablanca, St. Petersburg 1914 — needing a win, Lasker chose the quiet Exchange Ruy Lopez and outplayed the young Capablanca positionally. Replay it, no sign-up.

Capablanca vs Marshall, New York 1918 — the debut of the Marshall Attack. Marshall sacrifices a pawn for a furious attack; Capablanca defends precisely and wins. Replay it, no sign-up.

Siegbert Tarrasch vs Karl Walbrodt, Hastings 1895 — the 'Teacher of Germany' builds a textbook central clamp, opens the kingside and wins. Replay it or try the finish, no sign-up.

José Raúl Capablanca vs Savielly Tartakower, New York 1924 — one of the greatest rook endgames ever. Capablanca gives up pawns to activate his king and rook, and wins. Replay it or play the finish.

Richard Réti vs Efim Bogoljubov, New York 1924 — the first-brilliancy-prize game. Réti undermines a big black centre and finishes with the quiet 25.Be8. Replay it or play the finish, no sign-up.

Efim Bogoljubov vs Alexander Alekhine, Hastings 1922 — Alekhine sacrifices the queen and both rooks, then promotes pawn after pawn. One of the greatest combinations ever. Replay it or play the finish.

Sämisch vs Nimzowitsch, Copenhagen 1923 — the Immortal Zugzwang Game. Nimzowitsch squeezes White into total paralysis and wins with the quiet 25...h6. Replay this hypermodern classic move by move.

Richard Réti vs Alexander Alekhine, Baden-Baden 1925 — called the deepest combination with rooks and minor pieces ever played. A swirling knight sacrifice and king hunt. Replay it or play the finish.

Alexander Alekhine vs Aron Nimzowitsch, San Remo 1930 — the famous positional bind that gave its name to 'Alekhine's Gun'. Pins and pressure squeeze Black into zugzwang. Replay it move by move.

Max Euwe vs Alexander Alekhine, World Championship 1935, game 26 — the 'Pearl of Zandvoort'. A deep knight manoeuvre and central break beat the champion. Replay this title-deciding classic move by move.

Richard Réti vs Savielly Tartakower, Vienna 1910 — perhaps the most famous miniature ever. A queen sacrifice (9.Qd8+!!) on move 9 forces mate in 11. Replay it or try to find the sacrifice yourself.

Botvinnik vs Capablanca, AVRO 1938 — a famous game. A passed pawn, then the stunning 30.Ba3!! queen sacrifice and a forced king hunt. Replay it or play it out.

Botvinnik vs Tal, World Championship 1960 Game 6 — the famous 21…Nf4!! knight sacrifice. Tal, 23, storms the champion. Replay it or try the sacrifice yourself.

Tal vs Smyslov, 1959 Candidates — a brilliancy-prize win. Tal sacrifices into a king hunt against a former World Champion. Replay it or try Tal's combination.

Petrosian vs Spassky, World Championship 1966 Game 10 — 'Petrosian's Immortal'. The defensive genius turns attacker and crashes through. Replay it or play on.

Petrosian vs Pachman, Bled 1961 — a stunning queen sacrifice. 19.Qxf6+ drags the king into a mating net built by two bishops. Replay it or try to find it.

Spassky vs Bronstein 1960 — the King's Gambit recreated in the Bond film From Russia with Love. The 15.Nd6 shot decides it. Replay it or play the finish.

Fischer vs Spassky, World Championship 1972 Game 6 — a flawless positional win Spassky himself applauded. Fischer plays the Queen's Gambit. Replay it.

Fischer vs Larsen, Candidates 1971 — part of Fischer's 6–0 sweep. A model Sicilian Sozin attack against the f7 point. Replay it or try the break here.

Karpov vs Kasparov, 1985 World Championship Game 24. Karpov had to win to keep the title; Kasparov out-attacked him to become the youngest champion ever. Replay it or take the board.

Kramnik vs Kasparov, London 2000 World Championship Game 2. Kramnik unveils a new idea against Kasparov's beloved Grünfeld and grinds out a model technical win. Replay it or play the finish.

Anand vs Topalov, Sofia 2010 World Championship Game 4. Anand's Catalan preparation ties Black up, then a knight sacrifice on h6 rips open the king. Replay it or try the sacrifice.

Aronian vs Anand, Wijk aan Zee 2013 — often called 'Anand's Immortal'. A flood of quiet-looking sacrifices in the Semi-Slav forces resignation by move 23. Replay it or try the finish.

Judit Polgar vs Garry Kasparov, Moscow 2002. The first time a woman beat the world's top-rated player in a serious game — a Berlin Defence ground down with precise technique. Replay it.

Krasenkow vs Nakamura, Barcelona 2007 — the game Nakamura calls his best ever. A queen sacrifice (21...Qxf2+!!) drives the white king up the board into a mating net. Replay it or try the sac.

Carlsen vs Caruana, Sinquefield Cup 2014. During his historic 7-0 start, Caruana defends a piece sacrifice from world champion Carlsen and wins. Replay it or take the board at the key moment.

Carlsen vs Karjakin, 2016 World Championship rapid tiebreak Game 4. Carlsen defends his title with a dazzling queen sacrifice, 50.Qh6+!!, forcing mate. Replay it or find the finish yourself.