The Most Famous Chess Games Ever Played

1. The Immortal Game — Anderssen vs Kieseritzky, London 1851

No game in chess history carries a more fitting title. On 21 June 1851, Adolf Anderssen of Germany sat down for an informal encounter with Lionel Kieseritzky during a break in the first international chess tournament, held in London as part of the Great Exhibition at the Crystal Palace. The timing was extraordinary: that same year, Jaques of London had launched the Staunton chess set, the very design that would become the universal standard for competitive play. The pieces used in that tournament — and almost certainly in this informal game — were the new Jaques-manufactured Staunton pattern.

Anderssen, playing White, sacrificed both of his rooks in the opening and middlegame, then his queen on move 22, stripping away his own material to expose the Black king. With only bishops and a knight remaining, he delivered checkmate on move 23. Kieseritzky, a noted teacher of the game, was so astounded that he reportedly telegraphed the moves back to Paris. The game earned its immortal status because every sacrifice was forced and logical — there was no bluff. Anderssen had calculated the entire sequence precisely, demonstrating a depth of combinational vision that seemed impossible for the era.

The key moment is the queen sacrifice on move 22: Qf6+. Rather than retreat, Anderssen offered his most powerful piece, forcing Kieseritzky to accept, and then delivered checkmate with his remaining minor pieces. It remains one of the most electrifying sequences in chess literature.

2. The Evergreen Game — Anderssen vs Dufresne, Berlin 1852

Just one year after the Immortal Game, Anderssen produced another masterpiece, this time against Jean Dufresne in a casual game in Berlin. The Evergreen Game takes its name from the German chess historian Johann Zukertort, who called it "immergrün" — evergreen — meaning it would never grow old. The game features another queen sacrifice, this one even more audacious: Anderssen gave up his queen on move 19 to set up a smothered mating pattern, finishing with a double rook sacrifice. Dufresne's king was left with no escape. The game stands as the purest expression of the Romantic era's attacking spirit: material meant nothing if the king could be caught.

3. The Opera Game — Morphy vs the Duke of Brunswick and Count Isouard, Paris 1858

Paul Morphy was the first great American chess prodigy, and the Opera Game is his calling card. Played in the private box of the Duke of Brunswick at the Paris Opera during a performance of Bellini's Norma, the game was contested between Morphy and two aristocrats playing together against him — a concession that made no difference whatsoever. Morphy opened with 1.e4 and played the Philidor Defence counter, then proceeded to teach a masterclass in piece development and open-file tactics. He sacrificed a bishop on move 11 to open lines, then delivered a back-rank mate on move 17. The game is studied in every chess primer because it illustrates a foundational principle: develop your pieces rapidly, control the centre, and open files against the king. Morphy did all three with ruthless efficiency while his opponents were still shuffling pawns.

4. The Game of the Century — Fischer vs Byrne, New York 1956

Bobby Fischer was 13 years old when he played Donald Byrne, one of America's leading masters, at the Rosenwald Memorial Tournament in New York. Chess history contains no other moment quite like it: a child, still in school, producing a game that Hans Kmoch, the editor of Chess Review, immediately labelled the Game of the Century. Fischer sacrificed his queen on move 17 — not as a speculative gamble but as a precisely calculated exchange that netted him four minor pieces and a positional stranglehold. Byrne, a strong player in his own right, had no defence. The game demonstrated that Fischer was not simply talented but was already operating at a level of calculation and positional understanding that transcended his age entirely. It announced the arrival of the greatest player the game would see for the next two decades.

5. Deep Blue vs Kasparov, Game 6 — New York 1997

The 1997 rematch between IBM's Deep Blue and Garry Kasparov was the most watched chess event in history up to that point and the most consequential. Game 6 was the final game of the match, played after Kasparov had lost Game 2 in circumstances he found psychologically destabilising — he believed the machine had exhibited human-like intuition in one move that he could not explain. Deep Blue won the match 3.5 to 2.5. Game 6 itself was a relatively swift defeat for Kasparov, who played into a prepared line and blundered. But the match as a whole, and Game 6 as its conclusion, marks the moment the chess world accepted that computers had surpassed human players. Every subsequent development in chess preparation, engine analysis, and AI has flowed from that 1997 match. Kasparov later argued, credibly, that human-computer collaboration rather than pure competition was the more interesting frontier — a view the chess world has largely adopted.

6. Kasparov vs Topalov — Linares 1999

Many chess analysts consider Kasparov's 44-move defeat of Veselin Topalov at the Linares supertournament in 1999 the single greatest game of the 20th century. Playing with the White pieces, Kasparov sacrificed a knight on move 24 and then launched a rook deep into enemy territory on move 25 with Rd1–d7, a move so unexpected that Topalov, one of the sharpest attacking players in the world, spent considerable time at the board before accepting that he had no adequate response. Kasparov then used his king actively in the endgame while maintaining a material deficit, demonstrating simultaneously the tactical aggression and strategic clarity that defined his game. The game is remarkable because it does not rely on one spectacular moment — the brilliance is distributed across the whole game. Every move builds on the last with an internal logic that feels inevitable in retrospect but was impossible to anticipate in real time.

7. Carlsen vs Karjakin, World Championship Game 10 — New York 2016

The 2016 World Championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin was the tightest championship contest in years. After nine draws and one Karjakin win, Carlsen was in the unusual position of trailing in a world championship match. Game 10 changed everything. Carlsen, playing White, pressed methodically through a long endgame, converting what many engines assessed as a drawn rook endgame through sheer precision and the psychological pressure he is famous for applying. The key move was Carlsen's 50th: Kd5, walking his king towards the centre in a position most grandmasters would have accepted as drawn. Karjakin cracked under the pressure and blundered on move 75. The win levelled the match, and Carlsen went on to retain his title in the tiebreaks. The game is a reminder that even in the modern engine era, human psychology remains a decisive factor at the board.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is the Immortal Game in chess?

The Immortal Game refers to the chess game played between Adolf Anderssen (White) and Lionel Kieseritzky (Black) in London on 21 June 1851. It is considered the most brilliant attacking game ever played. Anderssen sacrificed both of his rooks and then his queen to deliver checkmate with only his bishops and knight remaining — a sequence of sacrifices so precisely calculated that the game earned its title immediately. It was played informally during a break in the first international chess tournament, the same event at which the newly launched Jaques of London Staunton chess set was in use. The game is studied in chess courses to this day as the supreme example of Romantic-era attacking play.

Q: Who played the Game of the Century in chess?

The Game of the Century was played between Bobby Fischer (White) and Donald Byrne (Black) at the Rosenwald Memorial Tournament in New York in October 1956. Fischer was 13 years old. He sacrificed his queen on move 17, netting four pieces and a decisive positional advantage, and went on to win the game against a strong master opponent. The game was labelled the Game of the Century by chess editor Hans Kmoch in an immediate post-game annotation. It announced Fischer as a generational talent and is still cited as one of the most extraordinary performances by a junior player in recorded chess history.

Q: What is the most famous chess game ever?

By consensus among historians and players, the most famous single chess game ever played is the Immortal Game — Anderssen vs Kieseritzky, London 1851. Its combination of audacious double rook sacrifice, queen sacrifice, and precise mating attack with minor pieces has never been surpassed as a spectacle of attacking chess. It is the game most frequently cited in chess books, courses, and tributes across 170 years. However, other strong candidates include the Opera Game (Morphy, 1858) and the Game of the Century (Fischer, 1956), both of which are taught universally as foundational examples of chess principles executed perfectly.

Q: Did Bobby Fischer play any famous games?

Bobby Fischer played several of the most celebrated games in chess history. The Game of the Century (1956, aged 13) is the most famous single game, but Fischer's entire career is studded with notable encounters. His 1972 World Championship match against Boris Spassky in Reykjavik produced multiple celebrated games, including Game 6, which Fischer won from a difficult position with a bishop sacrifice that Spassky himself applauded. Fischer also won the 1963 US Championship with a perfect score of 11 from 11, a feat that had never been achieved before in that event. He is widely regarded as the most naturally gifted player in the history of the game.