The Immortal Game

The Immortal Game was a chess game played by Adolf Anderssen and Lionel Kieseritzky on 21 June 1851 at the Simpson's-in-the-Strand Divan in London. It was an informal game played between the two great players during a break in the London 1851 chess tournament, which was also the first international chess tournament. Incidentally, Adolf Anderssen went on to win the sixteen-player tournament, earning him the status of the best player in Europe.

The French chess magazine La Régence published the game in July 1851. It was nicknamed "The Immortal Game" in 1855 by the Austrian chess master Ernst Falkbeer. In this game, Anderssen, playing white, sacrificed a bishop (on move 11), both rooks (on moves 18 and 19), and the queen (on move 22) to produce checkmate against Kieseritzky who had only lost three pawns. In doing so, he successfully managed to illustrate that two active pieces can be worth a dozen inactive pieces.

This game is acclaimed as an excellent demonstration of the style of chess play in the 19th century, where rapid development and attack were considered the most effective way to win, and where many gambits and counter-gambits were offered. In fact, in that era, not accepting gambits was considered slightly ungentlemanly. These games, with their rapid attacks and counter-attacks, are often entertaining to review, even though some of the moves would no longer be considered the best by today's standards.

Animation of The Immortal Game

The game in algebraic chess notation -

White: Adolf Anderssen; Black: Lionel Kieseritzky; Opening: Bishop's Gambit

1.   e4         e5 

2.   f4         exf4

3.   Bc4      Qh4+

4.   Kf1       b5

5.   Bxb5     Nf6 

6.   Nf3       Qh6 

7.   d3         Nh5

8.   Nh4      Qg5

9.   Nf5       c6

10. g4         Nf6 

11. Rg1       cxb5

12. h4         Qg6 

13. h5         Qg5 

14. Qf3       Ng8

15. Bxf4     Qf6 

16. Nc3      Bc5

17. Nd5      Qxb2

18. Bd6       Bxg1

19. e5         Qxa1+

20. Ke2       Na6

21. Nxg7+   Kd8 

22. Qf6+     Nxf6 

23. Be7#

At the end, black is ahead in material by a considerable margin: a queen, two rooks, and a bishop. But the material does not help black. Through sheer strategic brilliance, white has been able to use his remaining pieces - two knights and a bishop - to force mate.


I have intentionally not annotated the game and left it as an exercise for the reader to figure out the motives behind some of the rather surprising moves and their possible alternatives. If you have too much trouble deciphering a particular move (or sequence of moves), please feel free to leave a comment and I'll be happy to explain. So, my fellow chess enthusiasts, go ahead and rack your brains, and have fun while doing it. Enjoy!