Best Games of Chess Part I (GM Andrew Soltis list)
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bosco on Mon, 05/05/2008 at 6:29pm.
*Best Games of Chess Part I*
list by GM Andrew Soltis edited by bosco
How does one determine the “best” chess games? What one may see as brilliant, another may see as simply necessary. Like some art lovers, chess fans claim that they know a good game when they see it, and that they know better from good. But “best?” How is this articulated?
This list is based on the book "The 100 Bbest Chess Games of the 20th Century, ranked" by Andy Soltis. The book, itself a work of art, is brought together by the use of distinct criteria:
the overall aesthetics (clever and relentless are insufficient qualities);
the originality (e.g., not yet another white knight sacrifice in a Sicilian);
the level of opposition (the loser played very well);
the soundness (i.e., are the moves refutable with perfect play?),
accuracy (few of the moves are second-best),
difficulty (the winner overcame major obstacles) of the game; and finally...
the overall breadth and depth (one wants a series of sparkling ideas, with no dry patches).
The 100 best games were taken from an initial field of about 7,000 played from 1900 through 1999 that had already gained some attention in magazines, books and periodicals. Three hundred games were then selected that appeared to have features consistent with the criteria. The 300 games were evaluated with scores – points given for each category of criteria. The games were then ranked, one to 100, by the score they received. No attempt was made to balance the selection according to period, nationality of players or opening. Also included is a chapter on the most overrated games of the twentieth century and one on games that would have made the list if…
And so, without further ado, i bring you The Best of The Best ... Top 11 Games from 'The 100 Best Games' list:
*11*. Mikhail Botvinnik - Vasily Smyslov; "More sacs than you can shake a stick at", World Championship Match, Moscow (Russia), 1954.
*10*. George Rotlewi - Akiba Rubinstein; "Rubinstein Immortal" (Queen sac, what a finish!), Lodz (Poland), 1907.
*9*. Mikhail Tal - Johann Hjartarson; "Another fantastic finish", Reykjavik (Finland), 1987.
*8*. Gosta Stoltz - Herman Steiner; "Queen sac with the payoff 10 moves later", Stockholm (Sweden), 1952.
*7*. Eduard Gufeld - Lubomir Kavalek; "White rides out the storm...or does he?", Student Olimpiad, Marianske Lazne, 1962.
*6*. Andre Lilienthal - Viacheslav Ragozin; "Double exchange sacrifice!", Moscow (Russia), 1935.
*5*. Garry Kasparov - Veselin Topalov; "Kasparov's Immortal", Wijk aan Zee (Netherlands), 1999.
*4*. Efim Bogoljubov - Alexander Alekhine; "Thunderstorm from a clear sky", Hastings (England), 1922.
*3*. Jose Raul Capablanca - Frank James Marshall; "Novelty Gift" (Capa defends the original Marshall gambit), New York (USA), 1918.
*2*. Lev Polugaevsky - Rashid Gibiatovich Nezhmetdinov; "Best finish ever!", 28th RSFSR Sochi (Russia), 1958.
*1*. Yakov Estrin - Hans Berliner; "Ich bin ein Berliner" (A Tal like sacrifice that will have you awed), 5th CC World Ch Final 1965.
And now You can discuss the historical ideas of what constitutes a brilliancy ....
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