Schlechter's Immortal

Submitted by kenytiger on Tue, 03/25/2008 at 12:04pm.

Carl Schlecter (1874-1918) was a leading Austrian Chess Master at the turn of the 20th century. He is best known as the first player in sixteen years who was a serious threat to claim Emanuel Lasker's World Title (the match ended in a draw and Lasker retained his title).

Schlechter played in over 50 international chess tournaments, including four wins: Munich in 1900 (shared), Ostend in 1906, Vienna in 1908 (shared) and Hamburg in 1910.

In the game below, White gets greedy and decides to go on a material-grabbing expedition while neglecting his development, he loses miserably. This sparkling gem ranks as one of the most curious and brilliant on record.

» posted in Amazing Games

1636 reads | 20 comments |

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by rilog - 27 days ago
La Plata Argentina

Member Since: Mar 2008
Member Points: 18

amazing, billant game

by rilog - 27 days ago
La Plata Argentina

Member Since: Mar 2008
Member Points: 18

amazing, brillant game

by JF1 - 44 days ago
United Kingdom

Member Since: Feb 2008
Member Points: 82

simply staggering!

by friday - 44 days ago
Bucharest Romania

Member Since: Nov 2007
Member Points: 59

absolutely brilliant!

by trevi - 44 days ago
Vienna Austria

Member Since: Nov 2007
Member Points: 10

I think one must have an extra ordinary talent or mind ...to excecute this kind of brilliancy!!

by amrou - 44 days ago
cairo Egypt

Member Since: Oct 2007
Member Points: 34

The man was number 2 in his days and got a draw in his match with Lasker, great!!

by LlordLlama - 44 days ago
Syracuse, NY United States

Member Since: Dec 2007
Member Points: 135

That final BIshop and knight sacrifice JUST to allow a passgage for his queen was amazing. WHat the hell was up with white's opening. I mean, b4,Bb2 and a3 wasnt so weird, but that d-pawn push was lame (to me)

by skitter - 44 days ago
England

Member Since: Mar 2008
Member Points: 6

For an old "wrinkly" it was great to see Schlechter mentioned again. For any of you who may not have read Reti's fascinating little book, "Modern Ideas in Chess", it contains a profound appreciation of both Schlechter and the Vienna of his time.

by Ridzwan - 44 days ago
Pahang Malaysia

Member Since: Dec 2007
Member Points: 609

amazing game

by uscgolfer - 44 days ago
Vienna Austria

Member Since: Jan 2008
Member Points: 38

Wow. I would never have the gall to offer up both of my rooks for nothing. Schlechter's pursuit of the mate is nothing short of amazing. The speed of the game is the most striking thing. In just twenty moves, he checkmated the guy.

Good example of one of Schlechter's games, kenytiger. This is an extremely unique game. i bet Flessing walked out of that game dazed.

by WideShut - 44 days ago
Bari Italy

Member Since: Mar 2008
Member Points: 4

Cool.

Thanks for sharing...

by Kosovari - 44 days ago
Kosova Albania

Member Since: Oct 2007
Member Points: 144

great one

by bateooaaya - 44 days ago
New Delhi India

Member Since: Feb 2008
Member Points: 133

what a game.

by ElGuero - 44 days ago
Columbus, Ohio, via San Juan Puerto Rico

Member Since: Jan 2008
Member Points: 270

Holy crap. Schlechter's single-mindedness in pursuing that mate was astounding.

by leonelcm - 44 days ago
Mexico City Mexico

Member Since: Feb 2008
Member Points: 107

Veru nice game. Thanx for it kenytiger.

by DukeRebuke - 44 days ago
Oregon United States

Member Since: Jan 2008
Member Points: 30

I absolutely love that game. Crazy.

by shiggsyo - 44 days ago
New Jersey United States

Member Since: Jan 2008
Member Points: 32

Absolutely brilliant. Shows the perfect balance between when to sacrafice, when to develop, and when to attack.

by Decoy321 - 44 days ago
Brabant Netherlands

Member Since: Sep 2007
Member Points: 114

I played a similar game in blitz, gave away both rooks and mated in 8 moves. However, I didn't forsee the exact mate yet, but just kept checking untill I did :P. Problably more luck then wisdom, but I still impressed myself.

by lecycliste - 45 days ago
Geneva Switzerland

Member Since: Feb 2008
Member Points: 102

that's a pretty amazing game

nice post

by claypot - 45 days ago
California United States

Member Since: Feb 2008
Member Points: 234

Great example on the importance of development. How many on this site would willingly give up two rooks as easily as Schlechter did? I know that this chess-mortal would be hard-pressed.

Thanks for the post kenytiger.

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