How do you define beauty in chess? I want to know what criteria a game must meet to be considered beautiful, and if any one has examples, please share.

Exciting tactics and sacrifices always stand out for me. Windmills can also make a game look just outstanding.

It's like defining beauty in life - to each, his own.

To me, it's mostly limited by mistakes.  They mar the game's beauty.  Of course, it is not possible to win unless the opponent does something wrong, but for a game to be beautiful both sides must play well and the errors cannot be egregious.

If those conditions are met, I see beauty in attacks, positional squeezes, brilliant endgames, and even defensive gems where a player hangs on under pressure but refuses to crack.

Again like life, chess beauty has degrees.  There is beauty everywhere, but extraordinary beauty is rare.

A quote by Kramnik:

When I speak of the beauty of a game of chess, then naturally this is subjective. Beauty can be found in a very technical, mathematical game for example. That is the beauty of clarity.

How about, games that make you say WOW. After all, beauty is individual.

 Beauty is in the eye of the beholder