Was there ever a chess game between Vladimir Ilyich Lenin and Adolf Hitler?
The photo you are looking at was valued at £40 000 in 2009 (~52 000 USD in 2025). Why is this photo so valuable? Because it depicts a chess game between two extremely famous figures of the time: Vladimir Ilyich Lenin and Adolf Hitler.
In the photo above, on the right is the leader of the world proletariat - Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (playing white) and on the left is the leader of the Nazi Germany - Adolf Hitler (playing black) at a Jewish family home in Vienna, Austria in 1909.
At that time, Lenin was 39 years old, while Hitler was only 20 years old and wanted to become a painter (despite failing the exam twice).
In this game, Lenin made a genius move (Nexf7) on the 18th move. After the 22nd move, Hitler had to give up.
In this game, the opening used is the French Defense (St. George Defense variation).
Below is the transcript of the above game:
On the 22nd move, White can M1, please write down the comments for the next moves.
Here, there is one special thing: the attack and defense directions of both sides are similar to those in WW2.

(Photo 1: Lenin and Hitler's attack and defense diagram in the chess game compared to reality)
Initially, Hitler had the advantage when the bishop and queen formed diagonal lines to threaten Lenin's king. However, soon after, Hitler could not defend against Lenin's brilliant moves and lost.

(Photo 2: Hitler's advantage at the beginning)
(Image 3: Hitler's subsequent defeat - imagine the black king is Berlin and it is surrounded by the Allies)
Note: This chessboard is unverified and recreated by an artist; therefore, it is for reference only and is political and legendary in nature. Consequently, this post is not intended to target any individual, organization, or country in the world.