Top Games Of Top Players — Adolf Anderssen's Top 5 Games
The 1800s featured a lot of players who followed what was known as the Romantic style. This style focused on attacks, sacrifices, and style. One of the top players of this style was Adolf Anderssen, who won the 1851 and 1862 London tournaments and was second only to Paul Morphy. In this post, I will be looking at Anderssen's top 5 games. This is part of a new blog series, Top Games Of Top Players, in which I analyze the top 5 games of chess players. Now, let's see how Anderssen managed to attack and win:
#5 — Anderssen vs Zukertort (1865)
We will begin with a game from 1865 that had Anderssen as White against Johannes Zukertort. This game was played in Breslau, in what was then Prussia and what is now Poland. During Anderssen's era, organized tournaments were rare, and the players had to organize matches themselves. This game, as well as others in this blog, were such examples.
In this game, Anderssen had white, and managed to win in 17 moves. The position below is on the 12th move. Can you find the sacrifice Anderssen made to win a lot of material and the game?
It is said that you should always look for checks, as they are the most forcing moves. In this game, Anderssen demonstrates the advantages of that and uses it to capture even more pieces. That is the main takeaway: Always look for what attacks are the most forceful.
#4 — Rosanes vs Anderssen (1863)
This next game was also played in Breslau, this time with Anderssen as black against Jacob Rosanes. Like in Game #5, this was not a tournament game. In fact, Anderssen was not a professional chess player. His main career was a math teacher, and he played chess on the side.
Here, Anderssen is prepared to attack, but a critical file is blocked, and he is unable to access a critical diagonal. Can you find the move he made to change that?
Anderssen tried a sacrifice, and Rosanes declined, so what did Anderssen do? He made Rosanes an offer he could not refuse, because accepting the next sacrifice was forced. This enabled Anderssen to win.
#3 — Mayet vs Anderssen (1851)
Here, Anderssen was Black against Karl Mayet. This game was played in 1851, the same year Anderssen won the London tournament that established him as the best Chess player in the world, a title he held until Paul Morphy beat him in 1858. The World Championship was not a thing, but with Anderssen the second best player, and Morphy having retired from Chess in 1860, Anderssen would surely have held the title if it existed.
Anderssen won this game in only 15 moves. The position below is from move 12. Can you find the attacks Anderssen made in order to get this quick win?
In this game, Anderssen made multiple sacrifices in order to open the position, but it was the final one on move 12 that allowed him to deliver a devastating checkmate. One of the key elements of Romantic chess is sacrifice and style, and this checkmate combination truly had that.
#2 — Anderssen vs Dufresne (1852)
This game is referred to as the Evergreen Game. Anderssen was White against Jean Dufresne, one of his students who wrote many chess books, including the notable Kleines Lehrbuch des Schachspiels. It is unknown when specifically this game was played, or where it was played. It was likely played in Berlin.
In the position below, Anderssen made sacrifice after sacrfice in order to win the game. Can you find what sacrifices he made and how he won?
When annotating this game, on move 19, Wilhelm Steinitz wrote "An evergreen in the laurel crown of the departed chess hero," which gave the game its name. It was one of Anderssen's best games, with the romantic attacking style on full display, and the sacrifices rivaled only by the top game.
#1 — Anderssen vs Kieseritzky (1851)
Of course, the Immortal Game takes the top spot. This game was played between Anderssen and Lionel Kieseritzky during the London 1851 tournament, which was the first ever international chess tournament, held during the Great Exhibition. Anderssen ended up winning. However, this game was played in between rounds, and was not actually part of the tournament.
In this game, Anderssen sacrificed his Bishop, and then he sacrificed both of his Rooks. The position below happened right after this Rook sacrifice, and Black appears to be winning. Can you find how Anderssen showed that Kieseritzky was, in fact, losing?
This game is one of the most well known games from the Romantic era, and for good reason. Here, Anderssen shows the power of sacrifices, and then delivers a brilliant checkmate that involves another sacrifice.
Conclusion
So there you have it: The top 5 games of one of the best players of the Romantic Era. I hope you found this blog to be interesting, because as I said at the start of this blog, this will be part of a series, in which I analyze the top 5 games of a multiple players, many of them from the Romantic Era. Let me know in the comments if there are any players you want me to feature.
I would like to give a shoutout to @Fire for inspiring this series with his Top 10 Games of Richard Réti series (which I want him to finish), and @AstroTheoretical_Physics for giving me ideas for the format and layout of this blog.
I have little more to add, so keep attacking, learn from Anderssen's style, and see you for the next round.
