Ivanchuk's Golden Queen Sacrifice - Top 10 Of The 1990s - Ivanchuk vs. Shirov, 1996
"Planet Chucky" is used as a synonym for an insane chess game or insane chess position produced by the great Vasyl Ivanchuk. There's even a club on site with this name.
Ivanchuk's definitive "Planet Chucky" game is his masterpiece played against Alexey Shirov from Wijk Aan Zee in 1996. The game perfectly showcases the brilliance of Ivanchuk, a player who could defeat anyone in the world on his best days.
Top 10 Games of the 1990s
- #1: ???
- #2: ???
- #3: ???
- #4: Ivanchuk vs. Shirov, 1996
- #5: Isaev vs. Timoshenko, 1991 (blog)
- #6: Ivanchuk vs. Anand, 1991 (blog)
- #7: Nunn vs. Nataf, 1999 (blog)
- #8: Kasparov vs. Kramnik, 1996 (blog)
- #9: Kramnik vs. Shirov, 1994 (blog)
- #10: Passov vs. Sammour-Hasbun, 1991 (blog)
- See also: Top 10 of the 2000s, and Top 10 of the 2010s
Outside of /r/chess (and currently within /r/chess), a queen sacrifice is a rare and special thing. In this game, Ivanchuk played one of the greatest queen sacrifices in chess history, 21.Qg7!!
This incredible move offered his queen for two minor pieces and a strong pawn on g7. The fun was not over after this move though as Ivanchuk concludes the game with an excellent barrage of attacking moves (26.Bxd4!! being a standout).
My notes are below. Also, be sure to check out Shirov's notes in "Fire On Board."
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I'm the Head of Community for Chess.com. I earned the National Master title in 2012, and in 2014, I returned to my home state of South Carolina to start Strategery: Chess and Games. In late 2015, I began working for Chess.com and haven't looked back since.
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