Lilienthal's Immortal Queen Sacrifice - Best of the 30s - Lilienthal vs. Capablanca, 1935

Andre Lilienthal was a great Soviet Chess Champion and a popular figure in chess. An attacking player, he had a unique style and an even more unique hairstyle. Lilienthal was one of the first players awarded the grandmaster title by FIDE in 1950, and when he passed away in 2010, he was 99, the oldest living grandmaster. Lilenthal met every world chess champion from Lasker to Carlsen. The only world champion he did not meet was the first, Steinitz.

In his battle with the great Capablanca in Hastings in 1935, Lilienthal got the other hand, winning the first of two famous defeats that the Cuban genius would suffer on the black side of the Nimzo-Indian in the 1930s.

Top 10 Games of the 1930s

• #1: ????
  
• #2: ????
• #3: ????
  
• #4: ????
• #5: ????
• #6: Lilienthal vs. Capablanca, 1935
  
• #7: Botvinnik vs. Flohr, 1933
  
• #8: Alekhine vs. Lasker, 1934
  
• #9: Euwe vs. Lasker, 1934
  
• #10: Parr vs. Wheatcroft, 1938
  
• See also: Top 10 of the 1940s, Top 10 of the 1950s, Top 10 of the 1960s, Top 10 of the 1970s, Top 10 of the 1980s, Top 10 of the 1990s, Top 10 of the 2000s, and Top 10 of the 2010s

Lilienthal selects the Saemisch attack for this game, and Capablanca initially responds well, but then he decides not to win a pawn and make the position more chaotic. As a result, he cedes the center to Lilienthal who tries to blow him off the board. When Capablanca relies on tactics to capture on e4 with his king in the center, Lilienthal uncorks a queen sacrifice that will surely be celebrated for as long as chess is played.

My annotations are below. Enjoy the game!

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