the best games ever you NEED to know: The opera game
Get ready and prepare to this series of blogs with dazzling games! Before we begin I just wanted to mention two things: One, English is not my first language (it's Dutch), so it's possible that there are some errors in the text. And two, this is actually my first post ever, so let me know what you think of it, even I you think it's bad. And certainly don't hesitate to give me a tip to improve. For this blog you will need a chess board to follow! Okay, let's get right into it!
So, the first game is called 'The Opera Game'. You will probably have heard of it, it's one of the most famous chess games in the world. this game is played in 1958. Paul Morphy, the best player from his generation, played with white. His opponents were the two amateur chess players: The French aristocrat 'Comte Isouard de Vauvenargues' (don't try to pronounce his name more then twice in a row) and Karl II, an english duke. It was played at an opera house in France. Morphy (plays with white, in case you already forgot) starts the game with 1.e4, which generally creates open positions.
1.e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6
This is the philidor defence, a solid, but very passive opening, and it also ignores the b4-square, which is very important.
3. d4
just theoretical stuff, the idea of d4 is that if black captures the pawn, white will recapture with his knight and have a nice position.
3. ... Bg4?!
This is called a pin. It pins the knight to the queen so it can temporarily not move. In that century was this a common move, though it isn't that good. Now we know that 3 ...exd4 is better.
4. dxe5 Bxf3
Black can't immediately recapture the pawn on e5, because of Qxd8+. Black will lose the rights to castle, and with 6. Nxe5 white wins a pawn and threatens Nxd7+, which loses a rook.
5. Qxf3
gxf3 is also very good, but Morphy decided he wanted to get an active queen so he could start an early attack. It is also the best move because you don't get doubled pawns.
5. dxe5
Just recapturing 
6. Bc4
Morphy is creating a checkmate check and at the same time developing the bishop.
6. ... Nf6?
This moves blocks the checkmate, but allows whit to play his next move (you'll see what I mean).
7. Qb3
This move slides the queen over to the other side of the bord, which is in fact a very hard move to find. It forks both f7 and b7. With other words, white will certainly win one of the pawns.
7. ... Qe7
Black's only good move, because white was threatening mate, for example: 7 ... Nc6 8. Bxf7+ Ke7 9. Qe6#.
8. Nc3
Morphy could have won a pawn with Qxb7 but he prefers development over material.
8 ... c6
This defends the pawn (with the queen, if you can't see it right away) without weakening the light squares.
9. Bg5 b5?
Black tries to chase the annoying c4-bishop, but this allows Morphy to play a strong sacrifice to keep having the initiative. This is a bad move, but it isn't easy to find something better because black's position is already very weak.
10. Nxb5!
White keeps the initiative. If he would have retreat the bishop, Black would have gain time and improve his position. If you ask the computer now, then white is winning with +6.2, which is about equal to being 6 pawns up.
10. ... cxb5
The game could be prolonged if he played Qb4+, which forces a trade of queens, but black still wins easily.
11. Bxb5+
White still needs compensation for the sacrifice he made.
11. ... Nbd7
Kd8 is better, but when white castles long with a check, is that still crushing. Quick replay: We're on the eleventh move and white is (according to the computer) on +8.1. Almost no hope anymore for black.
12. 0-0-0 Rd8
This combination of pins on the knights and the open file for the rook will crush black.
13. Rxd7 Rxd7
Morphy removes another defender, so he can put more pressure on the king. He also opens up the game for a possible checkmate he's searching for.
14. Rd1
White keeps putting pressure on the black king and his d7-rook. The d7-rook can't be saved anymore, even though it's defended by the knight (because it's pinned to the queen)
14. ... Qe6
Black unpins the knight so it can defend the rook. White could capture the knight, followed by the rook. Black is now completely lost.
15. Bxd7+
First playing Bxf6 is also good.
15. ... Nxd7
Although the amateur players were already losing, this move allows a forced checkmate in two moves. Can you find it?
16. Qb8+!!
Morphy finishes the game with a brilliant queen sacrifice! Maybe this is the move that made the game so famous, probably the most famous game ever!
16. ... Nxb8
A forced capture. It's mate in one now. Try to find it and comment if you found it!
17. Rd8#
A beautiful checkmate! This has become so famous that it received a name: 'the opera mate'. An opera mate is a mate where you mate your opponent with all of your remaining pieces. Notice that Morphy has just two pieces left, his bishop and rook, and he uses them both to checkmate black.
Remember: don't forget to comment (or even follow if you enjoyed it ) and let me think how i can improve my blog! See you in the next one of this series!
