5 Legendary Chess Masters and Their Immortal Games

INTRODUCTION

When you hear someone say the words "Immortal Game", chances are you're gonna think of the 1851 masterpiece between Adolf Anderssen and Lionel Kieseritzky. Although this game was deemed as simply "The Immortal Game" and is by far the most popular, there are tons more Immortal Games out there. In fact, if you look around hard enough, pretty much every chess player has an Immortal Game. In this blog, I will be sharing with you Immortal Games played by legendary masters like Carlsen, Kasparov, Fischer, and more, and also teaching you to not be afraid to make sacrifices!

By the way, when I say "Immortal Game", I am referring to a game where a player sacrifices just about every piece and still ends up winning the game. If you still don't quite fully understand, let these dazzling games speak for themselves.

MAGNUS CARLSEN VS. SIPKE ERNST (2004)

"CARLSEN'S IMMORTAL"

Who better to start with than the GOAT himself, Magnus Carlsen. He needs no introduction whatsoever.

This game was played at the 2004 Corus tournament in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands. Magnus participated in Group C (if only they knew at the time who they were dealing with) and was the eventual winner of the Group. Today, this tournament is called the Tata Steel Masters and Magnus remains the consistent winner of it.

This game has been dubbed as either "Carlsen's Immortal" or "The Magnus Effect". It really showed how much potential Magnus had as a young player (he was only 13 at the time) because he completely annihilated a strong Dutch chess master and coach named Sipke Ernst, sacrificing a couple of pieces along the way just to make his attack even more spectacular. 

3 brilliant sacrifices by Magnus! Amazing! Magnus was not afraid to make sacrifices to improve his attack and it led to him winning the game!

GARRY KASPAROV VS. VESILIN TOPALOV (1999)

"KASPAROV'S IMMORTAL"

Although Magnus Carlsen is (in my opinion) the greatest chess player of all time, there have been some arguments over the years favoring Garry Kasparov. Kasparov won 6 World Championship titles during his career but is perhaps most widely known for his matches against the Deep Blue chess engine in 1996 and 1997. He is a literal legend and this game definitely exhibits that.

It was played at the 1999 Hoogovens tournament, which was later renamed Corus (coincidentally where Magnus played his Immortal) and is now the Tata Steel Masters. Kasparov won the Hoogovens tournament in the end with an impressive score of 10/13. He also played a lot of games that are worth noting in this tournament, including this one, which was truly spectacular.

Although Magnus's Immortal was great, Kasparov's was even better. Kasparov played 4 brilliant moves and 7 great moves while also sacrificing nearly his whole house along the way and still managing to pull out the victory. He was willing to make sacrifices and it worked to his benefit!

ROBERT BYRNE VS. BOBBY FISCHER (1963)

"FISCHER'S IMMORTAL"

Bobby Fischer is unquestionably the greatest American chess player of all time. He is sometimes even roped into the chess GOAT debate with Carlsen and Kasparov. He is most well-known, though, for disappearing from the public eye not long after his 1972 World Championship victory over Boris Spassky and then not even showing up for the 1975 World Championship against Anatoly Karpov. He also grew mentally unstable near the end of his life. However, despite all this, we still remember Fischer for his astounding chess play and as the best American to play the game.

This game comes from Fischer's famous 11/11 winning performance at the 1963-64 U.S. Championship in New York. This tournament was jam-packed with talent and the games did not disappoint. Almost every single game played in this tournament is worth a look. This game in particular is worth more than one look. It really portrays Bobby Fischer at his best.

What a game! Byrne himself even commented after the game that he thought he had a completely winning position throughout. Fischer had a plan, though, and he clearly knew not to be afraid to make sacrifices.

JOSE RAUL CAPABLANCA VS. JAIME BACA ARUS (1912)

"CAPABLANCA'S IMMORTAL"

I recently took an online chess personality test (yes, that is a real thing) and found that my playing style is similar to that of Capablanca's, which is a huge compliment. Capablanca was a Cuban chess master who won the 1921 World Championship match and many other important chess events. He specialized in the endgame throughout his career, but as you will see in this game, he could handle the opening and middlegame pretty darn well too. 

This game is the first one in this blog that was played at a simultaneous exhibition, (or for short, a "simul") which is when a chess master plays numerous games against numerous different chess amateurs at once, which on its own is impressive, but Capablanca was also doing this while blindfolded. That's insane. And what's even more insane is that Capablanca not only won the game but also played one of the most impressive games of all time. He definitely made a name for himself in the blindfolded chess category after this piece of art.

I can't play a game anywhere near that impressive when I am not blindfolded, so I can't imagine what I would play like when I am blindfolded! Capablanca has mad skills! I don't think my playing style is even close to the level of his...

Even without physically seeing the board, Capablanca showed that he is not scared of letting some pieces go for the better of his attack. He joins the club with all of these other legends that we have highlighted so far.

ALEXEI SHIROV VS. JUDIT POLGAR (1994)

"POLGAR'S IMMORTAL"

Judit Polgar is undeniably the greatest female chess player of all time. Although her play generally isn't as strong as any of the other masters included in this blog, she is certainly still worth acknowledging because she is the female chess GOAT. She never won a World Championship, simply because she was good enough to compete with the men in their tournaments, so she never participated in any chess tournaments that were strictly for women. But even when competing with the men, she obtained consistently good results in her tournaments.

This game is Judit's best ever. It was played at the 1994 Buenos Aires Sicilian event in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her opponent, Alexei Shirov, was ranked #2 in the world at the time this game was played and Judit was already widely considered the best female in the business, so people were expecting a dogfight. Then Polgar stunned everyone and completely blew Shirov off the board by playing one of the most magnificent games ever.

Another astonishingly brilliant game. This game was slightly different from the rest in this blog in the sense that Shirov didn't actually take any of Polgar's piece sacrifices, so Polgar was never really down material-wise. It was still a very interesting game, though, and I think it can still be classified as "Immortal". Polgar cruised to victory because she did not fear making material sacrifices, even though she was playing the #2 in the whole world. That takes some major bravery right there and it shows why she's the greatest female chess player to ever walk the face of the earth.

CONCLUSION

The point that I am trying to make and teach in this blog is that we should be willing and open to making sacrifices. Even if that means just sacrificing a pawn or maybe just sacrificing your control of the center for the better of your flank attack, sacrificing sometimes becomes necessary for the greater good of your position.

These masters all knew what they wanted and they weren't afraid to do whatever it takes to pull out the W. And that is exactly how they all became what we know them as today -- legends.

I hope you enjoyed this blog. Cya next time!