Your best off studying the old masters like Morphy and other players from that era.
List of Classical Old Masters Games for Learning.
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Sep 7, 2025
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#3
Sep 13, 2025
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#4
I recommend the book The Most Instructive Games of Chess by Irving Chernev, if you want classic games of old masters.
Sep 18, 2025
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#5
It would be nice to see the Chernev book get an update to algebraic notation. I can manage with descriptive but it’s definitely not preferable.
Sep 18, 2025
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#6
Batsford 2014 edition of the Chernev book is in algebraic notation. I have the book and I found the chess contents (analysis, prose and games selection) very interesting and instructive.
Sep 19, 2025
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#7
500 Master Games of Chess by Tartakower. A great collection of older games...the only drawback being the book is in descriptive notation. However, many of the games are available on Chess.com's game database in algebraic.
"The Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games" (2021 edition, paperback, 145 games, 815 pages) by So, Adams, Burgess, Nunn, Emms...
https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Mammoth_Book_of_the_World_s_Greatest/2XUXEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=The+Mammoth+Book+of+the+World%27s+Greatest+Chess+Games&printsec=frontcover
You can view & download the pgn's of the games of the 2010 edition of the book here...
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chesscollection?cid=1037728
otherwise, search 'collection' here...
Good Chess Books for Beginners and Beyond…
https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/good-chess-books-for-beginners-and-beyond
Modern Ideas in Chess and Masters of the Chessboard, both by Richard Reti. Both exceptionally good. Both in RussBell's list. The latest editions (which I have) are in algebraic.
My Best Games of Chess 1905-1954
Tartakower
Paul Keres
List of games from the Chessmaster 3000 program:
001, Captain Smith - Philidor, London, 1790
002, De la Bourdonnais - McDonnell, 21st Match Game, 1834
003, McDonnell - De la Bourdonnais, 62nd Match Game, 1834
004, St. Amant - Staunton, 9th Match Game, Paris, 1834
005, Anderssen - Kieseritsky, London, 1851
006, Anderssen - Dufresne, Berlin, 1853
007, Paulsen - Morphy, New York, 1857
008, Morphy - Duke of Brunswick and Count Isouard, Paris, 1858
009, Morphy - Anderssen, 9th Match Game, Paris, 1858
010, G.A. MacDonnell - Boden, London, 1861
011, Matchego - Falkbeer, London, 1869
012, Anderssen - Steinitz, 13th Match Game, London, 1866
013, Bird - Mason, New York, 1876
014, Zukertort - Blackburne, London, 1883
015, Zukertort - Steinitz, 7th Match Game, New Orleans, 1886
016, Blackburne - Lipschutz, New York, 1889
017, Lasker - Bauer. Amsterdam, 1889
018, Chigorin - Pollock, New York, 1889
019, Steinitz - Chigorin, 4th Match Game, Havana, 1892
020, Lasker - Steinitz, 7th Match Game, New York, 1894
021, Steinitz - von Bardeleben, Hastings, 1895
022, Pillsbury - Tarrasch, Hastings, 1895
023, Pillsbury - Lasker, St. Petersburg, 1896
024, Lasker - Steinitz, 2nd Match Game, Moscow, 1896
025, Tarrasch - Marco, Vienna, 1898
026, Janowski - Pillsbury, Londin, 1899
027, Pillsbury - Marco, Paris, 1900
028, Marshall - Burn, Paris, 1900
029, Lasker - Napier, Cambridge Springs, 1904
030, Pillsbury - Lasker, Cambridge Springs, 1904
031, Schlechter - Marco, Monte Carlo, 1904
032, Rotlewi - Rubinstein, Lodz, 1907
033, Tarrasch - Lasker, 2nd Match Game, Duesseldorf, 1908
034, Janowski - Lasker, 2nd Match Game, Paris, 1909
035, Marshall - Capablanca, New York, 1909
036, Rubinstein - Lasker, St. Petersburg, 1909
037, Lasker - Schlechter, 10th Match Game, Berlin, 1910
038, Lasker - Janowski, 5th Match Game, Paris, 1910
039, Capablanca - Bernstein, San Sebastian, 1911
040, Rubinstein - Capablanca, San Sebastian, 1911
041, Capablanca - Molina, Buenos Aires, 1911
042, Ed. Lasker - Thomas, London, 1912
043, Lewitsky - Marshall, Breslau, 1912
044, Lasker - Capablanca, St. Petersburg, 1914
045, Nimzovich - Tarrasch, St. Petersburg, 1914
046, Spielmann - Flamberg, Mannheim, 1914
047, Capablanca - Janowski, New York, 1918
048, Capablanca - Marshall, New York, 1918
049, Rubinstein - Vidmar, Berlin, 1918
050, Lasker - Capablanca, 10th Match Game, Havana, 1921
051, Alekhine - Sterk, Budapest, 1921
052, Alekhine - Yates, London, 1921
053, Bogolyubov - Alehine, Hastings, 1922
054, Maroczy - Tartakower, Teplitz-Schonau, 1922
055, Tarrasch - Alekhine, Pistyan, 1922
056, Rubinstein - Hromadka, Mahrisch-Ostrau, 1923
057, Grunfeld - Alekhine, Carlsbad, 1923
058, Saemisch - Nimzovich, Copenhagen, 1923
059, Reti - Bogolyubov, New York, 1924
060, Reti - Alekhine, Baden-Baden, 1925
061, Capablanca - Bogolyubov, Moscow, 1925
062, Torre - Lasker, Moscow, 1925
063, P. Johner - Nimzovich, Dresden, 1926
064, Capablanca - Spielmann, New York, 1927
065, Capablanca - Alekhine, 21st Match Game, Buenos Aires, 1927
066, Flohr - Lustig, Prague, 1928
067, Alekhine - Nimzovich, San Remo, 1930
068, Sultan Khan - Capablanca, Hastings, 1930
069, Stahlberg - Alekhine, Hamburg, 1930
070, Spielmann - Eliskases, Match, 1932
071, Lilienthal - Capablanca, Hastings, 1934-35
072, Glucksberg - Najdorf, Warsaw, 1935
073, Alatortsev - Capablanca, Moscow, 1935
074, Euwe - Alekhine, 26th Match Game, 1935
075, Reshevsky - Capablanca, Margate, 1935
076, Fine - Grunfeld, Amsterdam, 1936
077, Keres - Euwe, Zandvoort, 1936
078, Botvinnik - Tartakower, Nottingham, 1936
079, Keres - Eliskases, Semmering-Baden, 1937
080, Euwe - Alekhine, 5th Match Game, Holland, 1937
081, Keres - Hromadka, Prague, 1937
082, Botvinnik - Capablanca, AVRO, 1938
083, Fine - Flohr, AVRO, 1938
084, Pleci - Endzelins, Buenos Aires, 1939
085, Keres - Botvinnik, USSR Absolute Championship, 1941
086, Reshevsky - Vasconcellos, Boston, 1944
087, Denker - Botvinnik, USA-USSR Radio Match, 1945
088, Geller - E. Kogan, Odessa, 1946
089, Zita - Bronstein, Prague-Moscow, 1946
090, Steiner - Botvinnik, Groningen, 1946
091, Keres - Taimanov, USSR Championship, 1951
092, Keres - Smyslov, Zurich, 1953
093, Botvinnik - Smyslov, 125h Match Game, Moscow, 1954
094, Bronstein - Keres, Goteborg, 1955
095, D. Byrne - Fischer, New York, 1956
096, Tolush - Taimanov, Riga, 1958
097, Polugaevsky - Nezhmetdinov, Sochi, 1958
098, Holmov - Keres, Tbilisi, 1959
099, Fischer - Benko, Bled, 1959
100, Tal - Smyslov, Bled, 1959
101, Spassky - Bronstein, Leningrad, 1960
102, Botvinnik - Tal, 17th Match Game, Moscow, 1960
103, Petrosian - Unzicker, Hamburg, 1960
104, Keres - Bilek, Leipzig, 1960
105, Gufeld - Kavalek, Marianske Lazne, 1962
106, R. Byrne - Fischer, U.S. Championship, 1963-64
107, Bakulin - Bronstein, Kiev, 1964
108, Bronstein - Larsen, Amsterdam, 1964
109, Geller - Smyslov, 5th Match Game, USSR, 1965
110, R. Byrne - Evans, U.S. Championship, 1966
111, Larsen - Petrosian, Santa Monica, 1966
112, Nikolic - Fischer, Vinkovci, 1968
113, Lutikov - Taimanov, Moscow, 1969
114, Polugaevsky - Tal, USSR Championship, 1970
115, Duchess - Kaissa, Toronto, 1970
116, Larsen - Spassky, USSR-Rest of the world Match, 1970
117, Petrosian - Gligoric, Rovinj-Zagreb, 1970
118, Stein - Lengyel, Moscow, 1971
119, Fischer - Spassky, 6th Match Game, 1972
120, Fischer - Spassky, 13th Match Game, Reykjavik, 1972
121, Bronstein - Ljubojevic, Petropolis, 1973
122, N. Weinstein - DeFotis, Chicago, 1973
123, Browne - Zuckerman, New York, 1973
124, Karpov - Spassky, 9th Match Game, USSR, 1974
125, Portisch - Gligoric, Milan, 1975
126, Geller - Karpov, USSR Championship, 1976
127, Ljubojevic - Andersson, Wijk aan Zee, 1976
128, Korchnoi - Polugaevsky, 7th Match Game, Evian, 1977
129, Spassky - Korchnoi, 2nd Match Game, Belgrade, 1977
130, Christiansen - Seirawan, Berkeley, 1978
131, Timman - Karpov, Montreal, 1979
132, Adorjan - Ribli, 4th Match Game, Budapest, 1979
133, Kasparov - Marjanovic, Malta, 1980
134, Belle - Chess, Detroit, 1979
135, Alburt - Peters, U.S. Championship, 1981
136, Seirawan - Karpov, London, 1982
137, Korchnoi - Kasparov, Lucerne Olympiad, 1982
138, Smyslov - Ribli, 5th Match Game, London, 1983
139, Beliavsky - Nunn, Wijk aan Zee, 1985
140, Karpov - Kasparov, 24th Match Game, 1985
141, Yusupov - Nogueiras, Montpellier, 1985
142, Rohde - B. Kogan, U.S. Championship, 1986
143, Miles - Beliavsky, Tilburg, 1986
144, Short - Ljubojevic, Netherlands, 1988
145, Seirawan - Tal, Brussels, 1988
146, Kasparov - Deep Thought, Exhibition, New York, 1889
147, Kasparov - Karpov, 20th game, Lyon, 1991
148, Miles - de Firmian, Interzonal, 1990
149, Polgar - Christiansen, San Francisco, 1991
150, Christiansen - Nunn, Munich, 1991
A great collection is Reuben Fine's The World's Great Chess Games, but given the number of games, the notes are minimal. Not sure if there is an algebraic version yet.
A more difficult to find book is Le Lionnais's Les Prix De Beaute Aux Echecs, which collects all tournament games that won beauty prizes since, I believe, 1895, the first time such a prize was awarded. I don't think this was translated to English.
For really old games (up to 19th century), there are several collections that can be found in historical books available in PDF format. For example, Staunton's Chess Praxis or Bird's Chess Masterpieces.
Please advise a list of classic games of old masters for learning, to improve understanding of the game