Famous moves

Talking about famous moves, two readily come to mind..  They have enjoyed celebrity status along with their progenitors.

In Botvinnik vs Capablanca ( 1938 ), 30.Ba3 is a 100% decoy sacrifice and it certainly earns a place in Course 101 of sacrifices.

 Levitsky vs Marshall (1912 ) produces  23…Qg3!!  It is a move noted for its surprise value as well as the web of variations that it entails. There are 5 main variations. By any standard, it is a real eye-opener for aspiring players.

Not so well-known is Karpov vs Taimanov ( 1977 ).  With some luck, the game should have enjoyed much greater publicity. Unlike the games mentioned above, it is  not a single move but a series of rook moves . The rook functions as a decoy on the 37rd move, just like Botvinnik’s Ba3 and then it threatens mate at h8 on the 40^th move. The move did not materialize ,however, simply because Karpov resigned before it was played. Here is the score of the game:

ebillgo, it is late at night for me so I am having trouble calculating.  In the variation which you give, 38 Qe2 Ng3 it seems 39 Rxg3 defends.  What is Black's attack on 38...Black to play?

ghostofmaroczy: Yes. You are right. I have made a terrible mistake. Very sorry about that. In fact, Qe2 does give Black a lot of trouble.

The rook sac in Kasparov's Immortal is the best move ever played in my opinion.

Thank you for the variations, chessmicky.  Taimanov is indeed an interesting fellow.  His variation of Sicilian is the safest, and he was remarkably strong.  It's too bad he stood in Fischer's path.  After Taimanov played Fischer, at least the Soviet authorities had Solzhenitsyn to fall back on.