Well, black made some clear mistakes. For example, 24...Kb6! is advantage to black. Asking to choose the best game ever is simply impossible, but as for FAVORITE game, I'm sure this is a lot of people's personal favorites. As for me, my favorite is Reti-alekhine Baden-Baden 1925
Is Kasparov-Topalov the greatest game ever?
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Great game, but the greatest?
"There's no accounting for taste"
JMB2010 wrote:
For example, 24...Kb6! is advantage to black.
No.
The immortal game, one of the best imo.
It sure is up there even if Topalov missed a complicated way to save a draw on the 24th move. He too played well in this game and really did his best to win with black against Kasparov, and analysing some of these lines during the game must have been close to impossible. The winning line is certainly beautiful, even if it is of course possible to pick one game as the greatest ever. That honour usually goes to some great player beating someone many classes weaker in a miniature that is easier to understand for mere mortals.
Extremely impressive game. I wonder how far he actually calculated vs. how much he played it by feel.
Jun 22, 2013
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#8
This game, along with Botvinnik-Capablanca, is often voted the greatest game of all time by chess experts. Like the most extravagant diamonds, its flaws help to make it even more beautiful. A "perfect" draw would be very boring compared to this one.
@fabelhaft
Uhhh... Yes. It's been cited by pretty much every single annotator, including the players themselves.
JMB2010 wrote:
@fabelhaft
Uhhh... Yes. It's been cited by pretty much every single annotator, including the players themselves.
So can you quote some of these "every single annotator" that claims that black had the advantage before his 24th?
Here is some analysis of the game:
http://coxschess.tripod.com/attack1.html
I think most of these sacrificial games are won mostly by intuition. The greater intuition you have the more talent you have. And Kasparov surely is a natural-born chess player.
Jun 22, 2013
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#12
It must be very difficult to declare a single game of chess as "the greatest ever". It is not like film, where there is not over a million films produced a year.
Most likely the greatest game ever played is one no one has ever seen.
Topalov thought for a long time before accepting the rook sacrifice on the 24th, and had seen everything up until the 33rd move, where he had missed c3+! He might have been able to draw with 24. ... Kb6, but then all players once had a position where they weren't yet lost, and it would still have been quite tricky, the referred analysis of 24. ... Kb6 by GM Christiansen and GM Soltis states:
"25.Rxd5! Nxd5 (Not 25...Qxf4?; 26.Rxd8! Qc7; 27.Rxh8, Qxa5; 28.Re7+ Kb6; 29.Rxf7 with Clear advantage to White.) 26.Qxf7+ Nc7 (Forced.) 27.Re6!, Rd7!; 28.Rxd6 Rxf7; 29.Nc6+ Ka8; 30.f4 "when White has a pawn and annoying pressure for the exchange - GM Larry Christiansen. White plans "Bg2" which was "very promising for White" - GM A. Soltis."
It's also a sign of how well Topalov had played with black when Kasparov was forced to find an "immortal level" move like 24. Rxd4 just to avoid being worse.
I think this game better: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1289099
Very good game! Topalov <3
Jan 18, 2026
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#18
The question for me is when did Kasparov see the resource of 36. Bf1. Crucial to the success of the attack (though maybe the small advantage without the c3 line is a win at that level?)
Jan 18, 2026
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#19
When I wrote my concurrence that this is the greatest game in history, it was true (for me). Part of what makes a game great is the importance of the game, as well as the fighting quality. This fit the criteria, but now there’s one that is even greater!
Carlsen’s game 6 win against Ian Nepomniachtchi in the 2021 World chess championship is even greater. At the time, the match was tied with no decisive results. Carlsen sacked two rooks for a queen to create an imbalance, and proceeded to play virtually flawlessly for 136 moves as he ground down Nepo with them both playing on the increment.
This game was worth three points as Nepo fell apart after this loss.
The quality and importance of the game makes it the greatest in chess history.
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2127373
Do you know a game like this?where black seemingly never made any mistake and yet was crushed in such brutal fashion.I mean that rook sac must be like 30 ply deep.Still beyond even Houdini.