Post your best miniatures here

18-move win in the Dutch.

95.3% accuracy.

Knight blindness

8 move win in the Morra.

That guy needs to prepare an anti-Morra!

Wow

Brilliant

That was a nice trap 8...f5 9.exf en-pasaant 9...d5! and their bishop has nowhere to go

In this miniature Black plays almost all their moves from behind their pawns. It takes a while but their position finally crumbles

28 moves isn't a miniature! It's a shortish game.

25 or less moves in a won game is a miniature, as stated all over the web and in various books.

"as stated all over the web and in various books." I didn't know either and I pay attention to things like this. "all over the web?" SO WHAT. It should have been indicated in the FIRST POST. THAT is where *I* looked to understand what 'miniature' meant but it didn't say.

So now please be nice if someone posts improperly. It isn't their fault that they didn't know they should check every chess book and online discussion about chess to get the answer.

I kept trying to imagine 'miniature' and I first thought a variant game, then maybe number of moves but I had no idea HOW MANY moves, and then I thought 'tiny chess sets' played by fleas ...

There have, at times, been strong views presented for miniatures being under 25, with equally strong views presented for under 20, etc. because there is no official definition of a miniature.

As such, the majority of posters have tended to view anything under 30 moves as acceptable (or at least "in the spirit of") in this thread.

I've been on this thread for quite a long time already and this subject always comes up from time to time. A miniature is defined as a short game, but the definition of a short game has been proposed during the years, from up to 15 moves, to 20 moves, to 25 moves (the most common one) , and nowadays any game below 30 moves. Plus it's not such an important concept, so it's used more as a guide than anything else.

In personal I use the below 30 moves definition, but if people choose to just post their games below 25 or 20 it's really up to them. Live and let live is my motto.

As to where do I come up with the below 30 guide a quick Google search gives tons of articles, blogs and videos by GMs or official commentators where these games are called miniatures. Just a few of them

https://chesscul.com/grand-swiss-2025-r6/

https://en.chessbase.com/post/a-double-scotch-at-the-94th-british-championships/22

https://www.chess.com/news/view/2025-fide-world-cup-round-2-game-1

https://www.chess.com/news/view/2022-norway-chess-blitz-wesley-so-wins

https://en.chessbase.com/post/fast-and-furious-with-im-robert-ris-2020-2

https://www.chess.com/news/view/2025-prague-chess-festival-round-5

https://www.chess.com/blog/2Bf41-0/chess-romanticism-part-i-zukertort

https://x.com/chesscom/status/1653221767119290369

I asked ChatGPT and got the following:

Q.

how many moves or less traditionally constitue a chess miniature?

A.

In chess, a miniature traditionally refers to a game that ends very quickly—most commonly:

• Under 25 moves (the most widely accepted definition)

Some authors and databases are stricter:

• Under 20 moves → often considered a “true” miniature
• 20–25 moves → sometimes still included, but occasionally called “extended miniatures”

The idea goes back to early chess literature, where short, decisive games—often featuring sharp tactics or quick checkmates—were collected for instructional value.

Classic examples include games like the Opera Game, which finished in just 17 moves and is one of the most famous miniatures ever played.

So if you want a clean rule of thumb:
👉 25 moves or fewer = a chess miniature

Q.

what sources quote 25 or less moves?

A.

There isn’t a single “official” governing definition, but the “25 moves or fewer” threshold is widely cited in multiple semi-authoritative and reference-style sources. Here are the clearest ones:

📚 Reference-style definitions

• Miniature (chess)

  “a short chess game, typically with no more than 25 moves”

This is one of the most widely quoted baseline definitions.

📖 Chess writing / instructional sources

• A Chess.com article by a titled player (GM Bryan Smith) states:

  “A miniature is a short game – at least less than 25 moves”

• A general chess terminology explanation site summarizes:

  “typically finished in 25 moves or fewer… (some authors use 20)”

These reflect how the term is used in teaching and commentary.

📘 Book-based / literature references

• The definition cited from John Nunn’s 101 Brilliant Chess Miniatures (via secondary sources):

  “usually no more than 20 to 25 moves”

This is important because Nunn is a serious modern author, and his framing reinforces the 20–25 move range, with 25 as the upper bound.

🧠 What this tells you

Across sources:

• 25 moves is consistently treated as the upper practical cutoff
• 20 moves is often a stricter or “purer” definition
• The term is conventional, not formal—authors choose slightly different limits

Bottom line

The “≤25 moves” definition isn’t from a single authority—it’s a converging convention found in:

• reference works (Wikipedia),
• instructional articles (e.g. Chess.com),
• and modern chess literature (e.g. John Nunn).

If you’re writing or classifying games, using 25 moves or fewer is fully standard and defensible.

Kids these days with their AI blurb 😆. Even then in that Nunn quote, even the famous GM writes "usually" to remark that is not a clear definition.

But like I said and my links show, is that there's no clear line and nobody (least of all FIDE) has cared about a rigid definition of a miniature. So why would we simple peasants do so?

I'm in my 50's.

I just thought everyone knew chess miniatures were =<25 moves.

Obviously I, and ChatGPT, are wrong!