What is your favorite master or grandmaster game?

Very good points, Lasker1900, and it think you're absolutely correct.  I think Magnus Carlsen also revealed his precociousness when he drew Kasparov at the age of 13.  I got as kick out of this Youtube video.  Magnus even looks bored.  A real natural!

Best,
Bob

Thanks for the post, nimzo5.

I'll post both, but you have to be more specific about the Karpov vs Spassky game since there were 11 played in the 1974 Candidates Match with four wins for Karpov and one win for Spassky.

Best,
Bob

I can't select between so many great games...

Thanks for your post, YuriSenkevich.  There is something very direct, clean and overpowering about Fischer's games.  Some of them seem effortless, almost inevitable, which is a mark of genius no doubt.  A good example is Game 6 from the 1972 World Championship.  Game 10 also impressed me. 

Best,
Bob

Yes, it's tough, Robert_New_Alekhine.  I only posted the games I did because they were the first one I was exposed to that made me take notice of chess as an art form and as a competitive struggle.

Best,
Bob

to OP: I think it was game 8 - Karpov plays 24. Nb1. Heavily anthologized, but still excellent.

You were close Nimzo5, it was Game 9, which came up first in a Google search of "Karpov - Spassky 1974."  I just wanted to make sure.

Here are the two games.

Best,
Bob

Thanks for the post, C-Crusher.

The magazine New in Chess dedicated an article to the first two games between Garry Kasparov and Tigran Petrosian that had been analyzed by Garry in his first lone analytical work published in the west, The Test of Time.  Actually, the magazine article was Jan Timman's review of the book with an emphasis on these two games, which obviously impressed Mr. Timman.  I've included both below.

I also found the game between Kasparov and Korchnoi from the 1982 Lucerne Olympiad worthy of inclusion as I was thumbing through the book for this entry.  Garry used eight pages to analyze it under the subheading When it is Chess that Wins.

Best,
Bob

Nakamura - Aronian
Chess960 Rapid World Championship Chess Classic Mainz 2009

Thanks again for the post, YuriSenkevich.  I have never see this game before now, but Be4 is indeed simple and beautiful, and the game itself as unostentatious as a Haydn symphony.

Best,
Bob

Thank you for the post, BISHOP_e3.  I'm not usually a fan of Chess960, but this game appears interesting.  At least you don't have to worry about booking up on openings.  It will take top grandmasters to make Chess960 a viable alternative to traditional chess.

Best,
Bob

I don't know if anyone else has posted this game, but I love the Immortal Draw game. 

John Bartholomew's video about the game - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZ9iia2aIQc

Thanks for the post, alexm2310.

This is another game I haven't seen -- there are a lot of them -- and it is one for the record books.  I love the imbalance in material and the complete positional domination by Black with a lone bishop against two rooks.  In addition, pawn storms are always exciting unless you're on the receiving end; then they're terrifying.

Thanks for the link too, which has a PGN download near the end that includes annotations by Kavalek and Hübner plus comments by Gufeld.  Frankly, in the Chess.com player that PGN would have been really messy with all those variations, so I appreciate your comments and short annotations.

Best,
Bob

Thanks for your post and the YouTube link, PawnPassant101.  This is another game unfamiliar to me, but not anymore.  I was not familiar with Mr. Bartholomew either, but he provides an excellent overview of this unique and entertaining king hunt. 

I'm going to include the game below for others to play through, though they ought to catch Mr. Bartholomew's lesson in controlling squares and keeping the opponent's king hemmed in.

Best,
Bob

Thanks for the post, Klauer.  A couple of games I am familiar with, and both excellent choices.  I'm particularly fond of the Steinitz - von Bardeleben game with the untouchable rook.  A wonderful aesthetic coup.

Best,
Bob

You're quite welcome, edguitarock.  What I particularly liked about Bobby Fischer was his appreciation for past masters, though he initially misjudged Emanuel Lasker but came around to appreciating his pragmatic, fighting style.  Fischer had a sense of history and chess culture that was admirable.

One of Anand's best:

Thanks for your choice, Simon.  Anand is one of the great players in history, but you'd never know it from the lack of ink he gets.  Though not as consistent as he was in his prime, he's still capable of some real beauties.  I'll have to check my old New in Chess magazines to see if I can find this game with annotations.

Best,
Bob

Fischer's game of the Century