Excalibur electronic 975-3-EFG manual Wilhelm Steinitz vs. Kurt von

		the swashbuckling 11. Nxe5, allowing Black
mate in a shower of brilliant blows. This
classic is known as the "Evergreen Game."		to capture his queen. Black's king is forced
3. Paul Morphy vs. Duke Karl &		to march to the center of the board, an
Count Isouard, Paris, 1858		unhealthy spot for a monarch when so many
While in Paris at the opera, the brilliant,		pieces are still on the board, where he is
unofficial world champion from New		mated. It's important to understand that such
Orleans plays an offhand game against two		sacrifices don't just happen illogically.
noblemen. In this case, we're sure it was over		White's pieces again had a dominating com-
before the fat lady sang! In a Philidor		mand of the board, and Black allowed
Defense, the team of two played a weak 3.		White's pressure on f7, Black's most sensi-
… Bg5 that left Morphy with superior devel-		tive defensive square when he hasn't castled,
opment	(more of his pieces are deployed)	to build into an explosion.
and the	bishop pair (two bishops against a	6. Gaudersen vs. Paul, Melbourne,
bishop and knight). These two important		1928
advantages were all Morphy needed. After		This "miniature" of only 15 moves, starts off
Black wastes even more time with another		as a French Defense in which White plays
pawn move, 9. … b5?, Morphy hits the duo		the Advance Variation, placing his pawns on
with a series of brilliant sacrifices to mate.		d4 and e5. Black's 8th move, castling, was in
Victory of mind over material is the poetry		this case a blunder because his kingside is
of chess.		attacked by many pieces and not effectively
4.Wilhelm Steinitz vs. Kurt von		defended. White's sparkling 9. Bxh7+ is an
Bard leben, Hastings, 1895		example of a bishop sacrifice that's hap-
Wilhelm Steinitz, the first official world		pened so often it has a name—the "Greek
champion, begins this game as a Giuoco		Gift." White's 14. Nxe6+ is an example of a
Piano. He maneuvers deftly to keep his		discovered check, the dive bomber of the
opponent from castling into safety. Then he		chessboard. White's amusing 15th move is a
sacrifices his pawn on d5 so that he can		very rare example of checkmate with the en
make the square available for his knight. But		passant capture.
the most brilliant move of the game is 22.		7. Edward Lasker vs. George
Rxe7+. At first glance, it simply looks like a		Thomas, London, 1910
blunder. All of White's pieces are attacked,		This masterpiece, a Dutch Defense, features
and if Black wasn't in check, he could play		a famous example of the king’s walk to
… Rxc1+ with mate next. But if Black can't		mate. Edward, an American distant cousin of
take the rook—with either his king or		the great world champion Emmanuel Lasker,
queen—he loses in all variations. And by not		gets his pieces activated against Black's
taking it, he is eventually mated anyway. If		kingside while the English champion
you're interested in these complex lines, you		Thomas develops (gets his pieces off the
can find a complete explanation of this clas-		back rank and into play) too slowly. By 10.
sic game in many books.		Qh5, White is already threatening an all-out
5. Alexander Alekhine vs. O. Tenner,		blitzkrieg. His brilliant queen sacrifice 11.
	logne, 1911	Qxh7 is followed by a devastating discov-
World Champion Alekhine was a chess		ered double check, 12. Nxf6++. Then Black's
fanatic (he even named his cat "Chess") and		king has to walk the plank, all the way across
one of the greatest attacking players of all		the board to g1, the normal spot for the
time. Here he plays the unusual Bishop's		White king! Here he breathes his last.
Opening and seems to be developing quietly.		8. Wilhelm Steinitz vs. A.
Black even appears to be getting a good		Mongredien, London, 1862
game just at the time Alekhine is able to play		12 This game starts out as a Center Counter

(also called Scandinavian Defense). Black
	who did not become world champion. The
loses too much time developing his pieces,	opening is a Nimzo-Indian. White's doubled
while White gets his into play aggressively.	pawns are potentially a long-term weakness,
Indeed, White's army dominates the all-	but in the short term they control a good
important center of the board as well as the	many all-important central squares. White
king's side. This sets the stage for a mating	plays cleverly to keep a grip on the position
attack. White's two-move maneuver 13. Rf3	and breaks through on the queenside with his
and 14. Rh3 is called a rook lift, and is a typ-	pawn-push 17. c4-c5. This gives him a
ical attacking strategy. This rook then sacri-	chance to bring his queenside rook into
fices itself on h7 in a way that allows Steinitz	action. He swings it against the kingside,
to bring his other rook quickly into the fray.	sacrificing it on g7 to win. In the final posi-
White is a rook down, but all of his forces	tion, Black's king will be mated by the White
take part in the assault, while the Black	queen, supported by the bishop on c1. Where
queen's rook and bishop seem to be waiting	did Black go wrong? Take a look at his
for the next game. They don't have long to	"unemployed" queen and rook on a8 and b8!
wait.	12. J. Banas vs. P. Lukacs, Trnava, 1986
9. Aaron Nimzovich vs. S. Alapin,	In a Four Knights' Game, Black gets his king
Riga, 1913	into safety by castling and takes advantage
Another French Defense. In this one, the	of White's awkward piece placement by sac-
great Latvian player and writer Nimzovich	rificing his knight with 9. … Nf3+. Then he
(after whom the Nimzo-Indian Opening is	allows White to take his bishop on c5. But by
named—see page 6) plays an opponent who	that time, White's king is surrounded. In the
wastes time stealing a pawn with 9. … Qxg2.	final position, after 13. … Ng4, White's only
"Nimzo" plays a punishing 12. O-O-O!, sac-	effective defender, his knight on e3, is forced
rificing his knight. He finishes up with a	from its square, allowing … Qg2 mate.
convincing queen sacrifice that forces	13. Anatoly Karpov vs. Victor
checkmate.	Kortchnoi, Moscow, 1974
10. Jose Capablanca vs. Herman	Twentieth-century chess perfected defense.
Steiner, Los Angeles, 1933	It is no longer typical to see top-level players
The handsome Cuban World Champion Jose	playing only for the attack. In fact, Korchnoi
Capablanca had a deceptively simple style.	at the time of this game was one of the best
Here we see him playing the old-fashioned	in the world, and his for e was defense.
Four Knights' game and opening up his	Many fine players would attack him ingen-
opponent's kingside pawn protection by	iously, only to break up on his rock-like for-
move 11! His first rook sacrifice, 17. Rxf6!,	tifications. Still, World Champion Karpov
can't be refused and forces Black's king into	crushes him in only 27 moves with a mating
a deadly crossfire. With 23. Qxb7!, Capa	attack! In a classic manner against Black's
offers a second rook, which can't be taken	Sicilian Dragon defense (so named probably
immediately because of 23. … Qxf6? 24.	because of the "tail" of control Black's bish-
Qb4 checkmate. But Black is forced to take	op makes from g7 to a1), Karpov plays the
the rook a move later and mate follows on	St. George attack, castling queenside and
the same square.	prying open the h-file to slay the dragon.
11. Mikhail Botvinnik vs. Paul	14. Boris Spassky vs. Tigran
The Hague, 1948	Spassky won the world championship from
Keres,	Petrosian, Moscow, 1969
Botvinnik won the world championship a	Petrosian in the match that produced this
record three times. His opponent here is pos-	game. In this English Opening that becomes
sibly the strongest 20th-century chess player 13	a Queen's Gambit, you'll see that once again