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I once watched a famous chess game that I can't find anymore and maybe someone could help me find it.

The game I watched evolved somehow natural until one moment: player1 sacrifices its queen. The spectacularity in this move consists on the fact that from that point on player2 had only one possibility of moving every time player1 moved on its turn. The game evolves so that player2 is constantly kept in check until the player2 king reaches the other side of the table i.e. row 8. When the king reaches row 8 of the chess table, player1 checkmates player2.

Can anyone help me find this game? I once watched it online on YouTube explained and I was very impressed but somehow lost it. Maybe someone knows about this game based on this not very accurate description.

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3 Answers 3

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This does sound like the famous game between Edward Lasker (not the world champ) and George Alan Thomas.

[FEN ""]
[Event "Casual game"]
[Site "London ENG"]
[Date "1912.10.29"]
[Result "1-0"]
[White "Edward Lasker"]
[Black "George Alan Thomas"]

1. d4 e6 2. Nf3 f5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. Bxf6 Bxf6 6. e4
fxe4 7. Nxe4 b6 8. Ne5 O-O 9. Bd3 Bb7 10. Qh5 Qe7 11. Qxh7+
Kxh7 12. Nxf6+ Kh6 13. Neg4+ Kg5 14. h4+ Kf4 15. g3+ Kf3
16. Be2+ Kg2 17. Rh2+ Kg1 18. Kd2# 1-0
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  • Why couldn't black go Kh8 instead of Kh6 right after the sacrifice? Jun 21, 2017 at 7:49
  • 2
    @DmitryGrigoryev: After 12 ... .Kh8 13. Ng6++ is mate. Jun 21, 2017 at 7:50
  • 5
    Pretty sacrifice, but Lasker really should have mated with 18. 0-0-0 ! Jun 21, 2017 at 7:51
8

I just saw this question, and while someone came up with the game you were looking for, here is a game with what many consider THE most spectacular queen sacrifice ever. It is a positional sacrifice for two minors on move 12! I thought everyone might enjoy this.

If you do have never heard of Rashid "SuperNezh" Nezhmetdinov, despite never getting the GM title (mostly due to being unable to travel outside the Soviet Union), he won the Soviet championship 5 times. He had a lifetime plus of 4-1 against Mikhail Tal, and was Tal's second for the 1960 match against Botvinnik. In the 20 games he contested against world champions, he also had a plus score.

And here is what the greats said about him:

  • "Nobody sees combinations like Rashid Nezhmetdinov." Mikhail Botvinnik
  • Nezhmetdinov is "the greatest master of the initiative." Lev Polugaevsky
  • "His games reveal the beauty of chess and make you love in chess not so much the points and high placings, but the wonderful harmony and elegance of this particular world." Mikhail Tal
  • "Rashid Nezhmetdinov is a virtuoso of combinational chess." David Bronstein

Lastly, every player should see Lev Polugaevsky vs Rashid Nezhmetdinov, which is another incredible game with a queen sacrifice that is incredibly memorable.

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1111459

    [Title "Rashid Nezhmetdinov-Oleg Chernikov, Rostov-on-Don, Chigorin Team Cup, 1962"]
    [FEN ""]

   1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. Nc3 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Bc4 O-O 8. Bb3 Ng4 9. Qxg4 Nxd4 10. Qh4 Qa5 11. O-O Bf6 12. Qxf6 Ne2+ 13. Nxe2 exf6 14. Nc3 Re8 15. Nd5 Re6 16. Bd4 Kg7 17. Rad1 d6 18. Rd3 Bd7 19. Rf3 Bb5 20. Bc3 Qd8 21. Nxf6 Be2 22. Nxh7+ Kg8 23. Rh3 Re5 24. f4 Bxf1 25. Kxf1 Rc8 26. Bd4 b5 27. Ng5 Rc7 28. Bxf7+ Rxf7 29. Rh8+ Kxh8 30. Nxf7+ Kh7 31. Nxd8 Rxe4 32. Nc6 Rxf4+ 33. Ke2 1-0
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  • 3
    What a brilliant game, and thx for sharing the extra game too! Nezhmetdinov was truly one of the greatest tacticians ever and anyone can benefit from studying his games, packed with out of the box ideas all the time!. Speaking of his game vs Polugaevsky, there's a wonderful Seirawan lecture covering it, which might be of interest to readers unfamiliar with his games :)
    – Ellie
    Sep 11, 2019 at 22:38
  • @Phonon, I am glad you liked them both. Sep 11, 2019 at 22:49
  • 1
    @PhishMaster Hi, not related to queen sacrifices necessarily, but I think you might like this game: youtube.com/watch?v=x6rWHMDhHmw
    – user929304
    Sep 12, 2019 at 12:17
  • Thank you. I have seen that game before a number of times. It is really amazing for sure. Sep 12, 2019 at 12:32
4

There are plenty of games that fit the parametres you described, let's see if we get lucky!

    [Title "Polgar - Chilingriova"]
    [FEN ""]

    1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.O-O Bg7 5.c3 e5 6.d4 exd4 7.cxd4 Nxd4 8.Nxd4 cxd4 9.e5 Ne7 10.Bg5 O-O 11.Qxd4 Nc6 12.Qh4 Qb6 13.Nc3 Bxe5 14.Rae1 Bxc3 15.bxc3 Qxb5 16.Qh6 Qf5 17.Qxf8+ 1-0

    [Title "Segovia - Curbelo"]
    [FEN ""]

    1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bc4 e6 7. Bb3 Be7 8. Be3 O-O 9. Qe2 Bd7 10. O-O-O b5 11. a3 Qc7 12. Kb1 Nc6 13. g4 Rac8 14. f4 e5 15. Nxc6 Bxc6 16. g5 Nxe4 17. Nxe4 Bxe4 18. Rhg1 exf4 19. Bxf4 Bg6 20. h4 Rfe8 21. h5 Bxg5 22. hxg6 Rxe2 23. gxf7+ Kh8 24. Bxd6 Qc6 25. Rxg5 Rxc2 26. Be5 Rc1+ 27. Ka2 Qh6 28. Rxg7 Qxg7 29. Rxc1 Rf8 30. Rg1 Rxf7 31. Bxf7 1-0

    [Title "Nikitin - Stein"]
    [FEN ""]

     1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 O-O 5.Nf3 d6 6.O-O Nc6 7.d5 Na5 8.Nfd2 c6 9.Nc3 cxd5 10.cxd5 Bd7 11.b4 Qc7 12.bxa5 Qxc3 13.Nb3 Rfc8 14.Be3 Bb5 15.Bxa7 Rxa7 16.Rc1 Qxc1 17.Nxc1 Rxa5 18.Qd2 Ra4 19.Qe3 Kf8 20.Qb3 Ra5 21.Qb4 b6 22.Nb3 Rc4 23.Qd2 Ra8 24.Rc1 Ne4 25.Bxe4 Rxe4 26.e3 Rea4 27.Rc2 Bc4 28.Kg2 Bf6 29.f3 Kg7 30.e4 h5 31.h4 b5 32.Nc1 Ra3 33.Qf2 R8a4 34.Kh2 Rb4 35.Qd2 Rb1 36.Kg2 Ra4 37.Kh2 Rab4 38.Nd3 Bxd3 39.Qxd3 Rd4 40.Qe2 Rdd1 41.f4 Bd4 42.Qf3 b4 43.Re2 Rbc1 44.e5 Rc3 45.Qe4 Bc5 46.f5 Rd4 47.f6 exf6 48.exf6 Kxf6 49.Rf2+ Kg7 50.Qe7 Rxh4+ 51.Qxh4 Bxf2 52.Qxb4 Bxg3+ 53.Kg2 Be5 54.a4 Rc2+ 55.Kf3 g5 0-1

For more examples, check http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chesscollection?cid=1022437

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