Questions tagged [master-games]
Games played by demonstrably skilled players such as FIDE IMs and GMs, or those of similar strength pre-FIDE.
66
questions
1
vote
0answers
106 views
How often do GM-level classical games end in checkmate?
I understand that top-level games mostly end in draws or resignation, and presumably occasionally running out of time.
What proportion of top level tournament games (in classical time controls) ...
5
votes
0answers
199 views
Moving absolutely pinned piece to give checkmate: has this ever occured in a master game?
We know that a (absolutely) pinned piece can move and give a check, and the check can even be a mate.
The following is an example for such a checkmate.
[FEN "8/8/2k5/8/4p2b/r7/3RKPBr/q7 w - - 0 1&...
11
votes
2answers
895 views
How do you analyze master games without annotations?
I am starting to analyze master games more often because I never really do. But I play openings most masters don't and most games with these openings don't have many annotated games. So, how do you ...
2
votes
2answers
134 views
A position with a choice between checkmate and perpetual check
For some odd reason I'm searching for a game, or rather a position, where one player can force a win via checkmate (can be check in n, where n is any number), but they can also force a draw via ...
6
votes
3answers
845 views
Benefits of studying annotated grandmaster games
I've started reading about the 1960 Tal vs Botvinnik match and I'm planning on studying many annotated games like these. I was curious about what benefits I can get out of doing this. I've already ...
3
votes
2answers
205 views
World championship games where underpromotion was necessary
I have been frequenting tactics puzzles and a few books over the past year. I come across these underpromotion puzzles frequently, however, I never find them in real games. Has there ever been a world ...
4
votes
1answer
124 views
Searching for players by primary opening choice
My opening repertoire consists mostly of openings that score respectably at the club level but rarely appear in high-level play, and far more rarely as any high-level player's primary choice rather ...
-2
votes
2answers
240 views
Why is it seemingly impossible to follow high level chess games?
According to this, AlphaZero was a really good chess engine that learned through playing against itself, and it then it never lost against any other chess programs. I think it probably also said it ...
1
vote
0answers
50 views
Which classic master games to study? [closed]
Can somebody give list of classics to study according to your ELO?(like I don't know,Alekhine:1800)
5
votes
1answer
249 views
Have any top players intentionally thrown a game for tournament reasons?
I'm thinking something similar to Women's Badminton at the 2012 Olympics. There, some pairs actively attempted to lose their games to gain a more favorable draw in the next round.
Has anything like ...
12
votes
2answers
4k views
Games where a pawn checkmates the king
Could you please refer some examples of game where, on the last move, a pawn checkmates the king (preferably from grandmaster's games)?
1
vote
1answer
127 views
Is Gilbert Guerrero a 2500 US player?
According to the FIDE website, Gilbert Guerrero is from the US federation and 2500 Elo. I have never heard of this player, who mates GM Campora in ... 11 moves!
Here is the game from Chessgames.com
...
3
votes
1answer
257 views
Are there any repeated games between GMs?
I know there are almost an infinite numbers of games in chess, which is actually near 10^40.
But had a thought; in the games played between grandmasters, they usually they know what the best move is, ...
23
votes
4answers
3k views
What does it mean to ''analyze grandmaster games''?
I am currently rated 1850. My coach tells me that in order to get better at my game, I should ''analyze grandmaster' games''. On the surface, I understand that he wants me to learn from great players' ...
12
votes
3answers
3k views
Why don't we see more Kings Indian Defenses in top level chess?
One of the most interesting openings, in my opinion, is the Kings Indian Defense (KID). 2-4 decades ago it used to be very popular at the top level with Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov using it ...
-1
votes
2answers
349 views
Fixed games in chess-is it real or just a conspiracy theory? If real, how bad is it?
One famous case of fixed chess games is the Keres vs. Botvinnik World Championship 1948. I ran across this example while looking for other such chess games from history.
It is known that Stalin was ...
4
votes
3answers
213 views
About castling “fights”
Today I played as White in an interesting bullet game in which a strange “fight” occurred.
[FEN ""]
1. d4 e6 2. Nf3 b6 3. e4 Bb7 4. Bd3 g6 5. Be3 Bg7 6. Nc3 Qe7 7. Qd2 Nc6 8. a3 a5 9. h3 h5 10. Qe2 ...
4
votes
2answers
75 views
Is there an analysis of World Champions' games that shows the statistics of their game?
Is there an analysis of World Champion games, with the help of engines, that shows statistics like percentage of best moves played, blunders made, creative moves which computers can only see at high ...
17
votes
4answers
6k views
Has there ever been a grandmaster-level win where a queen did not move nor get taken throughout the game?
Has there ever been a grandmaster-level win where the queen of the side that won did not move nor get taken throughout the game?
I feel like this is possible even at such a level as the side whose ...
2
votes
1answer
215 views
Anderssen's 'immortal game'
I came across Anderssen's 'immortal game':
[FEN ""]
1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Bc4 Qh4+ 4. Kf1 b5
5. Bxb5 Nf6 6. Nf3 Qh6 7. d3 Nh5 8. Nh4 Qg5
9. Nf5 c6 10. g4 Nf6 11. Rg1 cxb5 12. h4 Qg6
13. h5 Qg5 14. ...
0
votes
2answers
335 views
What is the record for the most pawn double-steps in a professional game?
Quite simply, what is the record for the most pawn double-steps in a professional game? Drawn and won games are both considered. Computer games of any kind are not to be considered.
The most I have ...
1
vote
1answer
198 views
Looking for a real game ending by ... Nf6! leading to a perpetual check by White
My colleague Prof. Dr. S. writes a fictional story with symbolic elements involved. One of them is a simultaneous game played by a grandmaster with a gifted schoolboy. Prof. S. wants to represent it ...
-4
votes
1answer
188 views
Has promotion with double check ever happened in a professional game?
Promotion is common in many games, and is sometimes comes with check. But something I have never seen in a game is a promotion that comes with double check like this example illustrates.
[FEN "8/...
6
votes
2answers
982 views
Pawn Sacrifice Justification
A few weeks ago, Magnus Carlsen (White) played against Anish Giri (Black), and this position was reached on the board on move 17 after black had played exf4:
Here is the full game:
[White "Magnus ...
5
votes
3answers
879 views
What professional game has the quickest sequence, starting from move one, to quadrupled pawns?
In the blog "AJEDREZ, SIN DUDA", I came across a page that gives a game featuring quadrupled pawns.
[Title "Zheliandinov-T. Sereteli, 35th Championship of the USSR, Kharkov, 1967"]
...
-1
votes
1answer
100 views
A master-level game in which one player did not move beyond the third or fourth rank?
Has there been a game of master level or above in which one player did not move any piece or pawn beyond the third or fourth rank?
2
votes
2answers
68 views
Nimzowitsch specific game with Nf6-g8
Is there any way to search for games by a player where the move "x...Ng8" took place?
I'm looking for a specific game.
And no, it's not Saemisch - Nimzowitsch, Berlin 1928.
-4
votes
1answer
197 views
How come Paul Morphy has lots of weird and wonderful games? [closed]
Paul Morphy, from what I’ve seem, seems to have been a master of making weird and wonderful games, such as his famous kingside castling checkmate game. Are there any particular reasons for this?
2
votes
1answer
1k views
What is the record for the most pawns, of both sides, on a file in a professional chess game?
Some of us have heard about the famous game Kovacs-Barth, Balatonbereny 1994, which has the longest known surviving quadrupled pawn structure . It is one of many games with quadrupled pawns for one ...
6
votes
1answer
427 views
What is the longest professional chess game that ended in a checkmate?
Quite simply, what is the longest professional chess game that ended in a checkmate?
30
votes
7answers
5k views
Would studying the games of old players hurt my progress?
I was watching a video last night by Ben Finegold on Paul Morphy and some of his games. He mentioned that some current GMs would discount Morphy's ability since all of his opponents were "terrible". ...
2
votes
1answer
278 views
What are the most instructive Zurich 1953 games? [closed]
I'm a club player that never really figured out the importance of studying master games. Since I want to improve my middlegame understanding I read that Bronstein's Zurich 1953 is an excellent place ...
3
votes
1answer
204 views
Exchange sacrifice to dominate black squares in Najdorf
My question is a bit ambiguous and not that specific (it wouldn't be if I could remember more details):
I'm looking for a Najdorf game played against Lazaro Bruzon (or against Lenier?) probably ...
4
votes
2answers
113 views
Looking for a Horowitz game
I just remembered a puzzle from a Horowitz game in which he played white against an Italian (I believe) player whose name started with "M".
The black queen was defending f6, preventing Bxf6#. There ...
2
votes
1answer
82 views
From which top class game is the endgame motive?
I think this happened in Kasparov game but I am not sure about that. It was minor piece endgame with quite blocked queenside. Black took pawn on the kingside (h4 maybe) and white, instead of 'obvious' ...
5
votes
2answers
299 views
Q+N in attacking K
I've always been told that Q and N are very strong in attacking K. Could someone show me some real GM games where Q+N attack decides the game? (where at the end of the aggression, the attacking side ...
3
votes
3answers
747 views
Why do miniature games happen at the grandmaster level?
It is often said that grandmasters calculate many moves in advance before moving a piece.
If this is so, why do miniature game (games less than less than 25 moves long) happen?
7
votes
4answers
329 views
Two questions about Wesley So vs Varuzhan Akobian (2016)
Here is a link to the game itself.
[FEN ""]
[White "Wesley So"]
[Black "Varuzhan Akobian"]
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Nf3 Ngf6 6. Nxf6+ Nxf6 7. c3 c5 8....
8
votes
3answers
267 views
Trying to locate a historical game in which the win involves sacrificing two rooks
I can't remember whether White won or Black won, but I've been wondering for years where I saw this game. I remember toward the end, only heavy pieces and pawns were left, and the winner sacrificed ...
9
votes
2answers
507 views
Could you help me to find which game this is?
When I was a kid, I remember reading a newspaper article about a chess game. The article was written as if the writer was one of the players. It was a pretty surprising game and it looked as if it was ...
11
votes
1answer
672 views
Because of the distortion of the computer era, is it preferable to study mainly old opening lines?
I realize that you get rather a lot of questions from lower-rated players who ask, should I try this? should I play that? how can I improve? Many of you have been extraordinarily patient with these ...
6
votes
6answers
3k views
Can watching grandmasters' games improve my chess 'thinking'?
Can my chess "thinking" (positional, tactical, strategic thinking, etc.) improve by watching grandmasters' games regularly? Of course, this is in addition to regular games/tactics solving etc.
As an ...
11
votes
4answers
4k views
Java Library for PGN parser
I would like to find a Java library that will allow me to read a PGN file that could contain several chess games, probably with comments inserted also. But, it won't be used to generate moves or play ...
6
votes
2answers
253 views
Examples of hidden gems
For the moment, I have a hard time finding time for chess due to studies, so for the time being, chess has to be a purely recreational activity for me. What I'm looking for are examples of beutiful ...
5
votes
3answers
687 views
Von Popiel - Marco, Monte Carlo 1902, how to win as black?
In the game: Von Popiel - Marco, Monte Carlo 1902:
why would Black win with Bg1?
Ultimate Blunder
Puzzle
The white player is about to lose the Queen. Does that alone immediately constitute as a ...
5
votes
5answers
806 views
Do sacrifices work mostly for masters?
Many beautiful and celebrated master games feature heavy sacrifices of material that result in checkmate, or at least the regaining of more material than was sacrificed. In most cases, the original ...
5
votes
2answers
261 views
Professional match where neither player castles?
Are there any professional matches from serious players where neither player castles during the course of the game?
3
votes
2answers
165 views
Does anyone have the 1996 correspondence game between De Groot-Simmelink?
As far as I know, here are the first 12.5 moves are as below. Does anyone have the rest of the game?
[FEN ""]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 Nc6 3. Nc3 e5 4. d5 Ne7 5. h4 Neg8 6. a3 a6 7. Nf3 Ng4 8.
Ng5 f5 9. Qc2 ...
4
votes
2answers
162 views
A question about the time to evacuate a queen in a master game
I am studying a book about chess strategy, and in the chapter concerning the d4,e4 center I have this game:
(PACHMAN, VESELY, Pragues, 1953)
r1b2rk1/pp1nqppp/2pb1n2/4p3/2PP4/2N1PN2/P1Q1BPPP/R1B1R1K1 ...
8
votes
1answer
247 views
Indian theme in real life
We all know this beautiful theme of self-interference.
[Title "Loveday, mate in 3"]
[fen "3R4/5K2/8/4k1P1/4p3/7B/4p3/8 b - - 1 0"]
Solutiom:
Has such a motive ever occur in an OTB game?
