The Immortal Game. The Greatest Sacrifice in Chess History
In June 1851 a German schoolteacher gave up a bishop, both rooks and then his queen, and won the game with a single bishop move. It is still the most famous sacrificial game in chess. This page walks through the key moments with diagrams, and explains why it matters.
Published .
Who played it and when
Adolf Anderssen of Breslau, a mathematics teacher, played White. Lionel Kieseritzky, a chess master living in Paris, played Black. The game took place in London on 21 June 1851, during a break in the first international chess tournament, which was held alongside the Great Exhibition. It was an informal game, not part of the tournament, and Anderssen went on to win the tournament itself.
The place is traditionally said to be Simpson's Divan, a famous London chess cafe, but that is not certain. The game was first published by Kieseritzky himself in the French chess magazine La Régence, and the nickname came later. Several years afterwards, in 1855, the writer Ernst Falkbeer called it the Immortal Game, and the name stuck.
The opening. A pawn and the right to castle
The game began as a King's Gambit, one of the oldest and sharpest openings. We explain what a gambit is on our chess terms page. After 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 White has offered a pawn. Anderssen continued 3.Bc4, and Black answered with a check, 3...Qh4+. White had to move the king with 4.Kf1, which cost the right to castle for the rest of the game.
By normal standards this is a poor start for White. The king is exposed and Black's queen is already active. Anderssen accepted that on purpose. He was betting that quick development and open lines would be worth more than safety.
Giving up material for time
Black replied 4...b5, offering a pawn of his own, and White took it with the bishop, 5.Bxb5. Several moves later, after 11.Rg1, Black captured that bishop with 11...cxb5, so White had given up a bishop for a pawn. Then White kept pushing the h pawn and developing, while Black's queen shuffled around the kingside.
Look at the position after 17...Qxb2. Black has taken a pawn, and Black's queen is about to attack the rook on a1. White is behind in material and has not castled. Most players would be worried. Anderssen played 18.Bd6.
The bishop attacks the bishop on c5 and, together with the knights on d5 and f5, builds a mating net around the square e7. It also leaves both rooks hanging. Black took them, 18...Bxg1 and 19...Qxa1+, and White now had no rooks at all.
Two rooks down and still winning
After 20.Ke2 Na6 White has two rooks and a bishop fewer than Black, which looks hopeless. But look at the board. Black's king is stuck in the center, Black's bishop on c8 and pawn on d7 stand in the way of the king's escape, and almost all of Black's pieces are far from the king. Every white piece that is left is aimed at it.
This is the central idea of the game. Material only matters if it can be used. Black had the extra pieces, but they were out of play, and White had the tempo.
The queen sacrifice and the final mate
White played 21.Nxg7+, capturing a pawn with check. Black's king went to d8. Then came the last sacrifice, 22.Qf6+. Black had to capture the queen with the knight, 22...Nxf6, and White played 23.Be7 checkmate. The bishop travels from d6 to e7.
The mate is worth studying square by square. The black king on d8 cannot go to c8 or d7, because its own bishop and pawn are there. The knight on g7 covers e8, the knight on d5 covers c7, and the same knight protects the bishop on e7, so the king cannot take it. White has a bishop and two knights left. Black still has a queen, two rooks, two bishops and two knights, but not one of them can help the king.
Was it perfect, and what does it teach
No. Modern chess engines find improvements for both sides, and Black had stronger defensive tries along the way. The Immortal Game is not a model of flawless play. It is remembered because the combination is so creative and the finish so clear.
- Development and initiative can outweigh material. White was far behind in pieces and still won, because every white piece was working and Black's were not.
- Open lines favor the side with pieces ready. Giving up pawns to open the f and g files was a deliberate trade.
- Sacrifices need a purpose. Each piece White gave up bought a tempo or removed a defender. Giving up material without a plan is just losing material.
- Look at your opponent's king. When the enemy king is trapped in the center, the usual rules about material stop applying.
You can play through the game on our board, or study the openings and tactics that come up in it in the chess strategy guide.
Watch The Immortal Game in motion
The same story as an animated video, with the full game and a short version.
The animated story. About three and a half minutes. Watch on YouTube
The 55 second version. Watch on YouTube
Sources for The Immortal Game
- Wikipedia, Immortal Game
- Edward Winter, Chess Notes, on the Immortal Game (chesshistory.com)
- ChessBase retrospective articles on the 175th anniversary of the game
- The 23 move score was checked move by move against a chess program. The date is the conventional one. The venue is traditional but uncertain.