100 great games that changed how chess is seen — every move verified, every one performed live on the Cathedral board.
Editorial imagery interprets each game's era and character; replay boards use the recorded moves.
Anderssen sacrifices both rooks and his queen to deliver checkmate in the most celebrated attacking combination of the 19th century.
Anderssen sacrifices his queen and both rooks against his student in a brilliant finish that chess fans have marveled at for 170 years.
Morphy's sensational queen sacrifice on move 17 followed by an elegant queen+piece mating attack is one of the most quoted combinations in chess history.
Morphy crushes two aristocrats at the Paris Opera in 17 moves with a masterclass on rapid development and piece sacrifice that became the template for attacking chess.
Zukertort's stunning queen sacrifice and cascading piece attack at London 1883 is considered one of the finest games of the 19th century.
Lasker's famous double bishop sacrifice — Bxh7 followed by Bxg7 — became the prototype for one of chess's most celebrated tactical motifs.
Steinitz's legendary forced mating attack caused von Bardeleben to walk away from the board rather than play out the inevitable — a landmark in chess history.
Rubinstein's consecutive rook sacrifice climax — with both rooks entering the attack — is hailed as one of the most beautiful combinations in all of chess.
Marshall's stunning Qg3!! sacrifice was so brilliant that the crowd reportedly showered the board with gold coins — one of the most famous queen sacrifices ever played.
Marshall unleashes a prepared gambit novelty, but Capablanca's defends with superhuman precision and converts a winning endgame — one of the great defensive masterpieces.
Alekhine called this his best game: a stunning strategic and tactical masterpiece at Hastings 1922 where he orchestrates an overwhelming kingside attack.
Nimzowitsch maneuvers his opponent into a complete zugzwang where every move worsens White's position — widely regarded as the most instructive positional game ever played.
Alekhine's queen weaves a path of extraordinary maneuvers before a breathtaking queen sacrifice crowns the artistic masterpiece against the legendary Reti.
A pivotal game in Alekhine's stunning upset of the invincible Capablanca — demonstrating that even the world's most technically perfect player could be outprepared.
Botvinnik's strategic d5 pawn sacrifice and subsequent knight maneuver introduced new positional concepts and announced Botvinnik as the new world chess force.
Bronstein pushed the great Botvinnik to the very brink in their 1951 WC match — this brilliant attacking game shows why he nearly became world champion.
Kotov's brilliant queenside attack at the famous 1953 Zurich Candidates Tournament features a spectacular rook sacrifice followed by an artistic mating sequence.
13-year-old Bobby Fischer sacrifices his queen on move 17 against master Donald Byrne and converts a breathtaking counterattack — universally called the Game of the Century.
Tal's legendary Nimzo-Indian positional squeeze turns the tables on the young Spassky with a slow, suffocating kingside bind ending in resignation.
Tal sacrifices a piece against former world champion Smyslov in a dazzling combination that typifies the Magician from Riga's reckless attacking genius.
In a clash of attacking styles, Kholmov matches Tal's combinational fireworks and holds in a remarkable counter-sacrificial battle.
Spassky's brilliant kingside attack culminates in a stunning rook sacrifice — one of the most dramatic attacks in Sicilian Defense history.
Tal's typical unsound-yet-brilliant piece sacrifice bamboozles Botvinnik in the 1960 World Championship, embodying Tal's philosophy that complications favor the attacker.
Fischer sacrifices his queen with stunning geometric precision against Donald Byrne's brother Robert in the US Championship — perhaps his most beautiful game.
Geller's brilliant King's Indian counterplay against Spassky demonstrates his mastery of dynamic piece play in one of the sharpest USSR Championship encounters.
Fischer demonstrates supreme positional domination, gradually building an overwhelming bind and destroying all resistance in a model game of strategic chess.
Spassky's sudden b4!! pawn sacrifice opens the queenside with hurricane force, demolishing the supremely confident Larsen in a famous counterattacking masterpiece.
Part of Fischer's perfect 6-0 annihilation of Taimanov in the Candidates — one of the most dominant competitive performances in the history of any game.
Fischer defeats former world champion Petrosian — known as the Iron Tigran — in a brilliant attacking game en route to his historic world title match.
Fischer's best endgame ever: a queenside minority attack in a Queen's Gambit Declined converted with flawless technique against the reigning world champion.
In the critical Poisoned Pawn Sicilian, Spassky defeats Fischer with a well-prepared refutation showing the dangers of greedy pawn-grabbing even at world championship level.
Kasparov's thunderous Nxd7 and subsequent rook sacrifice breakthrough on the kingside is one of the most decisive combinations in World Championship history.
Kasparov's game 24 victory in their epic 1985 match clinched the world title with outstanding endgame technique, ending Karpov's decade-long reign as champion.
Ivanchuk's shocking Nd4 sacrifice in an apparently calm endgame position leads to one of the most brilliant combinational sequences of the 1990s, leaving Yusupov stunned.
Short's white king marches up to g5 as an attacking piece to deliver checkmate — one of the most dramatic and bizarre king walks in top-level chess history.
Kasparov's brilliant positional squeeze followed by a tactical explosion against the talented Ivanchuk is a model of how to convert a strategic advantage.
Kasparov's domination at the 1994 Linares tournament included multiple brilliant wins, showcasing his unmatched dynamic preparation and calculation.
Kasparov sacrifices his knight on f5 in the PCA World Championship match, launching an unstoppable kingside attack against the equally prepared Anand.
Deep Blue's final decisive victory in their 1997 rematch marks the historic moment a computer first defeated a reigning world champion in a match — a watershed in AI history.
Shirov's astounding Bh3!! bishop sacrifice in a seemingly level endgame is widely considered the most beautiful and surprising move ever played in chess.
Kasparov's Rd1!! rook sacrifice begins an immortal sequence at Wijk aan Zee 1999 — universally considered the greatest game of the modern era.
Judit Polgar defeats reigning world champion Kasparov in one of chess's great upsets, marking the first time a woman defeated a reigning world champion in a classical game.
Aronian's brilliant piece sacrifice at Linares 2006 against Topalov announced him as one of the most creative players of the modern era.
Anand's stunning preparation in a Queen's Gambit Declined leaves Kramnik completely unprepared for a subtle but deadly novelty in the World Championship match.
Carlsen's masterful endgame technique and positional squeeze against Aronian is a perfect illustration of how he ground down the world's best players.
Aronian's spectacular queen sacrifice in the Candidates Tournament leads to a forced sequence that World Champion Anand could not survive — a modern tactical classic.
Carlsen's relentless positional pressure gradually wins the fifth game of his first World Championship match, demonstrating his signature grinding technique.
AlphaZero's revolutionary d5 pawn sacrifice against Stockfish demonstrated neural network chess at its most otherworldly, heralding a new era of engine play.
The named masterpieces the whole chess world knows by heart.
