Adolf Anderssen
Notable Games

Adolf Anderssen

15 celebrated games · 491 in the full archive
Player Index ◈ Biography 491 CURATED GAMES

Notable Games

  • 1851 Mayet, Carl vsAnderssen, Adolf 0-1 Ruy Lopez: Classical Variation, Central Variation 12 moves Berlin m1 A twelve-move Berlin miniature and one of Anderssen's shortest brilliancies: in the Ruy Lopez he answers 6.O-O with the ...h5/...Bg4 storm, and after 8...hxg4 9.Nxe5 g3 the sacrifices crash in — 11...Bxd4 and 12...Bxf2+ win Carl Mayet's queen (13.Rxf2 Qd1+).
  • 1851.06.21 Anderssen, Adolf vsKieseritzky, Lionel Adalbert BF 1-0 King's Gambit Accepted: Bishop's Gambit, Bryan Countergambit 23 moves London 'Immortal game' The Immortal Game — a casual encounter beside the first international tournament, London 1851. In the King's Gambit (Bishop's Gambit) Anderssen gives up a bishop, then both rooks (18.Bd6!, 19.e5) and finally his queen (22.Qf6+!) to mate with three minor pieces, 23.Be7#. Ernst Falkbeer's 1855 name has stuck ever since.
  • 1851 Anderssen, Adolf vsStaunton, Howard 1-0 Scotch Game: Haxo Gambit 35 moves London knockout London 1851, the first international tournament: a win from Anderssen's 4–1 defeat of Howard Staunton — the event's organiser and pre-tournament favourite — on the road to the title that made him the world's leading player. Doubled rooks on the h-file (20.Rh5, 24.Rxh7) break Black down.
  • 1852 Anderssen, Adolf vsDufresne, Jean 1-0 Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Dufresne Defense 24 moves Berlin 'Evergreen' The Evergreen Game, Berlin 1852 — an Evans Gambit friendly. After 17.Nf6+! Anderssen unwinds one of the deepest combinations of the era: 19.Rad1!, 20.Rxe7+ and the queen sacrifice 21.Qxd7+!! Kxd7 22.Bf5+, mating with 24.Bxe7#. Steinitz dubbed it the evergreen in Anderssen's laurel wreath.
  • 1858.12.27 Anderssen, Adolf vsMorphy, Paul 1-0 Anderssen's Opening 77 moves Match Morphy-Anderssen +7-2=2 Paris 1858: the game in which Anderssen unveiled 1.a3 — ever since known as Anderssen's Opening — and ground down Paul Morphy over 77 moves. Morphy took the match +7−2=2, but this was one of only two games he lost in it, and beating the great American was a rare feat.
  • 1860 Anderssen, Adolf vsSuhle, Berthold 1-0 Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Ulvestad Variation 19 moves Breslau Breslau 1860, a crisp nineteen-move Evans Gambit: Anderssen's pieces swarm the kingside and 19.Nf5 wins material with 20.Qh6 mating to follow — Berthold Suhle resigns. A model of the gambit Anderssen played more than any other.
  • 1862 Anderssen, Adolf vsSteinitz, William 1-0 Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Rio de Janeiro Variation 42 moves British CA-05 Grand Tournament London 1862 — the first all-play-all tournament, which Anderssen won ahead of the field. Here he beats a debuting Wilhelm Steinitz, the future first World Champion (who finished sixth): a Ruy Lopez Berlin in which the passed c-pawn promotes, 17.c7 and 18.cxb8=Q, and Anderssen converts the extra material.
  • 1862 Rosanes, Jacob vsAnderssen, Adolf 0-1 King's Gambit Declined: Falkbeer Countergambit, Anderssen Attack 19 moves Breslau Breslau 1862, Anderssen with Black in the Falkbeer Countergambit — the line here carries his name, the "Anderssen Attack." He finishes with the thunderbolt 17...Qxb3! 18.axb3 Rxb3, and 19...Be3+ leaves Jacob Rosanes helpless.
  • 1863 Rosanes, Jacob vsAnderssen, Adolf 0-1 King's Gambit Accepted: Kieseritzky Gambit, Anderssen Defense 23 moves Breslau Breslau 1863, one of Anderssen's loveliest wins with Black: in the King's Gambit (Kieseritzky, "Anderssen Defence") he offers his queen, 20...Qf1+!! 21.Qxf1 Bxd4+ 22.Be3 Rxe3, and mates with 23...Re1#.
  • 1864.07 Anderssen, Adolf vsSchallopp, Emil 1-0 King's Gambit Declined: Falkbeer Countergambit, Blackburne Attack 14 moves Match Anderssen-Schallopp A fourteen-move miniature in the Falkbeer Countergambit: Anderssen offers his queen with 13.Qxe4+!, and after 13...Nxe4 the quiet 14.Bxf7# ends it — a favourite illustration of a romantic-era mating net.
  • 1869.08.08 Anderssen, Adolf vsZukertort, Johannes Hermann 1-0 Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Paulsen Variation 29 moves Westdeutscher SB-08.Kongress Barmen 1869 (the 8th West German Congress): an Evans Gambit against the young Johannes Zukertort. Anderssen's kingside pawn-storm and piece build-up (18.Nf5, 20.g4, 23.g5) tear open the black king, and after 27.fxg7+ the attack finishes with 29.Qxh7+.
  • 1870.07.22 Anderssen, Adolf vsSteinitz, William 1-0 Italian Game: Evans Gambit, McDonnell Defense, Main Line 37 moves Baden-Baden Baden-Baden 1870 — Anderssen's last great tournament triumph at 52, won ahead of Steinitz and Blackburne. This Evans Gambit win over Steinitz, the future first World Champion, opens with 14.Nf6+ and a sustained attack the champion-to-be cannot hold.
  • 1873.07.29 Anderssen, Adolf vsRosenthal, Samuel 1-0 Italian Game: Evans Gambit, Dufresne Defense 17 moves Wien International-01 Vienna 1873: a seventeen-move Evans Gambit miniature against Samuel Rosenthal — 15.Qa3+ drives the king forward and 16.Nf6+! gxf6 17.exf6+ forces a decisive discovered attack, Rosenthal resigning.
  • 1873.08.05 Anderssen, Adolf vsPaulsen, Louis 1-0 Philidor Defense: Exchange Variation 54 moves Wien International-01 Vienna 1873, the other side of Anderssen's chess: not a gambit but a patient Philidor Exchange, won by long-range piece play and a kingside pawn advance (g4–f4–h4–g5) that swells into a mating attack (34.Nef6+, 36.Rxh7+) before a clean endgame — a reminder that "the Romantic" was also a fine positional player.
  • 1876 Riemann, Fritz vsAnderssen, Adolf 0-1 King's Gambit Accepted: Bishop's Gambit 16 moves Casuals Anderssen-Riemann Breslau 1876 — a late brilliancy at 58, Anderssen with Black in the King's Gambit (Bishop's Gambit) against the young Fritz Riemann: 12...Qxf3+! 13.gxf3 Bh3+ launches a king-hunt that ends 14...Bh4+ 15.Kg1 Re1+ 16.Qf1 Rxf1#.
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