Notable Games
Garry Kasparov
15 celebrated games · 1355 in the full archive
◈The games that made the legend
Kasparov – Nunn · 1982 · 1–0
Lucerne Olympiad 1982: the nineteen-year-old crashes through in a 21-move Benoni, an f5 pawn storm and knight swarm leaving John Nunn's king exposed — one of his celebrated early miniatures.
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Kasparov – Portisch · 1983 · 1–0
Niksić 1983: a Queen's Indian in which Kasparov unleashes a double bishop sacrifice, 19.Bxh7+ and 21.Bxg7, and hunts Portisch's king into the open — a classic of his early years.
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Karpov – Kasparov · 1985 · 0–1
The 'Octopus'. Game 16 of the 1985 title match: Kasparov's Black knight settles on d3 and paralyses Karpov's whole position — one of the most famous games of their rivalry.
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Karpov – Kasparov · 1985 · 0–1
The coronation. Winning the 24th and final game with Black, Kasparov took the match 13–11 to become, at 22, the youngest World Champion in history.
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Kasparov – Karpov · 1986 · 1–0
Game 16 of the 1986 rematch: a Ruy Lopez won with a sustained kingside attack as Kasparov held off Karpov and retained the crown 12½–11½.
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Kasparov – Karpov · 1990 · 1–0
Game 20 at Lyon, 1990: a Ruy Lopez in which Kasparov sacrifices two knights, 26.Nxh6 and 27.Nf5, to storm Karpov's king — the highlight of their fifth and last title match.
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Kasparov – Anand · 1991 · 1–0
Tilburg 1991: a Sicilian Taimanov blown open by 12.e5 and the piece sacrifice 14.Bb5+, a 29-move attacking win over Viswanathan Anand.
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Karpov – Kasparov · 1993 · 0–1
Linares 1993: a 27-move King's Indian demolition of Karpov with the Black pieces, among the most admired attacking wins of Kasparov's career.
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Kasparov – Kramnik · 1994 · 1–0
Novgorod 1994: a Sicilian finished by a whirlwind combination — 24.Ne6, 26.Rd6 and 29.Rxh7+ promoting a fresh queen — against his future successor Vladimir Kramnik.
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Kasparov – Shirov · 1994 · 1–0
Horgen 1994: a Sicilian in which Kasparov gives up the exchange with 17.Rxb7 for a lasting bind and grinds down Alexei Shirov.
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Kasparov – Anand · 1995 · 1–0
Game 10 of the 1995 PCA title match in New York: a Ruy Lopez Open where a prepared exchange sacrifice, 18.Bxe6, leaves Kasparov's bishops overrunning Anand's position.
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Kasparov – Topalov · 1999 · 1–0
'Kasparov's Immortal.' Wijk aan Zee 1999: the 24.Rxd4 rook sacrifice launches a king hunt that chases Topalov from a7 across the board — often called the finest game he ever played.
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Kasparov – The World · 1999 · 1–0
Kasparov versus the World, 1999: a four-month online game in which he faced a global consultation team voting its moves, prevailing after 62 moves of a Sicilian.
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Kasparov – Kramnik · 2001 · 1–0
Astana 2001: a Ruy Lopez ground out against Vladimir Kramnik — a rare classical win over the man who had taken his crown the year before.
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Adams – Kasparov · 2005 · 0–1
Linares 2005: a 26-move Sicilian Najdorf win with Black over Michael Adams in Kasparov's final competitive tournament before retiring from chess.
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