John Nunn
Notable Games

John Nunn

20 celebrated games · 819 in the full archive
Player Index ◈ Biography 819 CURATED GAMES

Notable Games

  • 1974.07.25 Ost Hansen, Jacob vsNunn, John DM 0-1 Vienna Game: Frankenstein-Dracula Variation 38 moves WchT Students 20th final A World Student Team Championship, Teesside 1974, against Jacob Øst-Hansen in the Frankenstein–Dracula Variation of the Vienna. White takes the a8 rook with 9.Nxc7+ and 10.Nxa8, but 20...Nxf2 and 21...Qe2+ open the white king. It is driven out to g4, h5, g6 and g7, and 38...Qh4# mates it. Nunn annotated the game in his book Secrets of Grandmaster Play.
  • 1977.04 Augustin, Josef vsNunn, John DM 0-1 Vienna Game: Falkbeer Variation 33 moves EU-chT 06th Final European Team Championship, Moscow 1977, against Josef Augustin in the Vienna. 6...h5 and 7...h4 open the h-file, after 12...Nxd5 13.Bxd8 Black has two minor pieces for the queen, 19...Nxg2 wins the exchange, and 21...Rxh2+ breaks through on the h-file. The game ends with 33...Bg4.
  • 1980.01.20 Polugaevsky, Lev vsNunn, John DM 0-1 Benoni Defense: Classical Variation, Czerniak Defense, Tal Line 32 moves EU-chT 07th Final European Team Championship, Skara 1980, against Lev Polugaevsky in the Benoni. 15...Qh4 and 16...Ng4 go for the white king, 18...Nf2+ 19.Rxf2 Qxf2 wins the exchange, and 24...Rxe4 and 31...Qxd5 take the central pawns. The game ends after 32 moves.
  • 1981.08.05 Korchnoi, Viktor Lvovich vsNunn, John DM 0-1 King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation 33 moves Johannesburg Johannesburg 1981 against Viktor Korchnoi, who played Anatoly Karpov for the world title later that year. In the King's Indian, 19...Ng4 and 20...Ng5 give up both knights, and Black takes the white queen with 22.Qxg5 Qxg5. 24...Rxf2 25.Kxf2 Qc5+ opens the white king, 26...Bxc3 and 29...Bxb2 win material, and the game ends with 33...Qf2.
  • 1982.01.17 Nunn, John DM vsTal, Mikhail 1-0 Sicilian Defense: Taimanov Variation 32 moves Hoogovens Hoogovens, Wijk aan Zee 1982, which Nunn won jointly with Yuri Balashov, against the former World Champion Mikhail Tal in the Taimanov Sicilian. 11.f4, 12.g4, 13.h4 and 14.g5 advance against the castled king, 18.Qxd5 wins a pawn, and the queens come off after 26.Nxe7+. 30.Bxf7+ and 32.Bc5+ end the game in 32 moves.
  • 1982.09.30 Nunn, John DM vsSosonko, Gennadi 1-0 Caro-Kann Defense 21 moves Interpolis-06 Interpolis tournament, Tilburg 1982, round one, against Gennadi Sosonko in the Caro-Kann. After 12.Nxa7 Rxc5 13.c3, 14.Bxc5 wins the exchange. After 18.Bxd5 exd5 19.Rae1+ the black king is caught in the center, and the game lasts 21 moves.
  • 1982.10.10 Nunn, John DM vsPetrosian, Tigran V 1-0 Caro-Kann Defense 20 moves Interpolis-06 Tilburg 1982 against the former World Champion Tigran Petrosian, in the Caro-Kann. 19...Kh7 loses the exchange, and Petrosian resigns after 20.d5, because when the knight moves, Bb5 wins material.
  • 1984.12.01 Nunn, John DM vsAndersson, Ulf 1-0 Sicilian Defense: Taimanov Variation 48 moves Olympiad-26 Thessaloniki Olympiad 1984, where Nunn scored 10/11 on board two for England, against Ulf Andersson in the Taimanov Sicilian. The queens come off with 18...Qxb6 19.Bxb6, 20.Rxd7 wins a pawn, and the b-pawn decides the rook ending with 44.b4, 46.b5 and 47.b6.
  • 1985.01.19 Beliavsky, Alexander G vsNunn, John DM 0-1 King's Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Normal Defense 27 moves Hoogovens Hoogovens, Wijk aan Zee 1985, against Alexander Beliavsky in the Sämisch King's Indian, the game sometimes called "Nunn's Immortal". 12...Rxf3 leaves the h5 knight to be taken, 16...Rxf2 gives up a rook for the bishop, and the black pieces hunt the white king in the center with 17...Nf3+, 23...Ne3+ and 26...Nc2. Beliavsky resigns after 27...Bxd3. Yasser Seirawan called it the best game of the 1980s.
  • 1988.02.28 Nunn, John DM vsGeorgiev, Kiril 1-0 Caro-Kann Defense: Karpov Variation 42 moves Linares 06th Linares 1988 against Kiril Georgiev in the Caro-Kann. 6.Ne6 offers a knight, Black takes it with 8...fxe6, and after 9.Qh5+ Kd8 White wins the black queen for a bishop with 10.Ba5 and 11.Bxb6+. The game ends after 42 moves.
  • 1988.03.04 Chiburdanidze, Maia vsNunn, John DM 0-1 King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation 39 moves Linares 06th Linares 1988 against the reigning Women's World Champion Maia Chiburdanidze, in the King's Indian. Black answers White's kingside pawns with 13...a4, 17...b5 and 19...b4, 27...Rxc4 wins a knight, and after 28.Rxd4 exd4 a black pawn reaches c3 with 31...dxc3. The game ends with 39...Qxg3.
  • 1988 Nunn, John DM vsTal, Mikhail 1-0 Caro-Kann Defense: Karpov Variation 20 moves World Cup World Cup, Brussels 1988, against the former World Champion Mikhail Tal in the Caro-Kann. 11.Bb5+ Ke7 keeps the black king in the center, 17.Qd3 leaves the g5 knight to be taken, and 18.Qa3+, 19.Rad1+ and 20.Bxd7 end the game in 20 moves.
  • 1989 Nunn, John DM vsKarpov, Anatoly 1-0 Ruy Lopez: Closed 81 moves World Cup World Cup, Rotterdam 1989, last round, against the former World Champion Anatoly Karpov, who began the round level with Jan Timman for first place. 37.c6 and 41.cxb7 push the c-pawn through, 43.b8=Q+ Bxb8 44.Bxb8 leaves White a piece ahead, and the game ends at move 81. Timman won the tournament.
  • 1990.01 Anand, Viswanathan vsNunn, John DM 0-1 Ruy Lopez: Marshall Attack 41 moves Hoogovens Hoogovens, Wijk aan Zee 1990, which Nunn won outright, against Viswanathan Anand, the future World Champion. Nunn plays the Marshall Attack with Black, the queens come off at move 22, and the c-pawn decides: 35...dxc4, 36...bxc4, 38...c3 and 41...c2.
  • 1990.01 Piket, Jeroen vsNunn, John DM 0-1 Indian Defense: West Indian Defense 42 moves Hoogovens Hoogovens, Wijk aan Zee 1990, against Jeroen Piket. 16...Ra6 and 18...Rh6 bring a rook to the kingside, 26...Rg2 and 29...Qxf3 break in, 33...Bxb5 leaves the queen to 34.Rxg2+ fxg2, and the pawn promotes with 37...g1=Q. The game ends with 42...Qxf2+.
  • 1991.01 Nunn, John DM vsFedorowicz, John P 1-0 Sicilian Defense: Richter-Rauzer Variation, Neo-Modern Variation, Early Deviations 24 moves Hoogovens Hoogovens, Wijk aan Zee 1991, which Nunn won for the second year running, against John Fedorowicz in the Richter-Rauzer Sicilian. 17.Rxd5 gives up the exchange, the queen takes the a8 rook with 20.Qxa8+, and 24.Qb8+ ends the game in 24 moves.
  • 1992.06.08 Hsu, Li Yang vsNunn, John DM 0-1 King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Yugoslav Variation, Advance Line 27 moves Olympiad-30 Manila Olympiad 1992 against Li Yang Hsu, in the King's Indian. 22...Nxg3 23.Kxg3 Qh4+ gives up a knight to open the white king, 24...Qxe1 takes a rook, and 25...fxe4, 26...exf3 and 27...Nxc4 end the game in 27 moves.
  • 1995 Nunn, John DM vsXie, Jun 1-0 Ruy Lopez: Closed 31 moves San Francisco San Francisco 1995 against Xie Jun, the reigning Women's World Champion, in the Ruy Lopez. 24.Nxf7 Kxf7 25.Qh5+ opens the black king, 28.Rxh6 gxh6 gives up a rook, and 29.Qg6+ and 30.Qxh6+ follow. The game ends with 31.Qe6+.
  • 2022.11.17 Nunn, John DM vsShnaider, David 1-0 Sicilian Defense: Nyezhmetdinov-Rossolimo Attack 22 moves Wch Seniors 65 30th World Senior Championship (over-65), Assisi 2022, which Nunn won, against David Shnaider in round three. 9.Nd5 exd5 10.exd5+ gives up a knight, 14.Nxd6+ and 17.Rxe7 Kxe7 open the black king, and 22.Qxe8+ ends the game in 22 moves.
  • 2023.06.03 Nunn, John DM vsGaprindashvili, Nona 1-0 Caro-Kann Defense: Gurgenidze System 22 moves EU-ch Seniors 65 22nd European Senior Championship (over-65), Acqui Terme 2023, against the former Women's World Champion Nona Gaprindashvili. 19.Ra4 and 20.Rh4 bring a rook to the kingside, and after 20...fxg5 21.Rxh5 gxh5 22.Nxg5 White has won the queen for a rook and bishop. The game lasts 22 moves.
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