Notable Games
Miguel Najdorf
14 celebrated games · 867 in the full archive
◈The games that made the legend
Gluecksberg – Najdorf · 1930 · 0–1
The "Polish Immortal": playing Black in a Dutch Stonewall at Warsaw in 1930, the young Najdorf sacrifices all four of his minor pieces to hunt the white king across the board, finishing with the quiet 22...h5# — one of the most celebrated brilliancies of the twentieth century.
→
Najdorf – Keres · 1939 · 1–0
Playing at Buenos Aires in 1939 — the year the outbreak of the Second World War stranded him in Argentina for the rest of his life — Najdorf downs Paul Keres, then among the strongest players in the world, in 26 moves.
→
Najdorf – NN · 1942 · 1–0
A 20-move simultaneous-exhibition miniature in the Vienna Gambit, 1942 — a glimpse of the attacking flair that would soon make Najdorf's blindfold displays world-famous.
→
Najdorf – Botvinnik · 1946 · 1–0
Najdorf defeats Mikhail Botvinnik — two years before Botvinnik became world champion — in a Nimzo-Indian at Groningen 1946, the first great tournament of the postwar era.
→
Najdorf – Gligoric · 1948 · 1–0
A win over Svetozar Gligorić at the 1948 Saltsjöbaden Interzonal, the event that carried Najdorf through to the World Championship Candidates.
→
Euwe – Najdorf · 1951 · 0–1
Playing Black, Najdorf beats former world champion Max Euwe in a Queen's Gambit Accepted at the 1951 Wertheim Memorial in New York.
→
Taimanov – Najdorf · 1953 · 0–1
Najdorf's King's Indian attack against Mark Taimanov won the first brilliancy prize at the 1953 Zurich Candidates, the tournament immortalized in David Bronstein's classic book.
→
Najdorf – Petrosian · 1953 · 1–0
At that same 1953 Zurich Candidates, Najdorf outplays the young Tigran Petrosian — ten years before Petrosian took the world crown.
→
Najdorf – Spassky · 1955 · 1–0
A King's Indian win over the eighteen-year-old Boris Spassky at the 1955 Gothenburg Interzonal, fourteen years before Spassky became world champion.
→
Najdorf – Kotov · 1957 · 1–0
A sharp 28-move Nimzo-Indian win over the Soviet grandmaster Alexander Kotov at Mar del Plata 1957.
→
Najdorf – Portisch · 1962 · 1–0
A crisp 22-move Semi-Tarrasch win over Lajos Portisch at the 1962 Varna Olympiad.
→
Najdorf – Fischer · 1966 · 1–0
Najdorf beats Bobby Fischer in a King's Indian at the 1966 Second Piatigorsky Cup in Santa Monica — six years before Fischer became world champion.
→
Larsen – Najdorf · 1968 · 0–1
Playing Black, Najdorf turns Bent Larsen's own 1.b3 opening against him at the 1968 Lugano Olympiad.
→
Najdorf – Tal · 1970 · 1–0
At the 1970 USSR versus the Rest of the World match in Belgrade — the "Match of the Century" — the sixty-year-old Najdorf defeats former world champion Mikhail Tal.
→