Notable Games
Ossip Bernstein
12 celebrated games · 162 in the full archive
◈The games that made the legend
Rubinstein – Bernstein · 1903 · 0–1
Bernstein's celebrated Scotch brilliancy at the 3rd All-Russian Masters' Tournament, Kiev 1903 — on the Black side he answered Rubinstein's Scotch with 19...Bxh2+! 20.Kxh2 Rh6+, a sacrificial king-hunt that overwhelmed the future endgame legend in just 25 moves.
→
Bernstein – Mieses · 1904 · 1–0
A prize game from Coburg 1904 (14th DSB Congress). Atypically slow and strategic for the sharp Bernstein, he punished Jacques Mieses' dark-square weaknesses in a 49-move positional squeeze that has been praised as one of his finest efforts.
→
Bernstein – Chigorin · 1905 · 1–0
Barmen 1905 — Bernstein outplays the great Mikhail Chigorin, patriarch of the Russian school, in a 55-move win. Bernstein held a winning lifetime record against Chigorin (+2−1).
→
Bernstein – Marshall · 1906 · 1–0
Ostend 1906 — a 52-move win over the American attacking star Frank Marshall, one of the world's leading masters.
→
Bernstein – Schlechter · 1906 · 1–0
Ostend 1906 — a crisp 27-move Queen's Gambit Accepted win over Carl Schlechter, the positional virtuoso who would challenge Lasker for the world title in 1910.
→
Bernstein – Maroczy · 1906 · 1–0
Ostend 1906 — a 33-move victory over Géza Maróczy, then one of the top players in the world and a perennial contender for a title match.
→
Bernstein – Tartakower · 1907 · 1–0
Ostend Masters 1907 — a win over Savielly Tartakower during the tournament Bernstein shared first with Rubinstein ahead of Spielmann, Teichmann and Nimzowitsch, the peak result of his career.
→
Bernstein – Metger · 1907 · 1–0
A 22-move miniature from the Ostend Masters 1907, Bernstein's shared-first triumph. He unleashed the knight sacrifice 20.Neg5!, and after 20...fxg5 21.Rxd7 Qxd7 22.Nxe5 Metger faced the loss of his queen or mate and resigned.
→
Bernstein – Lasker · 1914 · 1–0
St. Petersburg 1914 preliminaries — Bernstein's famous victory over reigning World Champion Emanuel Lasker, a Berlin Ruy Lopez ground out over 56 moves and his only win over Lasker in a major tournament.
→
Bernstein – Alekhine · 1933 · 1–0
Paris 1933 — Bernstein defeats reigning World Champion Alexander Alekhine in their training match, a 66-move struggle in a match Bernstein held to a 2-2 draw with the champion at his peak.
→
Bernstein – Kotov · 1946 · 1–0
Groningen 1946 (Staunton Memorial) — the 63-year-old Bernstein, back after the war, defeats Soviet grandmaster Alexander Kotov in a sharp Sicilian Scheveningen.
→
Bernstein – Najdorf · 1954 · 1–0
Bernstein's magnum opus. At Montevideo 1954, aged 72, he answered Najdorf's boast with the knight sacrifice 21.Nd5! and blew the great Miguel Najdorf off the board in a 37-move Old Indian, winning the tournament's Brilliancy Prize on his way to a share of second.
→