Studying chess can be very hard for beginners, especially at the start. When you start playing chess, you’ll need to learn about the opening principles, the endgames, mid-game tactics, pawn placement, and positional play. These are just a few of the things you’ll need to learn about.
One of the best ways to learn chess is to look at famous games from the past. People who are new to the game will learn a lot from these games, but they also show how awe-inspiring the game can be when it’s played by some of the best players in history.
Donald Byrne Vs. Bobby Fischer (1956)
Start with the game that many people call “the best game of all time.”
Bobby Fischer was just 13 years old when he made his name in 1956. He would go on to become a world champion. On move 17, Fischer made a very risky move called Be6, which meant he gave up his queen in exchange for a powerful attack. In the rest of the game, Fischer kept up his near-perfect play. The game didn’t end until move 41, when the rook, knight, and supporting bishop played a beautiful checkmate.
Donald Byrne vs. Bobby Fischer (1956) is a great game for beginners to learn and admire because Fischer played bold and accurate moves at a young age. It also shows the importance of positional play. If you’re a beginner, you tend to only think about getting your opponent’s pieces, which is a bad thing to do. Even an International Master can be up a queen and still lose the game on the board.
Paul Morphy Vs. Duke Of Brunswick And Count Isouard (1858)
As a player, Paul Morphy couldn’t find opponents who could compete with him, so he often gave opponents pawn or knight odds. He also gave opponents rook odds. Count Isouard and the Duke of Brunswick were playing against Paul Morphy in 1858 when Morphy met them. They played together against Morphy as a team. The game took place in a Paris opera house. People call it the “opera game.”
People should start working on the game as soon as possible to make it better. Paul Morphy builds his pieces quickly and efficiently, even if he could have won a pawn on move 8. Fast development soon pays off for Morphy, who delivered a devastating bishop-rook checkmate on move 17 after an impressive attack that saw the American sacrifice a queen. This is common in famous games, and Morphy’s quick development paid off.
There are many myths and rumours about the game. One of the most common is that Morphy only looked at the game part of the time because he was more interested in the opera.
Adolf Anderssen Vs. Jean Dufresne (1852)
Again, another game with a name is Adolf Anderssen and Jean Dufresne (1852). This game is called the “evergreen game.” Named after Wilhelm Steinitz, who wrote about the game in his book The Field, he said, “An evergreen in the laurel crown of the chess hero.”
Key to both games is that Adolf Anderssen is very good at developing and castling his pieces quickly and efficiently. Jean Dufresne doesn’t do this, which costs him the match and he isn’t very good at it. It was a beautiful mating pattern that Anderssen used to win the game. The move Rad1 on move 19 set the stage for it. Anderssen does a great job with the attack, which includes a queen sacrifice, a knight and a rook sacrifice, and a rare combination of two bishops and a pawn. This is the third queen sacrifice on this list.
The evergreen game shows beginners how important it is to castle the king as soon as possible.
Garry Kasparov Vs. Anatoly Karpov – World Chess Championship Game 16 (1985)
Kasparov vs. Karpov is one of the most well-known chess rivalries in history. The two played a lot of great games that could have been on this list. During the 1985 World Chess Championship, the two Russian Grandmasters played a game that many people remember.
Game 16 between Karpov and Kasparov saw Anatoly Karpov give up a pawn in the opening. This was part of a plan to get some great knight positions. That meant that Karpov could control both the c and e files with this one move, which was the knight on d3. The e file’s rook would decide the game, as Karpov trapped Kasparov’s king in the corner, forcing him to give up.
Paul Morphy – Duke Karl/Count Isouard, Paris 1858
It was in 1837 that Paul Morphy became a chess player in the US. He died in 1884. Many people thought he was the best chess player of his time. Even Bobby Fischer, one of the best players of all time, put him on his list of the ten best players of all time.
As it turned out, Morphy died before the first official world championship game took place in 1886. Seeing how he did against Steinitz would have been interesting.
Adolf Anderssen Vs. Lionel Kieseritzky (1851)
There are two games on this list that feature Adolf Anderssen, which shows how important the German was to chess in the so-called “romantic era” of the game. This 1851 matchup is the second. Also on this list, the 1851 matchup is known as the “immortal game,” which is why it’s on this list.
In the immortal game, Adolf Anderssen gives Kieseritzky no time to breathe as he keeps attacking him over and over again. Anderssen’s play does break a few important rules, most notably with his own self-imposed need to move his king on the fourth move. In terms of teaching players how important it is to always be on the offensive, there are few better examples than the “immortal” one.