The Game Of The Year (1851

The Game Of The Year (1851 - )
Compiled by TheAlchemist

This is a personal selection of the best games of the year from 1851 on. I chose that particular year because of the 1851 London Tournament.

Because it's a personal selection, I will (of course) be a little biased, particularly towards tactical and sacrificial games, games from important events (the biggest tournaments, World championship matches, etc.) and sometimes players I like. I will try and minimize this.

This is not a collection of "perfect" or "quasi-perfect" games, in my opinion, a game need not be "perfect" to qualify as great. Intense battles, where both players give their best, show ingenuity and creativity and despite making mistakes (which are an essential part of chess) cooperate to create very exciting games. Oh, and I won't include odds games.

I'm currently quite busy and won't have much time to research, so the collection will grow very slowly in the beginning.

All feedback, be it criticism, suggestions, your own opinions, games I might have missed or whatever, is most welcome. You can post it in my forum: User: TheAlchemist.

Thank you for taking the time to go through my collections and take care!

TheAlchemist

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A Selection Of Great Pre-1851 Games

Some great games played before 1851.

Castellvi vs Vinyoles, 1475, Busnardo vs NN, 1590, Polerio vs Domenico, 1610, Greco vs NN, 1620, Greco vs NN, 1620, Greco vs NN, 1620, L L'Aisne vs Maubisson, 1680, Philidor vs NN, 1749, De Legal vs Saint Brie, 1750, J J Rousseau vs D Hume, 1765, The Turk vs NN, 1770, T Bowdler vs H Conway, 1788, Smith vs Philidor, 1790, G Atwood vs J Wilson, 1798, J Cazenove vs D Tomalin, 1819, Captain Evans vs McDonnell, 1826, Captain Evans vs McDonnell, 1829, La Bourdonnais vs McDonnell, 1834, McDonnell vs La Bourdonnais, 1834, Bledow vs Von Der Lasa, 1839, bad chessgames.com link, Saint Amant vs Staunton, 1843, Saint Amant vs Staunton, 1843, Michelet vs Kieseritzky, 1843, F A Hoffmann vs A Petrov, 1844, J Schulten vs Kieseritzky, 1844

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Honorable Mentions

Games that just fell short, but are still worth mentioning.

Anderssen vs Staunton, 1851, A Petrov vs F A Hoffmann, 1853, R Schulder vs S Boden, 1853, Maximov vs Andreyev, 1854, Loyd vs Moore, 1853, J Schulten vs Morphy, 1857, Morphy vs Duke Karl / Count Isouard, 1858, Anderssen vs Morphy, 1858, Morphy vs Anderssen, 1858, Morphy vs Anderssen, 1858, Franz vs Mayet, 1858, Duke Karl / Count Casabianca vs Kolisch, 1859, J Smith vs G H Derrickson, 1860, J Rosanes vs Anderssen, 1862, Steinitz vs Anderssen, 1866, Loyd vs S Rosenthal, 1867, K Wheeler vs LeBlanc, 1869, Steinitz vs Anderssen, 1870, G MacDonnell vs Bird, 1872, Steinitz vs Zukertort, 1872, Steinitz vs Anderssen, 1873, Chigorin vs Davydow, 1874, Blackburne vs Steinitz, 1876, Winawer vs Blackburne, 1882, Chigorin vs Zukertort, 1883, Zukertort vs Steinitz, 1886, Zukertort vs Steinitz, 1886, Chigorin vs Steinitz, 1889, Showalter vs Gossip, 1889, Lasker vs J Bauer, 1889, Chigorin vs Gunsberg, 1890, J Reinisch vs Traxler, 1890, H Clemenz vs Eisenschmidt, 1890, Steinitz vs Chigorin, 1890, Charousek vs K Schneider, 1891, A M Levin vs Bilenkin, 1891, F Young vs L Dore, 1892, Steinitz vs Chigorin, 1892, Chigorin vs Steinitz, 1892, Chigorin vs Tarrasch, 1893, Charousek vs J Wollner, 1893, Steinitz vs Lasker, 1894, Lasker vs Steinitz, 1894, B Fleissig vs Schlechter, 1893, Charousek vs J Wollner, 1895, Albin vs Bird, 1895, Chigorin vs Steinitz, 1895, Chigorin vs Pillsbury, 1896, Lasker vs Blackburne, 1895, Tarrasch vs Lasker, 1895, Lasker vs Chigorin, 1895, Pillsbury vs Gunsberg, 1895, Steinitz vs Von Bardeleben, 1895, Tarrasch vs K Walbrodt, 1895, Lasker vs Pillsbury, 1895, Chigorin vs Teichmann, 1895, Janowski vs Albin, 1895, Chigorin vs Charousek, 1896, Charousek vs Lasker, 1896, Janowski vs E Schallopp, 1896, Lasker vs Steinitz, 1896, Lasker vs Steinitz, 1896, Charousek vs Lehner, 1897, Showalter vs Pillsbury, 1897,

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And finally, some curious statistics:

General Stats

WHITE WINS: 27

BLACK WINS: 19

DRAWS: 1

Player Stats

MOST WINS:

8 Steinitz
5 Anderssen, Zukertort
3 Bird, Blackburne, Tarrasch
2 Morphy, Chigorin, E.Lasker

MOST LOSSES:

6 Anderssen
3 Zukertort
2 L.Paulsen, Mason, Steinitz

TOTAL NUMBER OF GAMES:

11 Anderssen
10 Steinitz
8 Zukertort
4 Bird, Blackburne, Tarrasch
3 L.Paulsen, Mason, Chigorin, E.Lasker

MOST GAMES BETWEEN THE SAME PLAYERS:

4 Anderssen-Zukertort (2-2)
2 Steinitz-Anderssen (2-0)
2 Steinitz-Zukertort (1-1)
2 Pillsbury-E.Lasker (1-1)

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1851: The Immortal Game
Anderssen vs Kieseritzky, 1851
(C33) King's Gambit Accepted, 23 moves, 1-0
1852: The Evergreen Game
Anderssen vs Dufresne, 1852
(C52) Evans Gambit, 24 moves, 1-0
1853: Behind enemy lines
Matschego vs Falkbeer, 1853
(C39) King's Gambit Accepted, 25 moves, 0-1
1854: A powerful attack
Cochrane vs Mohishunder, 1854
(C41) Philidor Defense, 25 moves, 1-0
1855: Dubious? No, Dubois!
W Budzinski vs Dubois, 1855
(C31) King's Gambit Declined, Falkbeer Counter Gambit, 38 moves, 0-1
1856: Not a perfect game by any means, but still an epic fight
Staunton vs Loewenthal, 1856
(C60) Ruy Lopez, 79 moves, 1-0
1857: A new star on the horizon
Paulsen vs Morphy, 1857
(C48) Four Knights, 28 moves, 0-1
1858: The new sheriff in town
Bird vs Morphy, 1858
(C41) Philidor Defense, 29 moves, 0-1
1859: Max Lange's immortal
Anderssen vs M Lange, 1859
(C61) Ruy Lopez, Bird's Defense, 19 moves, 0-1
1860: The Austrian Morphy
Steinitz vs Meitner, 1860
(C55) Two Knights Defense, 26 moves, 1-0
1861: Nice play by Kolisch
Kolisch vs Paulsen, 1861
(C50) Giuoco Piano, 34 moves, 1-0
1862: The London 1862 brilliancy prize winner
Steinitz vs Mongredien, 1862
(B01) Scandinavian, 29 moves, 1-0
1863: Anderssen demolishes poor Rosanes
J Rosanes vs Anderssen, 1863
(C39) King's Gambit Accepted, 23 moves, 0-1
1864: A bit of positional play amidst all the tactics back then
G Neumann vs Paulsen, 1864
(C84) Ruy Lopez, Closed, 56 moves, 0-1
1865: The student surpasses the teacher
Zukertort vs Anderssen, 1865
(C37) King's Gambit Accepted, 17 moves, 1-0
1866: Steinitz finally defeated Anderssen
Anderssen vs Steinitz, 1866
(C51) Evans Gambit, 44 moves, 0-1
1867: There's no wasting time in recapturing
G Neumann vs Blackburne, 1867
(C38) King's Gambit Accepted, 33 moves, 0-1
1868: Anderssen can still bite
Anderssen vs Zukertort, 1868
(C37) King's Gambit Accepted, 43 moves, 1-0
1869: Vintage Anderssen
Anderssen vs Zukertort, 1869
(C51) Evans Gambit, 28 moves, 1-0
1870: The Steinitz Gambit
Steinitz vs Paulsen, 1870
(C25) Vienna, 36 moves, 1-0
1871: These two again?
Anderssen vs Zukertort, 1871
(C77) Ruy Lopez, 31 moves, 0-1
1872: The Immortal Draw
Hamppe vs Meitner, 1872
(C25) Vienna, 18 moves, 1/2-1/2
1873: The dawning of a new wra
Anderssen vs Steinitz, 1873
(C77) Ruy Lopez, 45 moves, 0-1
1874: A nice queen sacrifice by Bird
G MacDonnell vs Bird, 1874
(C39) King's Gambit Accepted, 38 moves, 0-1
1875: A great attack
J W Gilbert vs W Berry, 1875
(C80) Ruy Lopez, Open, 40 moves, 1-0
1876: Bird's Magnum Opus
Bird vs J Mason, 1876
(C11) French, 50 moves, 1-0
1877: It's important to retain a sense of humour
C T Goering vs Anderssen, 1877
(B46) Sicilian, Taimanov Variation, 37 moves, 1-0
1878: A beautiful attack by Zukertort
Zukertort vs J Mason, 1878
(C11) French, 35 moves, 1-0
1879: "Mate in 35!"
Gossip vs E E Gilbert, 1879
(C80) Ruy Lopez, Open, 42 moves, 0-1
1880: Three is more than one
Steinitz vs Zukertort / Bird / Hoff, 1880
(C33) King's Gambit Accepted, 41 moves, 0-1
1881: Savage destruction of black's defences
Blackburne vs J Schwarz, 1881
(C11) French, 28 moves, 1-0
1882: A most brilliant finish
J Mason vs Winawer, 1882
(C50) Giuoco Piano, 56 moves, 1-0
1883: Zukertort's Immortal from the tournament of his life
Zukertort vs Blackburne, 1883
(A13) English, 33 moves, 1-0
1884: The original double bishop sac gone wrong
Burn vs Owen, 1884
(A04) Reti Opening, 40 moves, 1-0
1885: The father of positional play
Steinitz vs Sellman, 1885
(C11) French, 35 moves, 1-0
1886: The first king
Zukertort vs Steinitz, 1886
(D53) Queen's Gambit Declined, 29 moves, 0-1
1887: The doctor
Tarrasch vs Gunsberg, 1887
(C10) French, 40 moves, 1-0
1888: A masterful ending by Tarrasch
Von Gottschall vs Tarrasch, 1888
(C16) French, Winawer, 100 moves, 0-1
1889: The blow no one expected
Blackburne vs Lipschutz, 1889
(D37) Queen's Gambit Declined, 36 moves, 1-0
1890: A brilliant win by Chigorin
Gunsberg vs Chigorin, 1890
(C77) Ruy Lopez, 42 moves, 0-1
1891: A superb double rook sacrifice
M Kuerschner vs Tarrasch, 1891
(C64) Ruy Lopez, Classical, 23 moves, 0-1
1892: Steinitz didn't forget how to attack
Steinitz vs Chigorin, 1892
(C65) Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense, 28 moves, 1-0
1893: The roots of hypermodernism
Chigorin vs Tarrasch, 1893
(C00) French Defense, 34 moves, 1-0
1894: The new king
Lasker vs Steinitz, 1894
(C62) Ruy Lopez, Old Steinitz Defense, 46 moves, 1-0
1895: Lasker's best
Pillsbury vs Lasker, 1896
(D50) Queen's Gambit Declined, 30 moves, 0-1
1896: A great game by Pillsbury
Pillsbury vs Lasker, 1896
(C11) French, 50 moves, 1-0
1897: A sneaky queen trap
Charousek vs Maroczy, 1897
(C13) French, 26 moves, 0-1

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