The immortal game is one of the most famous games ever played. It was played in 1851 as an informal game between Adolf Anderssen and Lionel Kieseritzky.

According to Wikipedia:

Played between the two great players at the Simpson’s-in-the-Strand Divan in London, the immortal game was an informal one played during a break in a formal tournament. Kieseritzky was very impressed when the game was over, and telegraphed the moves of the game to his Parisian chess club. The French chess magazine La Régence published the game in July 1851. This game was later nicknamed “The Immortal Game” in 1855 by the Austrian Ernst Falkbeer.

As you can see in the figure above the game is so famous that the position after the 20th move is used as an illustration on this 1984 stamp from Suriname.

The Wikipedia article is fully annotated, but it may be a nice exercise if you first annotate the game yourselves, since the game contains a lot of nice combinations. If you are not familiar with this opening have a look at the lesson about the King’s Gambit.


The next lesson is about Smothering the King, but you may also be interested in the Evergreen Game.