Invisible Chess: Culture Club #5

Anderssen - Kieseritzky, London 1851

We’ve been on the ‘serious chess’ train for the last few weeks. There’s good reason to consider ‘high-level quality of play under tournament conditions’ to be a qualifier when considering which are the very greatest games … and yet the fact remains that some of the most remarkable battles ever seen on a chessboard were off-hand games where some Genius Chess Master gives a relative patzer a good slapping.

“The Immortal” is one of these, being played at London’s Simpsons in the Strand one evening whilst the great tournament of 1851 was being held elsewhere during the day.

If sacrificing both rooks and queen to deliver mate isn’t reason enough for inclusion on a ‘Greatest Ever’ list, the fact it made it into Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner surely is.

Anderssen - Kieseritzky,

London 1851

1 e4 e5

2 f4 exf4

3 Bc4 Qh4+

4 Kf1 b5

5 Bxb5 Nf6

6 Nf3 Qh6

7 d3 Nh5

8 Nh4 Qg5

9 Nf5 c6

10 g4 Nf6

11 Rg1 cxb5

12 h4 Qg6

13 h5 Qg5

14 Qf3 Ng8

15 Bxf4 Qf6

16 Nc3 Bc5

17 Nd5 Qxb2

18 Bd6 Qxa1

19 Ke2 Bxg1

20 e5 Na6

If you haven’t seen this game before and you can find the mate in three from here you are very much a better man than I.

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21 Nxg7+ Kd8

22 Qf6+ Nxf6

23 Be7 checkmate.

BONUS QUESTIONS

BQ1: Kiesteritzky’s 7 … Nh5 looks - and is - odd. What is Black’s immediate threat after this move?

BQ2: What is Anderssen’s immediate threat after 14 Qf3?

BQ3a: How does White give mate in two after 19 … Qxg1 instead of 18 … Bxg1?

BQ3b: How does White give mate in four after 18 … Bxd6?