(Click on the players to see the game)
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Steinitz vs Rock | 1863 | New York | Giuoco Piano | 18 | This is one of the most brilliant fast attacks on f7 ever. Steinitz sacrifices a queen for a forced checkmate in 7 moves! The final checkmate is done by a pawn. |
| 2. |
1912 | London | Trash Gambit | 18 | A queen sacrifice leads to a relentless king hunt that ends with a King Move checkmate! A forced 7 move checkmate in this game, during which the king is dragged all the way from his back rank to his enemy's back rank! | |
| 3. |
Steinitz vs Bardeleben | 1895 | Hastings | Giuoco Piano | 35 | This game is not only brilliant, but has a crazy ending. Realizing the brilliant checkmate about to fall on him, Bardeleben stormed out of the room. Steinitz had to sit there for an hour and wait for his opponent's chess clock tick down so that he could declare a win on time! |
| 4. |
Bird Vs Steinitz | 1866 | New Orleans | Ruy Lopez | 23 | Bird relentlessly pushes his f pawn down his opponent's world champion's throat. |
| 5. |
1950 | Berlin | Ruy Lopez | 18 | Capablanca, known for his elegant and brilliant style, transforms a lead in development into a brutal attack on a castled king. Capablanca manages to crush Reti, one of the strongest grandmasters of the day, in just 18 moves. | |
6. |
Capablanca vs Mattison | 1929 | Carlsbad Spain | Queen's Pawn | 20 | In this game Capablanca takes advantage of his opponents poor development to brew a subtle but amazing attack. |
| 7. |
Capablanca vs Fonaroff | 1918 | Manhattan | Ruy Lopez | 22 | Capablanca's most brilliant short games. An attack comes out of nowhere on the black castled king...truly amazing. |
| 8. |
Adams, E.Z. vs Torre | 1852 | New Orleans | Philidor | 23 | This is one of the best illustrations of back rank mate threats there is. Torre waves his queen in Adam's face but he can't take it.. |
| 9. |
1893 | Nurumburg |
French Defense | 21 | Pillsbury uses pawn battering rams to force open the e-file to begin a brutal attack on the f7 square and the uncastled king. | |
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10. |
1852 | Berlin | Giuoco Piano | 24 | Anderssen sacks a queen, opens up the efile, and then checkmates the black king with just two bishops and a pawn. | |
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11. |
Anderssen vs Kieseritzky | 1851 | London | King's Gambit | 23 | Known as the "Immortal Game." This is one of the five most famous games in chess. |
12. |
Botvinnik vs Tartakower | 1936 | Nottingham | King's Indian | 36 | Heavyweight Champion Botvinnnik shows how to rip apart a castled king. |
| 13. |
Mieses vs Janowski | 1900 | Paris | Vienna Game | 40 | "The Immortal Queen Game" Mieses is known for his incredible brilliancies. In this, his most famous game, he leaves his queen hanging for 6 moves, and in each situation, black cannot take the queen! |
14. |
Boden vs Bird | 1873 | Casual Game | Ruy Lopez | 20 | Bird shows just how deadly two bishops and an open file pointing towards the king can be. |
| 15. |
Glucksberg vs Najdorf | 1949 | Warsaw | Dutch Defense | 22 | Black sacrifices 4 pieces before finally checkmating the castled king! One of the most beautiful mating combinations ever played. |
16. |
Duras vs Cohn | 1911 | Karlsbad | Ruy Lopez | 49 | "The Immortal Duel Game". Bird said he loved chess because it was a "free fight." Bird would have loved this game because it is one of the best fights ever in chess. |
| 17. |
Saemisch Vs Nimzovitch | 1923 | Copehnagen | Nimzo Indian | 25 | This game is an excellent illustration of the diffult concept Zugwang. |
18. |
Steinitz vs Lasker | 1899 | London | Vienna Game | 30 | Reinfield wrote of this game, "Lasker's style had the appearance of simplicity - even of naive'. Actually this style concealed the sensibilities of a very great artist and also the inner tension between the fighter and the lover of beauty. Sometimes this tension was resolved...as in this game." |
| 19. |
Botvinnik vs Chekhover | 1935 | Moscow | Irregular | 40 | Botvinnik would later comment on this game, "Such games are rare in my tournament play, since, following Capablanca's advice, I always aimed to choose simpler alternatives." |
More Annotated Brilliancies
Brilliancies by Fischer, Spassky, Alekhine and Morphy
Brilliancies involving fast attacks on f7 and f2