A Handful of Immortality
Almost all chess players, among the record of their games, have personal "Immortal" games. National "Immortal" games are known too - for example, "The Russian Immortal Game" (Shishkin-Griksberg, St. Petersburg 1889) and "The Polish Immortal Game" (Griksberg-Najdorf, Poland 1935) and many others. Here we shall limit ourselves to presenting only those generally recognized to be masterpieces of chess art.
Games & Compositions
1) The Immortal Game
So designated by E. Falkbeer, editor of the Wiener Schachzeitung, in 1885 for the game Anderssen - Kieseritzky, London 1851
"This game does not need any complimentary comments. Everybody will notice Anderssen's play, the succession, harmony and solidity of the attack from beginning to end." -Mikhail Tchigorin
"In spite of the numerous errors, because the errors in the Immortal Game are mistakes peculiar to her epoch, her immortal beauty consists in Anderssen's immortal ideas." -Richard Reti
No less than Tchigorin pointed out above that no notes are needed to appreciate the Immortal Game. But if the reader insists upon them, there are notes to this game in abundance. For example:
a) E. Falkbeer. "Wiener Schachzeitung", 1855; b) W. Steinitz. "The Field", 1879; c) M. Tchigorin. "Shakhmatny Vestnik", 1879; d) L. Bachmann. "Schachjahrbuch", 1891; e) L. Bachmann. "Professor Adolf Anderssen", 1902; f) H. v. Gottschall. "Altmeister Adolf Anderssen", 1912; g) J. Dufrense & J. Mieses. "Lehrbuch des Schachspiels", 1932; h) P. Romanovsky. "Mittelspiel", 1963; i) L. Pachmann. "Moderne Schachtaktik", 1966; j) J. Neistadt. "Nikoronovanye chempiony", 1975; k) A. Roisman. "400 kurzpartien", 1980; l) J. Nijstadt. "Zhertva ferzhia", 1989; m) S. Pickard. "The Chess Games of Adolph Anderssen", 1996; n) T. Lissowski. "Zagadka Kieseritzky' ego", 1996; o) V. Chashchihin. "Bessmertie", 1999
And so forth. Therefore, as Tchigorin approves, I give this game without comment.
Anderssen - Kieseritzky
2) The Little Immortal Game
Named by S. Tartakower for the encounter Alekhine - Levenfish, St. Petersburg 1912 - notes by A. Alekhine in "My Best Games", 1908-1923 pp. 103-105.
Alekhine - Levenfish
3) The Quite Little Game
Again christened by S. Tartakower for the next game, Hellmar - Krejcik, 1917. If it were any "quieter"....
Hellmar - Krejcik
4) The Immortal Draw
The game Alekhine - Reti, Vienna 1922 deserves its title - a worthy struggle! Notes by Alekhine from "My Best Games of Chess", 1908-1923. pp. 192-196.
Alekhine - Reti
5) The Immortal Zugzwang
Christened by Em. Lasker for the game Saemisch - Nimzowitsch, Copenhagen 1923; notes by A. Nimzowitsch in "My System", Moscow: 1984 pp.44-45.
Saemisch - Nimzowitsch
6) The Immortal Ending
The beautiful ending Ortueta - Sanz, Madrid 1933 with notes by J.R. Capablanca from "El Ajedrez Espanol", February 1936, pp. 39-41. The beginning moves of the game have been omitted, but is printed entirely & with Capa's notes in "The Steeplechase" (Wylie: 1999), volume 5 of my Tactician's Handbook series.
"This combination, when I first saw it, so captured me that it was the main factor tying my fortune to chess forever." -T. Petrosian
Ortueta - Sanz
7) The Immortal Problem
Bajar's wonderful composition with notes by V. Archakov in "Shachmatnaja Mozaika" (Kiev: 1984) p. 12. First published 1856 in the "Era", we see a stream of sacrifices which is unparalled. For those who would try to solve this Mate in 9, pause a moment at the starting position before clicking the moves!
"This problem is truely a hymn to Combination in chess! The composer's enthusiastic contemporaries often referred to his 'immortal' problem." -V. Archakov
The Immortal Problem
8) The Immortal Study
This endgame study by L. Mitrofanov is a fitting conclusion. The notes are Mitrofanov's own, as seen in my "Mitrofanov's Deflection" (Wylie: 1998), pp. 9-10.
The Immortal Study
And so we have a handful of chess immortality!