Adolf Anderssen – Lionel Kieseritzky, 1851
(The Immortal Game)

The romantic era of chess is a period from around 1850 to 1950. In this period, chess players mainly relied on tactics, wild sacrifices and extremely dynamic play. One of the most famous games from the romantic era of chess is the game between Adolf Anderssen and Lionel Kieseritzky. It was played in London in 1851. Nowadays, it is known as the "Immortal Game". Anderssen gave up almost all his pieces to checkmate his opponent.

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1. e4e52. f4... This is the Kings Gambit. White offers a pawn as early as on move two to get a lead in development. The Kings Gambit was a fashionable opening at that time. It leads the extremely sharp play. Today, due to the dominance of strong chess engines, databases and improved defensive techniques, the Kings Gambit is considered to be a risky opening for White. The worlds best players usually dont play it in serious tournament games. Still, playing the Kings Gambit can be a lot of fun - even today. 2... ... exf4 Black accepts the Gambit. 3. Bc4... White quickly develops his bishop to an active square and eyes Blacks pawn on f7. 3... ... Qh4+ Black gives a check and forces Whites king to move. Afterwards, White wont be able to castle. This shows us that the Kings Gambit is a double-edged opening. White tries to go for a quick attack against Blacks king, but its own king wont be safe either. 4. Kf1b5 Black wants to drive away Whites bishop from the dangerous a2-g8-diagonal. 5. Bxb5... The material balance is restored. Both players took a pawn. However, the position remains sharp. 5... ... Nf6 Black develops a piece and attacks the e4-pawn. 6. Nf3Qh67. d3... White stabilizes his center. 7... ... Nh5 This move threatens ...Ng3+. However, most of Blacks pieces arent developed and he moves a piece twice in the opening - a risky decision. 8. Nh4... White stops the threat of ...Ng3+ and wants to bring his knight to f5. 8... ... Qg59. Nf5c610. g4... A weird move - Black cant take the pawn en passant as the f4-pawn is pinned. 10... ... Nf611. Rg1... White protects his pawn, but sacrifices a piece at the same time. The bishop on b5 is still hanging. 11... ... cxb5 Black wins a whole piece, but loses time to develop his pieces. 12. h4... White has to go all out for an attack. He cant play calmly as he is a piece down. 12... ... Qg613. h5Qg514. Qf3... With this move, White creates two threats at the same time: 1. White plans to play 15.Bxf4, trapping Blacks queen 2. White threatens to play 15. e5, attacking Blacks knight on f6 and simultaneously the unprotected black rook at a8. 14... ... Ng8 Black defends against both threats by retreating his knight. Now, the queen has an escape square on d8 and e4-e5 no longer attacks the knight on f6. However, Black moves his knight back to g8 and loses even more time. 15. Bxf4... A logical move - winning a pawn and developing a piece. 15... ... Qf616. Nc3Bc517. Nd5... White brings his knight to the excellent d5-square. 17... ... Qxb2 Black takes on b2 and attacks Whites rook on a1. 18. Bd6... A surprising move with a brilliant idea in mind by Anderssen. Black cant take the bishop as this would lead to mate. However, both Whites rooks are hanging. 18... ... Bxg1
18... Bxd6?19. Nxd6+Kd820. Nxf7+Ke821. Nd6+Kd822. Qf8#
19. e5... With this move, White sacrifices another rook. However, Whites move blocks the queen from participating in the defense as the a1-h8 diagonal is closed now. 19... ... Qxa1+20. Ke2Na6 With this move, Black defends against the threat 21.Nxg7+ Kd8 22.Bc7#. However, White has another beautiful mate in 3 now. Can you spot it? 21. Nxg7+Kd822. Qf6+Nxf623. Be7#... This was chess in the romantic era. White sacrificed a queen, two rooks and a bishop to mate Black with only three pieces - a masterpiece by Anderssen and one of the most famous chess games of all time.