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Richard Reti versus Savielly Tartakower. This incredible queen sacrifice by Reti leads to an undiscovered check and a forced checkmate in two moves. Brilliant!

Prince Andria Dadiani of Mingrelia versus M. Bitcham, Zugdidi, 1892. The prince busts open his opponent’s defence by sacrificing his knight and then his queen and then mates with his remaining knight. Boom!

Viswanathan Anand versus Garry Kasparov, New York, 1995. Kasparov offers up both of his rooks but whichever one Anand takes it is game over. BOOM!

Fabiano Caruana versus Ruslan Ponomariov. Re7 is a bonafide visionary move. Caruana forces Ponomariav to take his sacrificial rook and again Ponomariav is forced to take Caruana’s sacrificed bishop and then finally is forced to accept checkmate.

Fabiano Caruana versus Ruslan Ponomariov. Re7 is a bonafide visionary move. Caruana forces Ponomariav to take his sacrificial rook and again Ponomariav is forced to take Caruana’s sacrificed bishop and then finally is forced to accept checkmate.

Martin Ortueta Esteban versus Jose Sanz Aguado, Madrid, 1933. Some could argue that the follow up moves c4 and a5 were better, but either way Aguado played a bunch of incredible moves.

Laurent Fressinet versus Alexandra Kosteniuk, Villandry, 2007. Endurance should also be celebrated in chess. Kosteniuk’s Rh2 was her 251st move that finally brought the game to an end. Epic!

Viswanathan Anand versus Garry Kasparov, New York, 1995. Kasparov offers up both of his rooks but whichever one Anand takes it is game over. BOOM!

Magic Knight Rayearth - Fuu Hououji

Tigran Petrosian versus Ara Minasian, Yerevan, 2006. Petrosian’s queen sacrifice is arguably the move of the game but the pleasure of delivering checkmate with a pawn is also to be celebrated.

Viswanathan Anand versus Kiril Ninov, Baguio, 1987. Anand’s innocuous g6* signals the end of Ninov's defence.

Alisa Galliamova versus Alina Kashlinskaya, Moscow, 2020. Sacrificing the queen gives Kashlinskaya a forced checkmate in five moves. Nice, very nice.

Judit Polgar versus Nona Gaprindashvili, Novi Sad, 1990. The brutal rook sacrifice by Gaprindashvili resulted in an instant resignation from Polgar. Both of these players are genuinely inspirational.

Bobby Fischer versus Pal Benko. Fischer places his sacrificial rook on an empty square to block a pawn defence. Ultimately this move leads to Benko’s resignation.

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave versus Ian Nepomniachtchi, Wijk aan Zee, 2011. Vachier-Lagrave places his rook on an empty square to be captured freely. However, if it is captured then it’s checkmate next move but if it’s not captured then it’s checkmate in two moves. Ooft!

Viswanathan Anand versus Garry Kasparov, New York, 1995. Kasparov offers up both of his rooks but whichever one Anand takes it is game over. BOOM!

Rashid Nezhmetdinov versus Oleg Chernikov, Rostov-on-Don, 1962. Nezhmetdinov’s queen sacrifice is astonishing; a zen-like understanding of his position. Simply outstanding.

Bai Jinshi versus Ding Liren, Tianjin, 2017. After having sacrificed his queen Liren had to keep applying the pressure. Rd4 is sublime.

Bobby Fischer versus Pal Benko. Fischer places his sacrificial rook on an empty square to block a pawn defence. Ultimately this move leads to Benko’s resignation.

Fabiano Caruana versus Ruslan Ponomariov. Re7 is a bonafide visionary move. Caruana forces Ponomariav to take his sacrificial rook and again Ponomariav is forced to take Caruana’s sacrificed bishop and then finally is forced to accept checkmate.

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov versus Daniil Dubov, www, 2021. Down two pawns in the endgame Dubov found a stunning idea, Rf1 initiated the trap, Mamedyarov thought he had snapped up a bishop, but Dubov walloped him with stalemate! Absolutely brilliant.

Ian Nepomniachtchi versus Sergei Rublevsky, Moscow, 2006. Nepomniachtchi’s knight went walkabout and jumped straight into the lion’s mouth where it could be taken by three pieces. This is play full of swagger from a young lad who went onto win. Here at ChessRules we’re big fans of Ian Nepomniachtchi.

Edward Lasker versus George Thomas, London, 1912. Lasker had sacrificed his queen earlier to send Thomas’s king fleeing to the other end of the board. Rarely does a king get the opportunity to give checkmate. Exceptionally cool.

Wiede versus Alphonse Goetz, Strasbourg, 1880. Under-promoting a pawn to a knight to checkmate his opponent was elegant and classy. Respect.

Gata Kamsky versus Anatoly Karpov, Dortmund, 1993. Karpov places his king on what seems a completely absurd square. A few moves later though his pieces have been given space to attack.

Alexander Shuvalov versus Maurice Ashley, Saint Martin, 1993. Shuvalov was on the attack but Ashley’s Nxg3 completely exposes white’s king. Shuvalov must have been stunned by Ashley’s counterattacking.

Anish Giri versus Alexander Morozevich, Beijing, 2012. At a time in the game when Giri might have considered re-grouping he carried on attacking. Bf6* is a stunning game-winning move.

Gunnar Gundersen versus A. H. Faul, Melbourne, 1928. Gundersen’s move celebrates all things beautiful, checkmate with en passant.

Gilles Andruet versus Boris Spassky, Bundesliga, 1988. A queen sacrifice that is counterintuitive to the objective makes it impossible to see; except of course if you’re a genius - and who is to argue that Boris Spassky isn’t?

Vladimir Kramnik versus Garry Kasparov, Moscow, 1994. Kramnik sacrifices his bishop and uses his f pawn to bust through Kasparov’s control of the centre. Fifteen moves later this pawn is pushed forward to the 7th rank and signals Kasparov’s resignation.

Levon Aronian versus Santosh Vidit, www, 2020. The game looked to be drawn but Vidit snapped up the pushed pawn b2-b4 at which point Aronian’s bishop stepped back to trap Vidit’s bishop. This was quickly followed by the rest of black’s pieces being trapped leaving Aronian’s a pawn, with a smile upon its face, to skip its way to the top of the board. An exceptional tactic by Aronian.

Mikhail Botvinnik versus Lajos Portisch, Monte Carlo, 1968. Botvinnik had seen the trap and had an answer for it: R1xc6 paves the way to victory. Boom!

Garry Kasparov versus Viswanathan Anand, New York, 1995. Kasparov sacrifices his bishop to bust wide open Anand’s defence. Ultimately a devastating move.

Wiede versus Alphonse Goetz, Strasbourg, 1880. Under-promoting a pawn to a knight to checkmate his opponent was elegant and classy. Respect.

Nigel Short versus Jan Timman, Tilburg, 1991. Short’s king marches up the board heading to the dizzy heights of h6 to assist the queen in checkmating. Exceptionally rare that a king finds himself at such a position during the middle game. Brilliant stuff.

Nigel Short versus Jan Timman, Tilburg, 1991. Short’s king marches up the board heading to the dizzy heights of h6 to assist the queen in checkmating. Exceptionally rare that a king finds himself at such a position during the middle game. Brilliant stuff.