The Polish Immortal

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  • The Polish Immortal

    Najdorf’s famous brilliancy against Glucksberg is being touted as the best sacrifice in the history of chess:

    http://www.slate.com/blogs/quora/201..._of_chess.html

    It is the subject of historical research - Winter establishing that it was played in 1929.

    http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/najdorf.html

    Readers have come back and given Edward Lasker vs Sir George Thomas (1911) and Richard Reti vs Alexander Alekhine (1925) as just as good or better.

    Now let’s see, what were those games of Morphy and Marshall that had spectacular combinations? Oh, you know, the one at the Italian Opera House in Paris and the one with the gold coins thrown on the board.

  • #2
    Re: The Polish Immortal

    I'm partial to Lasker's ...Ra3!!.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: The Polish Immortal

      When I was writing this post, I had a vague recollection of an immortal correspondence game. Looking for it online this evening, I came across N. Johannson-Tegelman vs R. Rey Adid 1933 plus a host of other “immortal games”. I think it is perhaps too early to say that Nakamura has played his immortal game yet:

      http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess...on?cid=1014944

      Looking a little bit further I found this:

      In October 1985 the Swedish postal authorities released a special 3-kroner stamp, which featured the final mating position of the "Immortal" Correspondence Chess game between Arvid Sundin and Erik Andersson, played in the ICCF WT/M/974 tournament in 1964-65. At the end of the game, Andersson has a queen and a rook more than Sundin, but is about to be mated by a rook and knight combination.

      Now that is more like it. If they issue a stamp with your game position on it, then you are in the running for an “immortal” game!

      http://www.chessville.com/chessprints/2007/20070708.htm

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      • #4
        Re: The Polish Immortal

        H. Pillsbury – Em. Lasker, St Petersburg 1895/96, 10th round – The Immortal a3 Game!

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        • #5
          Re: The Polish Immortal

          Apparently there is a Kuwait Immortal problem.
          http://timkr.home.xs4all.nl/chess2/kuwait.htm
          "We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office." - Aesop
          "Only the dead have seen the end of war." - Plato
          "If once a man indulges himself in murder, very soon he comes to think little of robbing; and from robbing he comes next to drinking and Sabbath-breaking, and from that to incivility and procrastination." - Thomas De Quincey

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          • #6
            Re: The Polish Immortal

            Originally posted by Wayne Komer View Post
            H. Pillsbury – Em. Lasker, St Petersburg 1895/96, 10th round – The Immortal a3 Game!
            There is a stamp dedicated to this game as well (from Mongolia).
            http://www.queensac.com/positions.html

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: The Polish Immortal

              The inevitable question, “Is there a Canadian Immortal?”

              KS gave one in September

              http://kevinspraggett.blogspot.ca/20...-immortal.html

              What game by a Canadian player would deserve such an accolade?

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: The Polish Immortal

                In Search of the Canadian Immortal Game

                In a March, 2011 lecture at the Annex Chess Club, Toronto, chess historian David Cohen discussed the most famous game in Canadian chess history.

                At least one of the participants had to be Canadian. The event had to be memorable, like an Olympiad.

                David chose D. A. Yanofsky vs A. Dulanto, Canada – Peru, 8th Olympiad, Preliminaries, Buenos Aires, 1939. An impressive win by a 14-year old that attracted the attention of Alekhine.

                http://www.canadianchess.info/articl...etter82GC.html

                Other games mentioned were:

                P. Charbonneau vs V. Anand, Turin Olympiad, 2006
                D. A. Yanofsky vs M. Botvinnik, Groningen, 1946
                M. Bluvshtein vs V. Topalov, Khanty-Mansiysk Olympiad, 2010
                K. Spraggett vs B. Spassky, Montpellier Candidates, 1985

                Actually, a responder to the post just mentioned a Spraggett game from The Candidates (1985, 1988). I chose the Spassky one.

                All are memorable games. I think we would need a longer list of aspirant games on the ballot if we were to vote for the “best” one or “the immortal”.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: The Polish Immortal

                  Does it have to involve a Canadian GM? Does it have to have a decisive result?

                  A sacrificial orgy from the 1970's - featured in the March 1972 issue of "Chess Canada" (no notes):

                  [Event "Chateauguay op"]
                  [Site "Chateauguay CAN"]
                  [Date "1972.??.??"]
                  [Round "?"]
                  [White "Rubin, Gerald"]
                  [Black "Johnston, Murray"]
                  [Result "1/2-1/2"]
                  [ECO "B75"]
                  [PlyCount "74"]
                  [EventDate "1972.??.??"]
                  [EventType "swiss"]
                  [EventRounds "5"]
                  [EventCountry "CAN"]

                  1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 a6 7. f3 Bg7 8. Qd2
                  h5 9. O-O-O Nbd7 10. Bc4 b5 11. Bb3 Bb7 12. Kb1 Qa5 13. h3 Rc8 14. g4 Nb6 15.
                  Bxf7+ Kxf7 16. Nb3 Qxc3 17. bxc3 Na4 18. Bd4 e5 19. Be3 d5 20. g5 Nxc3+ 21. Kb2
                  Ne8 22. Nc5 Rxc5 23. Bxc5 Na4+ 24. Kc1 Nxc5 25. exd5 Nd6 26. Rhe1 Rf8 27. Qh2
                  Nc4 28. d6 Ke6 29. d7 Nxd7 30. f4 e4 31. f5+ gxf5 32. Rxd7 Kxd7 33. Qf2 Ke6 34.
                  Qa7 Rf7 35. Qb8 Re7 36. Qg8+ Ke5 37. Qb8+ Ke6 1/2-1/2

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: The Polish Immortal

                    How about Mark Bluvshtein's win with the Petroff vs Shirov?
                    "We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office." - Aesop
                    "Only the dead have seen the end of war." - Plato
                    "If once a man indulges himself in murder, very soon he comes to think little of robbing; and from robbing he comes next to drinking and Sabbath-breaking, and from that to incivility and procrastination." - Thomas De Quincey

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: The Polish Immortal

                      The Rules

                      I have jotted down some irreverent notes on criteria for memorable/immortal games.

                      1. One player must be Canadian and the younger the better. I mean, who doesn’t love a prodigy? A rising master 13-years old beating someone at least twice his age is pure gold. See D. Byrne vs R. Fischer, Third Rosenwald, 1956.

                      2. The opponent should be strong and preferably titled. World champions are the best, especially those with last names beginning with the letter K.

                      3. The game should be won or drawn by the Canadian. Who wants to lose an immortal?

                      4. The game should have received some publicity. Those produced from nowhere will quickly be found by Edward Winter to be contrived and you will never hear the end of it.

                      5. There should be a spectacular, mostly sound combination or some remarkable feature, that would make the spectators stand up as one man and cheer (if that were allowed).

                      6. The opening variation should have been prepared in secret by the winner and left to lie in the bottom of a drawer until the right opponent came along. For example, the gambit Marshall played against Capablanca in New York, 1918.

                      7. It should be anecdotal. For example, the game Robert Byrne vs R. Fischer, New York 1963. The commentators were saying that Byrne had won the game, when he came away from the board and told them that he had resigned.*

                      8. The game should be played in an exotic location like an opera box or at an international event like an Olympiad. Spas are good too.

                      These points are necessary but not sufficient. Have I missed anything here?

                      http://www.lifemasteraj.com/old_af-dl/byrfisrpg0.html

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: The Polish Immortal

                        I like this one:

                        Lesiege v Kozul, Toronto 1990

                        http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1333492

                        This one wouldn't be an immortal, but it was impressive:

                        Lesiege v Oll, Manila 1992

                        http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1545635
                        "Tom is a well known racist, and like most of them he won't admit it, possibly even to himself." - Ed Seedhouse, October 4, 2020.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: The Polish Immortal

                          I'd nominate Southam-Cote, 1996.

                          http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1415887


                          BTW, you might want to rename this thread if you want more suggestions for a Canadian "immortal".
                          Last edited by John Upper; Sunday, 30th December, 2012, 11:58 PM.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: The Polish Immortal

                            Originally posted by John Upper View Post
                            I'd nominate Southam-Cote, 1996.

                            http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1415887


                            BTW, you might want to rename this thread if you want more suggestions for a Canadian "immortal".
                            I have thought of renaming it. The thread turned from Polish Immortal to Canadian Immortal with the seventh posting in this thread.

                            Is it possible to change the title to A Canadian Immortal Game? with that seventh posting or does the whole correspondence get the new name? A quick scanning of FAQ doesn’t seem to give me a way of accomplishing the change.

                            I’d love to see a long list of readers’ nominations for possible candidates

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