I was intrigued to see this on Twitter:
#chesspunks #chess
— The Chess Parlor (@ChessParlor) November 3, 2022
Hey everyone I'm trying to find 10 classic games to remember by heart. Ideally below 30 moves. The first one that comes to mind is the Opera Game played by Morphy. Which would you recommend?
Now, I don't give much credit for learning a game by heart. Do you remember the outlines of the key position(s) and what the lesson was? That's good enough!
But if you want my selection, here it is! A game for each piece, and one each for the opening, tactics, combinations and IQP. And something by Nimzowitsch that can't be described!
opening: Morphy-Toffs, 1858
bishops: Flamberg-Bogo, 1914
knights: Smyslov-Rudakowsky, 1945
rooks: Tatai-Korchnoi, 1978
queen: Bosch-Capablanca, 1929
king: Kramnik-Leko#14 2004 (41 moves!)
IQP: Botvinnik-Vidmar , 1936
tactics: Tarrasch-Marco, 1898
combinations: Capa-Mattison ,1929
position: Sämisch-Nimzo, 1923
Click [...] to see list of games
[Event "Opéra Hous: Morphy-Duke of Brunswick"]
[Site "Paris"]
[Date "1858.11.02"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Morphy, Paul"]
[Black "Duke of Brunswick, Count"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C41"]
[Annotator "attack: development, open lines, K in centre"]
[PlyCount "33"]
[EventDate "1858.??.??"]
[EventRounds "30"]
[EventCountry "FRA"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Bg4 4. dxe5 Bxf3 5. Qxf3 dxe5 {[#] Morphy had many
contemporaries who could attack as well as he, but more than anyone Morphy
knew how to create an attack out of the opening through accurate play. Here he
already has a development advantage and the two bishops.} 6. Bc4 Nf6 {[#]} 7.
Qb3 {keeping the initiative going} Qe7 8. Nc3 c6 9. Bg5 {White needs only two
more moves to complete his development - breathtakingly efficient work.} b5 {
[#] just the wrong sort of move} 10. Nxb5 cxb5 11. Bxb5+ Nbd7 12. O-O-O {
[#] Black's pieces are treading on each other's toes.} Rd8 13. Rxd7 Rxd7 14.
Rd1 {a nicely-coordinated crossfire of pins} Qe6 15. Bxd7+ Nxd7 16. Qb8+ {
apparently dramatic...} Nxb8 17. Rd8# {[#] this masterpiece of economic
development and slashing attack has become rightly famous; the final position
is very neat} 1-0
[Event "Triberg 1415"]
[Site "Triberg"]
[Date "1914.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Flamberg, A."]
[Black "Bogoljubow, Efim"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C80"]
[Annotator "model game: attack with bishops"]
[PlyCount "56"]
[EventDate "1914.??.??"]
[EventRounds "20"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d4 Nxe4 6. O-O b5 7. Nxe5 Nxe5 8.
dxe5 {Regis,Dave: '[#] a trappy opening; ...bxa4 is met by Qd5'} d5 9. exd6
Bxd6 10. Bb3 Bb7 11. a4 O-O 12. axb5 {Regis,Dave: '[#] the Black Bishops are
giving the White King a Hard Stare'} Qh4 13. h3 (13. g3 Nxg3 14. fxg3 Bc5+ 15.
Rf2 Bxf2+ 16. Kxf2 Qxh2+ 17. Ke3 Qxg3+ 18. Kd4 Rfd8+ 19. Kc5 Rxd1) 13... Nxf2
14. Rxf2 Bc5 (14... Qg3) 15. Qf1 Rae8 16. Bd2 {Regis,Dave: '(else ...Bxf2+ and
...Re1+)'} Re5 {Regis,Dave: 'still no need to take the b-pawn. Black must
press on, having sacrificed the piece'} 17. Ra4 {Regis,Dave: '[#]'} Qe7 18.
bxa6 Bxa6 19. Qxa6 (19. Rxa6 Re2 20. Bg5 Qe5) 19... Re1+ 20. Kh2 (20. Bxe1
Qxe1+ 21. Qf1 Bxf2+) 20... Bxf2 21. Nc3 Qe5+ 22. Rf4 g5 23. Qb5 {Regis,Dave: '
[#]'} gxf4 {Regis,Dave: '(threat ...Bg3+)'} 24. Bxe1 {Regis,Dave: '[#]'} Bg3+
25. Bxg3 (25. Kg1 Qe3+ 26. Bf2 Qxf2+ 27. Kh1 Qe1+ 28. Qf1 Qxf1#) 25... fxg3+
26. Kg1 Qe3+ 27. Kh1 Qe1+ 28. Qf1 Qxf1# {0-1 (28) Flamberg-Bogoljubow,E Model
game 1.3: attack with b 1995 [Regis,Dave]} 0-1
[Event "Moscow"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1945.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Smyslov, V."]
[Black "Rudakovsky, Iosif"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B83"]
[Annotator "strategy: knight outpost"]
[PlyCount "55"]
[EventDate "1945.??.??"]
{[%mdl 2064]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be2 Be7 7.
O-O O-O 8. Be3 Nc6 9. f4 Qc7 10. Qe1 (10. Ndb5 Qb8 11. Qd2 a6 12. Nd4) 10...
Nxd4 11. Bxd4 e5 12. Be3 Be6 13. f5 {[#]} Bc4 $2 {? Black needs that Bishop.
White now has a simple plan: exchange off the other defender of the d5 square,
improve the position of his pieces, and look for the win!} (13... Bd7 14. Rd1
Bc6) 14. Bxc4 Qxc4 15. Bg5 {!} Rfe8 16. Bxf6 Bxf6 {[#]} 17. Nd5 {!} Bd8 (17...
Qxc2 18. Rf2 Qc6 (18... Qa4 19. b3) 19. Rc1 Qd7 20. Nc7) 18. c3 b5 19. b3 Qc5+
20. Kh1 Rc8 {[#] White now transfers his attention to the King} 21. Rf3 Kh8 22.
f6 gxf6 23. Qh4 Rg8 24. Nxf6 Rg7 (24... Bxf6 25. Qxf6+ Rg7 26. Rg3 Rcg8) 25.
Rg3 Bxf6 26. Qxf6 Rcg8 27. Rd1 {Black's position cracks.} d5 28. Rxg7 {! 1-0
(28) Smyslov,V-Rudakovsky,I Moscow 1945} (28. Rxg7 Rxg7 29. Rxd5 Qf8 30. Rd8)
1-0
[Event "Beersheba"]
[Site "Beersheba"]
[Date "1978.??.??"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Tatai, Stefano"]
[Black "Korchnoi, Viktor"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C01"]
[WhiteElo "2455"]
[BlackElo "2665"]
[Annotator "attack: weakened K position"]
[PlyCount "32"]
[EventDate "1978.02.18"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "ISR"]
[EventCategory "8"]
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 exd5 4. Bd3 c5 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. Qe2+ Be7 7. dxc5 Nf6 8.
h3 O-O {[#] White must have thought his position perfectly safe.} 9. O-O Bxc5
10. c3 Re8 11. Qc2 Qd6 12. Nbd2 {[#] Black's next is a reinforcement to the
principle that the pawns in front of the castled king should only be moved
when necessary.} Qg3 13. Bf5 Re2 14. Nd4 {[#] Black has a forced win.} Nxd4 15.
cxd4 Bxd4 16. Bxc8 Rxf2 0-1
[Event "Budapest"]
[Site "Budapest"]
[Date "1929.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Bosch"]
[Black "Capablanca"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B13"]
[PlyCount "66"]
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. Bd3 Nc6 5. c3 Nf6 6. Bg5 Bg4 7. Ne2 e6 8. Qb3
Qd7 9. Ng3 Nh5 10. f3 Nxg3 11. hxg3 Bf5 12. Bxf5 exf5 13. Nd2 f6 14. Be3 Na5
15. Qc2 O-O-O 16. O-O-O Re8 17. Rde1 Bd6 18. Bf4 Bxf4 19. gxf4 g6 20. Nb3 Nxb3+
21. Qxb3 h5 22. Qd1 Kd8 23. Rxe8+ Rxe8 24. Re1 Rxe1 25. Qxe1 Qd6 26. Qd2 Qa6
27. b3 Qf1+ 28. Kb2 Kd7 29. Qc2 b5 30. a4 a6 31. axb5 axb5 32. Ka3 Kc6 33. Kb4
Qe1 0-1
[Event "WCh"]
[Site "Brissago SUI"]
[Date "2004.10.18"]
[Round "14"]
[White "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Black "Leko, P."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2760"]
[BlackElo "2743"]
[Annotator "endgame: KUFTE"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "2004.09.25"]
[EventType "tourn"]
1. e4 c6 {A risky choice according to Leko but he only had a limited number of
defences possible.} 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. h4 h6 5. g4 Bd7 6. Nd2 $146 {# In a
sharp position white finds an early prepared novelty.} c5 7. dxc5 e6 8. Nb3
Bxc5 9. Nxc5 Qa5+ 10. c3 Qxc5 {Black is perfectly OK here both Kramnik and
Leko agreed on this after the game.} 11. Nf3 Ne7 12. Bd3 Nbc6 13. Be3 Qa5 14.
Qd2 Ng6 {Looks solid.} (14... d4 {Leko said that at a different stage of the
match he would have played this dynamic move. He thought it unclear at the
time which is why he rejected it.}) (14... O-O-O {also possible.}) 15. Bd4 $1 {
A nasty shock for Leko. He didn't take this possibility seriously before it
was played and didn't seem in the spirit of Kramnik's play so far. The endgame
is far from easy for Leko but should in the final analysis be OK.} Nxd4 16.
cxd4 Qxd2+ 17. Kxd2 Nf4 18. Rac1 h5 {Leko stood by this move after the game
and that he should always play to the maximum rather than passive defence. He
said that he had defended dynamically throughout the match and wasn't going to
change now.} (18... Nxd3 19. Kxd3 {and grovelling defence but perhaps this was
a better practical choice.}) 19. Rhg1 Bc6 (19... Nh3 $1 {Leko.}) 20. gxh5 Nxh5
21. b4 a6 $2 22. a4 $1 Kd8 23. Ng5 Be8 24. b5 Nf4 (24... axb5 25. Bxb5 {
and black's position disintegrates. Leko missed this.}) 25. b6 {[%eval -32767,
0] After the game Kramnik told Beat Zueger "I was happy when I played b6."}
Nxd3 (25... f6 26. Nf3 Bh5 27. Rxg7 Bxf3 28. exf6) 26. Kxd3 {Now black is
definitely already in desperate trouble. Although Kramnik makes it look
comparitavely easy he is very accurate in finishing the game.} Rc8 27. Rxc8+
Kxc8 28. Rc1+ Bc6 29. Nxf7 Rxh4 30. Nd6+ Kd8 31. Rg1 Rh3+ 32. Ke2 Ra3 33. Rxg7
Rxa4 34. f4 $1 {[%eval -32767,0] Looks like a winner. Perhaps even after 31.
Rg1 this could also be said.} Ra2+ 35. Kf3 Ra3+ 36. Kg4 Rd3 $2 {Computers
start to say white is winning very clearly.} 37. f5 Rxd4+ 38. Kg5 exf5 39. Kf6
Rg4 40. Rc7 Rh4 41. Nf7+ {#} 1-0
[Event "Nottingham"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1936.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Botvinnik, M."]
[Black "Vidmar, Milan Sr"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "D60"]
[Annotator "IQPm: sacrifice on f7 by N"]
[PlyCount "47"]
[EventDate "1936.??.??"]
{[%mdl 32772]} 1. c4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7 7.
Bd3 {[#]White does not try to save a move by delaying Bd3} c5 {With a B on d3,
d4 is a little less protected and d5 is a little less attacked, so this is
better than usual} (7... dxc4 8. Bxc4 c5 9. O-O cxd4 10. exd4) 8. O-O cxd4 9.
exd4 dxc4 10. Bxc4 {[#]The classic IQP position.} Nb6 11. Bb3 Bd7 12. Qd3 (12.
d5 {is a good idea when it doesn't lose a pawn} exd5 13. Nxd5 (13. Bxf6) 13...
Nfxd5 14. Bxd5) 12... Nbd5 (12... Nfd5 $1 {achieving exchanges}) 13. Ne5 {
It's nice to get into e5 without worrying about it being swapped off} Bc6 14.
Rad1 Nb4 15. Qh3 $1 Bd5 (15... a6 16. Nxf7 $1) 16. Nxd5 {Now White has two
Bishops and will attack the weakened light squares.} Nbxd5 17. f4 $1 Rc8 18. f5
exf5 19. Rxf5 Qd6 $2 {[#]} 20. Nxf7 $1 Rxf7 21. Bxf6 Bxf6 22. Rxd5 $1 Qc6 {
[#]Lots of things now win} 23. Rd6 (23. Rc5) (23. Rd7) 23... Qe8 (23... Qxd6
24. Qxc8+ Qd8) 24. Rd7 {'1-0 (24) Botvinnik,M-Vidmar,M Nottingham 1936'} *
[Event "DSB Kongress-07 Meisterturnier"]
[Site "Dresden"]
[Date "1892.07.22"]
[Round "7.3"]
[White "Tarrasch, S."]
[Black "Marco, Georg"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C66"]
[Annotator "tactics: mixed!"]
[PlyCount "35"]
[EventDate "1892.07.18"]
[EventRounds "17"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
{[%evp 0,35,20,17,-1,51,50,-20,75,77,66,48,81,28,75,39,40,35,28,46,58,81,90,98,
135,135,128,133,133,140,212,209,203,214,197,197,205,213] DrDave: 'Just for
contrast, here's a Good Trap, discovered by Tarrasch. White plays only good
moves, but if Black doesn't choose correctly, White can spring a trap!'} 1. e4
e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 {DrDave: 'The Ruy Lopez. In this line, Black goes for the
most solid and safe moves they can find, hoping their strong point in the
centre will provide shelter...'} d6 {Z0 Bxc6 dxc6 Nxe5 Qd4} 4. d4 Bd7 5. Nc3
Be7 6. O-O Nf6 7. Re1 {DrDave: '[#] So far, so good.'} O-O {DrDave: 'Black
plays one 'safe' move too many! White can win a pawn here, for if Black tries
to hit back and win a pawn back, White wins at least an Exchange. [#]'} (7...
exd4 $1 $14 {is best here, but because White has been playing good moves on
each turn, White can still claim a small advantage.}) 8. Bxc6 {DrDave: '[#]
TACTIC: Undermining e5.'} Bxc6 9. dxe5 dxe5 10. Qxd8 Raxd8 ({If} 10... Rfxd8
11. Nxe5 {Black can't win back the pawn by} Bxe4 12. Nxe4 Nxe4 {because of the
same idea:} 13. Nd3 f5 14. f3 Bc5+ {Here White can just step aside and win a
piece} 15. Kf1) 11. Nxe5 {DrDave: '[#] TACTIC: Finally getting around to
taking the pawn on e5.'} Bxe4 {DrDave: 'e4 is outnumbered.'} 12. Nxe4 Nxe4 {
DrDave: '[#] Has Black been clever?'} 13. Nd3 {DrDave: '[#] TACTIC: blocking
the d-file and discovering an attack down the e-file -- a pin or a skewer.'} (
13. Rxe4 {[#] TACTIC: back rank mate} Rd1+ 14. Re1 Rxe1#) 13... f5 14. f3 {
DrDave: '[#] TACTIC: attacking a pinned piece.'} Bc5+ 15. Nxc5 {DrDave: '!'
DrDave: 'With the Black Rooks on d8 and f8, there is a different way to win:'}
({Sidestepping here doesn't work so well:} 15. Kf1 Bb6 16. fxe4 fxe4+ 17. Nf4
g5 18. Rxe4 gxf4 19. Ke2 Rde8 $11) 15... Nxc5 16. Bg5 {DrDave: '[#] TACTIC: a
fork on e7 is threatened.'} Rd5 17. Be7 {DrDave: ''1-0 (17) Tarrasch,S-Marco,G
Dresden 1892 EXT 1998 [Tartakower/du Mont/ Tarrasch/Reti] ''} Re8 {[#] Black
has fought hard to hang on, but...} 18. c4 {[#] TACTIC: undermining the
defence of c5. Tarrasch's clever line is like a little course in tactics, all
by itself. Another notable thing about it: Tarrasch published this line in a
magazine, explaining why Black couldn't safely castle on move 7, before
winning this game against Marco! 1-0 (18) Tarrasch,S-Marco,G Model game 1.1:
quick kill (B 1892 [DrDave]} 1-0
[Event "Karlsbad-04 International Masters"]
[Site "Karlsbad"]
[Date "1929.08.15"]
[Round "13"]
[White "Capablanca, JR."]
[Black "Matisons, Hermanis"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E38"]
[Annotator "tactics: from better position"]
[PlyCount "45"]
[EventDate "1929.07.31"]
[EventRounds "21"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 c5 5. dxc5 Nc6 6. Nf3 Bxc5 7. Bf4 d5 8. e3
Qa5 9. Be2 Bb4 10. O-O Bxc3 11. bxc3 O-O 12. Rab1 {!} Qa3 13. Rfd1 b6 14. cxd5
{[#]} Nxd5 (14... exd5 15. c4 Bb7 16. cxd5) 15. Ng5 {[#]} f5 (15... Nf6 16. Bd6
) (15... g6) 16. Bf3 Qc5 17. c4 Ndb4 18. Qb3 e5 19. a3 {[#]} Na6 (19... exf4
20. axb4 Qe7 21. Bxc6) 20. Bxc6 Qxc6 21. c5+ {[#] or 21...Be6 22.Nxe6
threatening Philidor's legacy} Kh8 22. Nf7+ Rxf7 23. Rd8+ {or 22...Kg8 23.
Nh6++ Kh8 24.Qg8+} 1-0
[Event "Top 10 games:"]
[Site "pawn mobility: restraint"]
[Date "1923.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Samisch"]
[Black "Nimzowitsch, Aron"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E06"]
[Annotator "Top 10: games"]
[PlyCount "51"]
[EventDate "1923.??.??"]
{Gnarly and puzzling, Nimzo's play also has the mark of genius.} 1. d4 Nf6 2.
c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Be7 6. Nc3 O-O 7. O-O d5 8. Ne5 c6 9. cxd5
cxd5 10. Bf4 a6 {( idea b5 )} 11. Rc1 b5 12. Qb3 Nc6 {[#] "the ghost!" ( idea
Na5-c4 )} 13. Nxc6 Bxc6 14. h3 Qd7 15. Kh2 Nh5 {( or Qd2 & Nd7-b6-c4 )} 16. Bd2
f5 17. Qd1 b4 18. Nb1 Bb5 19. Rg1 Bd6 20. e4 fxe4 {!} 21. Qxh5 Rxf2 22. Qg5
Raf8 23. Kh1 R8f5 24. Qe3 Bd3 25. Rce1 h6 {[#] 0-1 samisch-nimzo.( zugzwang!
if Kh2 or g4, Rf3 winning wQ )} 26. g4 0-1