The Immortal Game: Move by Move
The Immortal Game — Adolf Anderssen vs Lionel Kieseritzky, London, 1851. Anderssen sacrificed a bishop, both rooks and his queen to deliver mate with three minor pieces. Here is the whole game, move by move, with the key positions on a board and what each one teaches.
The game at a glance
Played more than 175 years ago, The Immortal Game remains one of the most studied games in chess. The Immortal Game is the most famous attacking game ever played — a casual encounter between Adolf Anderssen and Lionel Kieseritzky during a break at the 1851 London tournament. In the Romantic style of the age, Anderssen threw material overboard with abandon: a bishop, then both rooks, then his queen. When the smoke cleared he checkmated Black with only a bishop, a knight and a queen on the board, while Kieseritzky had captured almost everything in sight. It is the definitive illustration of development and initiative outweighing raw material.
Here is the complete game in one line, so you can replay it on any board:
How it began
The game was an King's Gambit. The game opens with the King's Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.f4), the sharpest Romantic-era try — White offers the f-pawn to rip open the f-file and seize the centre. Kieseritzky grabs the pawn and, after 3...Qh4+, drives the white king to f1. Instead of scrambling to safety, Anderssen simply keeps developing and attacking.
The turning point
This is the position where the game turns — it is White to move. Study it before reading on: where is the enemy king, and which pieces can reach it?
The critical moments:
- 17. Nd5 — the knight leaps in with threats against c7 and f6, and Anderssen calmly leaves his rook on a1 hanging.
- 18. Bd6 — !! — the immortal move. Anderssen ignores both of his rooks and interposes the bishop to strip Black's control of the mating squares. Material is irrelevant; the mating net is everything.
- 23. Be7# — checkmate. White finishes with bishop, knight and queen while Black has just helped himself to a rook and both bishops.
The finish
Down almost a full army, Anderssen delivers mate with three minor pieces cooperating perfectly. Black's queen, both rooks and a bishop sit uselessly on the far side of the board — a picture-perfect demonstration that an attack on the king ignores the material count entirely.
What you can learn from it
The Immortal Game is a lesson in initiative: if your pieces are all attacking and your opponent's are all spectating, material means little. It also teaches the value of development and open lines against an exposed king — the same themes that decide countless club games today, usually with far smaller sacrifices.
The best way to absorb a classic is to play it out move by move and ask, at each turn, why — why this piece, why this square, why not something safer. The same questioning habit is what turns your own games into lessons. If tactics like these slip past you in your games, read how chess pattern recognition works and why you keep blundering. To see where these ideas come from in the opening, browse the openings library and the opening-traps library.
Analyse your own games like this
You do not need to play an immortal game to improve — you need to understand your own. Chess DNA analyses your real Chess.com and Lichess games the way commentators analyse these classics: it finds the exact moments you gained or lost the advantage, names the tactical patterns behind them, and shows you the fixes. It is free and takes about a minute to connect your games and see your own turning points.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is The Immortal Game?
The Immortal Game is the most famous attacking game ever played — a casual encounter between Adolf Anderssen and Lionel Kieseritzky during a break at the 1851 London tournament. It was played by Adolf Anderssen (White) against Lionel Kieseritzky (Black) at London, 1851, opening with the King's Gambit. The full game runs: 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 Qh4+ 4.Kf1 b5 5.Bxb5 Nf6 6.Nf3 Qh6 7.d3 Nh5 8.Nh4 Qg5 9.Nf5 c6 10.g4 Nf6 11.Rg1 cxb5 12.h4 Qg6 13.h5 Qg5 14.Qf3 Ng8 15.Bxf4 Qf6 16.Nc3 Bc5 17.Nd5 Qxb2 18.Bd6 Bxg1 19.e5 Qxa1+ 20.Ke2 Na6 21.Nxg7+ Kd8 22.Qf6+ Nxf6 23.Be7#.
Who won The Immortal Game?
Adolf Anderssen won (1–0). Lionel Kieseritzky was on the losing side. The game is remembered less for the result than for how it was won — a textbook example of King's Gambit attack that is still taught today.
Why is The Immortal Game so famous?
Anderssen sacrificed a bishop, both rooks and his queen to deliver mate with three minor pieces. The Immortal Game is a lesson in initiative: if your pieces are all attacking and your opponent's are all spectating, material means little. That combination of drama and instructive content is why it has been reprinted and analysed for generations.
What opening was played in The Immortal Game?
It was a King's Gambit (ECO C33). The game opens with the King's Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.f4), the sharpest Romantic-era try — White offers the f-pawn to rip open the f-file and seize the centre. Kieseritzky grabs the pawn and, after 3...Qh4+, drives the white king to f1. Instead of scrambling to safety, Anderssen simply keeps developing and attacking.
Can studying The Immortal Game help me improve at chess?
Yes. Replaying annotated classics trains your pattern recognition — you absorb how strong players develop, sacrifice and attack. The trick is to guess each move before you see it and ask why. Then apply the same questions to your own games; a tool like Chess DNA can point out the exact moments where those patterns would have helped you.
