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The Immortal Game played by Anderssen v Kieseritzky

When
1851
Where
London
Episodes
1

The Immortal Game was a famous chess match played in 1851 between Adolf Anderssen and Lionel Kieseritzky. It occurred during a break in the London 1851 chess tournament, an event in which both players participated. The game is celebrated for Anderssen's brilliant sacrificial attacking play, particularly involving the sacrifice of a bishop, both rooks, and finally his queen.

Episodes

  1. 21 June 1851 · LondonThe Immortal Game

    Anderssen played as White against Kieseritzky in London on 21 June 1851, shortly after the International Tournament. The game featured significant sacrifices, including a bishop, both rooks, and the queen.

Background and detail

Background. The game was an informal encounter, not played as part of the formal tournament structure. It took place during a break in the London 1851 chess tournament. Anderssen was one of the strongest players of his time, widely considered the world's strongest player after his victory in the London 1851 tournament. Kieseritzky was a Baltic German chess master and theoretician known for his contributions to chess theory.

Publication. The game was published in the French chess magazine La Régence in July 1851. It was reported in an 1851 issue of the journal, with the piece attributed to Kieseritzky himself. The Oxford Companion to Chess notes that Black resigned at a specific point, citing an 1851 publication.

Participants. Adolf Anderssen was a German chess master who won the great international tournaments of 1851 and 1862. He is famous for his brilliant sacrificial attacking play. Lionel Kieseritzky was a Baltic German chess master and theoretician. He was invited to play in the first international chess tournament, the London 1851 tournament, where he was defeated in the first round by Anderssen.

People involved

Sources

  1. Immortal Game Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-28
  2. Adolf Anderssen Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-01
  3. Lionel Kieseritzky Wikipedia, revision of 2026-07-09

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.