Chess

The great Adolf Anderssen (1818-1879) was the strongest player in the world in the middle of the last century. He is best remembered for two games against Kieseritsky and Dufresne, known respectively as "the Immortal" and "the Evergreen".

Curiously, those two, with their silly names, have left in the shade another brilliant Anderssen victory, which surpasses them in quality, if not in flashiness.

Here is the game that is Anderssen's greatest win of all, which I hereby propose should be known as "the Deciduous" for the elegant way the winner blows away the leaves protecting Black's king.

The opening, a line of the Evans Gambit that Anderssen played many times, leaves Black, after 13...c5, with a mobile mass of pawns on the Q-side, which Anderssen ignores masterfully while patiently building his attack on the other wing. The final onslaught breaks with explosive force and all White's pieces are on precisely the right squares for a delightful sacrificial finish.

White: Adolf Anderssen

Black: Johannes Zukertort

Barmen, Germany, 1869

1 e4 e5 18 Nf5 b4

2 Nf3 Nc6 19 Rg1 Bb6

3 Bc4 Bc5 20 g4 Ne5

4 b4 Bxb4 21 Bxe5 dxe5

5 c3 Ba5 22 Rg3 Rf7

6 d4 exd4 23 g5 Bxf5

7 0-0 Bb6 24 exf5 Qxd5

8 cxd4 d6 25 gxf6 Rd8

9 d5 Na5 26 Rcg1 Kh8

10 Bb2 Ne7 27 fxg7+ Kg8

11 Bd3 0-0 28 Qh6 Qd6

12 Nc3 Ng6 29 Qxh7+ Kxh7

13 Ne2 c5 30 f6+ Kg8

14 Qd2 f6 31 Bh7+ Kxh7

15 Kh1 Bc7 32 Rh3+ Kg8

16 Rac1 Rb8 33 Rh8 mate

17 Ng3 b5