Immortal losing game

The "Immortal Losing Game" is a chess game between the Soviet grandmaster David Bronstein and the Polish International Master Bogdan Śliwa played in 1957 in Gotha. The name is an allusion to the more famous Immortal Game between Adolf Anderssen and Lionel Kieseritzky. The game acquired its name because Bronstein, in a completely lost position, set a series of elegant traps in an attempt to swindle a victory from a lost game, although Śliwa deftly avoided the traps and won.

The game

White: Śliwa
Black: Bronstein

1. d4 f5 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. Nc3 Nf6

Both players have fianchettoed their bishops. If White had played the now-standard 4.c4 instead of 4.Nc3, the Leningrad variation of the Dutch Defence would have been reached.

5. Bg5 Nc6 6. Qd2 d6 7. h4 e6 8. 0-0-0 h6 9. Bf4 Bd7 10. e4 fxe4 11. Nxe4 Nd5 12. Ne2 Qe7 13. c4 Nb6?

13...Nxf4 14.Nxf4 Qf7

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Position after 23...Bb5!

14. c5! dxc5 15. Bxc7! 0-0 16. Bd6

White wins the exchange by skewering Black's queen and rook.

16... Qf7 17. Bxf8 Rxf8 18. dxc5 Nd5 19. f4 Rd8 20. N2c3 Ndb4 21. Nd6 Qf8 22. Nxb7 Nd4!

22...Rb8 23.Qxd7+−

23. Nxd8 Bb5! (see diagram) 24. Nxe6!

24.Nxb5?! Qf5! ...

• 25.Nxd4?? Nxa2#
• 25.Qxb4?? Qc2#
• 25.Nc3?? Nxa2+! 26.Nxa2 Nb3#
• 25.Rde1?? Nxa2+ 26.Kd1 Qb1+ 27.Qc1 Qxc1#
• 25.b3 Qxc5+ 26.Kb1! (26.Nc3?? Ne2+! 27.Qxe2 Qxc3+ 28.Kb1 Qa1#) Qf5+ 27.Kc1! Qc5+ draws by perpetual check
• White can still probably win with 25.Qf2! Nxa2+ 26.Kd2 Nxb5 27.Ke1

a b c d e f g h 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a b c d e f g h Position after 24...Bd3!

a b c d e f g h 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a b c d e f g h Position after 26...Qxd5!

24... Bd3! (see diagram) 25. Bd5!

25.Nxf8?? Nxa2+ 26.Nxa2 Nb3#

25... Qf5! 26. Nxd4+ Qxd5! (see diagram) 27. Nc2!

27.Nxd5?? Nxa2#

27... Bxc3 28. bxc3!

28.Qxc3?? Nxa2+ wins the queen.

28... Qxa2 29. cxb4!

29.Nxb4?? Qb1#

1–0

See also

• List of chess games

References

• Hartston, William (1977), "Immortal losing game", in Golombek, Harry, Golombek's Encyclopedia of Chess, Batsford, p. 148, ISBN 0-517-53146-1 
• Analysis

External links

• The game on chessgames.com