Famous game, made to hang
The Immortal Game as wall art
The most famous game ever played. Anderssen gives up both rooks and the queen, then mates with three minor pieces.
Exact, computed from the real moves. Never AI-faked.
- Players
- Adolf Anderssen vs Lionel Kieseritzky
- Event
- London
- Year
- 1851
- Opening
- King's Gambit Accepted
- ECO
- C33
- Result
- 1-0
The game
Played in London in 1851 between Adolf Anderssen and Lionel Kieseritzky during a break in the first international tournament, the Immortal Game is the most famous game ever played. It was a casual game, not a tournament battle, which only adds to the legend: Anderssen produced one of the supreme combinations in the history of chess with nothing on the line but pride.
From a King's Gambit, Anderssen offers a bishop, then both rooks, then the queen. By the final position he has given up nearly his entire heavy artillery, yet he delivers checkmate with three minor pieces against a near-complete enemy army. It is the purest statement of the romantic era's creed: development and initiative are worth more than material.
The decisive moment
The crescendo is 18.Bd6, ignoring the loss of both rooks. After 22.Qf6+ Nxf6 23.Be7# the bishop delivers mate while a bishop and two knights box the black king in, an entire winning army left standing on the other side of the board.
The Immortal Game, four ways.
No game rewards The Trace like this one. The reckless flight of Anderssen's pieces across the board, sacrificed and surviving, draws a path unlike any other game ever played.
The Trace
The signature Endgame style: every piece's full path across the 64 squares, painted as flowing lines.
The Position
The decisive board as a gallery plate with players, opening, and result.
The Score
The whole game in algebraic notation, set as editorial typography.
The Sequence
The arc of the game in a grid of boards, opening to mate.
This game opened with the King's Gambit. See more games by Adolf Anderssen, or browse every famous game. Read the full guide: What is the Immortal Game in chess?.
More legendary games
All gamesQuestions, answered.
Is this really The Immortal Game?+
Yes. We replay the exact moves of this game (Adolf Anderssen vs Lionel Kieseritzky, 1851) with a chess engine and render the real board, the real path of every piece, and the real notation. The preview is the print. There is no AI in the artwork.
What sizes and products can I get?+
Posters from $35 on heavyweight matte paper, plus framed editions from $95 in solid wood, with free shipping on every order. Every print carries the same exact rendering of the game.
Can I make this into my own game instead?+
Yes. Open the creator and paste your own PGN, upload a .pgn file, or drop a Lichess or Chess.com link to render your game the same four ways.
Make The Immortal Game your wall art.
Or bring your own game. Paste a PGN, upload a file, or drop a Lichess or Chess.com link.