Hastings 1895 chess tournament

The chess tournament that was conducted at Hastings, England from August 5 to September 2 1895 has been called by many commentators as the greatest of all time, and a milestone in the history of chess, for several reasons.

Steinitz vs. von Bardeleben

The position on the right arose after a Giuoco Piano: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 Bb4+ 7.Nc3 d5 8.exd5 Nxd5 9.0-0 Be6 10.Bg5 Be7 11.Bxd5! Bxd5 12.Nxd5 Qxd5 13.Bxe7 Nxe7 14.Re1 f6 15.Qe2 Qd7 16.Rac1 c6? 17.d5! cxd5 18.Nd4 Kf7 19.Ne6 Rhc8 20.Qg4 g6 21.Ng5+ Ke8. (See algebraic chess notation.)

Related Topics:
Giuoco Piano - Algebraic chess notation

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At this point Steinitz played one of the most famous moves in history: 22.Rxe7+!!, amazingly leaving all of his pieces open to capture. Black cannot capture the White Rook (22...Qxe7 23.Rxc8+ Rxc8 24.Qxc8+ Qd8 25.Qxd8+, etc. and White wins easily with his extra piece, while 22...Kxe7 23.Re1+ Kd6 24.Qb4+ Rc5 25.Ne6 wins easily as well), however, White cannot capture the Black Queen (or play any other non-forcing move, for that matter), because Rxc1 is instantly mate for Black! As a result, Steinitz's Rook now "thumbs its nose" at the Black King, so to speak: repeatedly checking right in front of the King, which cannot capture it, in order to prevent Rxc1.

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The game continued 22...Kf8 23.Rf7+ Kg8 24.Rg7+ Kh8 25.Rxh7+!!

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This crucial move eliminates the h-pawn and allows White to bring in his Queen to attack without ever allowing Black to play Rxc1 and mate. Bowing to the inevitable (or perhaps frustrated that even with mate in one, he could not capitalize), von Bardeleben simply left the tournament hall, letting his time run out! Steinitz demonstrated for the spectators how the game might have continued:

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25...Kg8 26.Rg7+ Kh8 27.Qh4+ Kxg7 28.Qh7+ Kf8 29.Qh8+ Ke7 30.Qg7+ Ke8 31.Qg8+ Ke7 32.Qf7+ Kd8 33.Qf8+ Qe8 34.Nf7+ Kd7 35.Qd6#

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