Chess, like the arts, had a “Romantic” period (19th Century). An era characterised by open, tactical games, with brash sacrifices.

Winning was good, winning in style was better. Fashionable openings of the day included the King’s Gambit and the Evans Gambit.

A time when declining a sacrifice was considered at best unsporting, and at worst, out right rude.

Some of the games played in this era have become famous, usually for a beautiful combination and the games even have their own names!

Two eminent players of the era were Anderssen and Kieseritzky, who played a game that would become forever known as the “immortal” game.

Take a nostalgic minute to play over the game here, whilst trying to imagine what masterpieces you could have created had you lived in this era.

NB: The game is presented without annotations. The analysis could basically point out how almost every move is incorrect. However, the beauty of this game lies not in its technical accuracy but in its representation of a time, a wonderful time, gone by.