Immortal Draw
A Romantic-era game where a king hunt ends in perpetual check.
via Wikipedia: Immortal Draw · see source
In 1872 in Vienna, Carl Hamppe and Philipp Meitner played a chess game now called the Immortal Draw, their main claim to fame. Black sacrificed huge amounts of material in an attempted king hunt, but White spectacularly forced a draw by perpetual check. The variation of the Vienna Game it uses was named the Hamppe–Meitner Variation in honour of the two players. The game was played in the 19th-century Romantic style, where rapid attack was considered the most effective way to win, many gambits were offered, and drawing was often held in contempt.
Quick Facts
- Year
- 1872
- Location
- Vienna
- White
- Carl Hamppe
- Black
- Philipp Meitner
- Opening
- Vienna Game (ECO C25)
- Variation
- Hamppe–Meitner Variation
Facts from the source article.
Did You Know?
- The game ended in a draw by perpetual check after 18... Bb7+.
- The motif of a bishop sacrifice in response to an early knight attack occurs in other lines as well.
Annotated game
The game begins 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3, the Vienna Game, an opening Hamppe made major contributions to. Black plays 2... Bc5, an offbeat move; 2...Nf6 is more usual.
White continues 3. Na4, premature as the bishop can retreat to e7 and the knight is not ideally placed at a4. Black responds 3... Bxf2+, a bishop sacrifice commonly seen in reply to an early knight attack; 3...Be7 is less risky.
After 4. Kxf2, Black plays 4... Qh4+ 5. Ke3.
Another possibility is 5.g3, where after 5...Qxe4 6.Qe2 Qxh1 7.Qxe5+ Kf8 8.Qxc7 White has a lot of compensation for the sacrificed rook. The game continues 5... Qf4+ 6. Kd3 d5 7.
Kc3!. Although 7.Qe1 is usually given as a refutation, Black need not play 7...dxe4+? and has 7...Nf6! (Schiller's move). Black plays 7...
Qxe4?, when 7...d4+! 8.Kb3 Qxe4 would have been better. White replies 8. Kb3?, missing 8.d4! which leads to a winning advantage with difficult moves. Black plays 8...
Na6?, threatening 9...Qb4; 8...Nc6 or 8...d4 would have been better. White plays 9. a3!? intending Nc3 and Ka2; again 9.d4! would have won. Black then plays 9... Qxa4+!!, a spectacular queen sacrifice preventing White from playing Nc3 and Ka2.
After 10. Kxa4, Black plays 10... Nc5+ 11. Kb4?, a mistake allowing 11... a5+! with tempo.
The best move was 11.Kb5!, which would have won. After 12. Kxc5, Black plays 12... Ne7! threatening 13...b6+ with ...Bd7# to follow.
White replies 13. Bb5+ Kd8 14. Bc6!!, the only move that avoids checkmate, aiming to allow White's king to escape on the light squares. Black plays 14... b6+ (not 14...bxc6?).
After 15. Kb5 Nxc6 16. Kxc6, Black plays 16... Bb7+! 17.
Kb5! (not 17.Kxb7?? Kd7!). Black continues 17... Ba6+ 18. Kc6 (not 18.Ka4?? Bc4!).
Black plays 18... Bb7+ and the draw was agreed. Being down so much material, Black must continue the perpetual check; due to the checkmating lines, White must keep repeating.
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