The first undisputed World Champion in the history of chess was Wilhelm Steinitz, while the 16th and current World Champion is Magnus Carlsen. In this article and in the days to come ChessBase presents 16 games by the World Champions — one per World Champion. Without giving any information when, where and against whom these games were played, can you find out which World Champion played which game by just looking at the moves?
To simplify the task, the 16 World Champions were divided into four groups. The first group consists of Wilhelm Steinitz, Emanuel Lasker, José Rául Capablanca and Alexander Alekhine.
The games were chosen with a random generator. But only tournament and matchgames were taken into account and only wins. Games between two World Champions were also ignored.
Game 1
| 1.e4 | 1,165,570 | 54% | 2421 | --- |
| 1.d4 | 946,474 | 55% | 2434 | --- |
| 1.Nf3 | 281,312 | 56% | 2441 | --- |
| 1.c4 | 181,937 | 56% | 2442 | --- |
| 1.g3 | 19,688 | 56% | 2427 | --- |
| 1.b3 | 14,236 | 54% | 2427 | --- |
| 1.f4 | 5,886 | 48% | 2377 | --- |
| 1.Nc3 | 3,796 | 51% | 2384 | --- |
| 1.b4 | 1,753 | 48% | 2380 | --- |
| 1.a3 | 1,197 | 54% | 2403 | --- |
| 1.e3 | 1,068 | 48% | 2408 | --- |
| 1.d3 | 948 | 50% | 2378 | --- |
| 1.g4 | 662 | 46% | 2361 | --- |
| 1.h4 | 446 | 53% | 2374 | --- |
| 1.c3 | 426 | 51% | 2425 | --- |
| 1.h3 | 279 | 56% | 2416 | --- |
| 1.a4 | 108 | 60% | 2468 | --- |
| 1.f3 | 91 | 47% | 2431 | --- |
| 1.Nh3 | 89 | 66% | 2508 | --- |
| 1.Na3 | 42 | 62% | 2482 | --- |
Please, wait...
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.Nc3 Bc5 6.d3 Bg4 7.Be3 Bxe3 8.fxe3 Qe7 9.0-0 0-0-0 10.Qe1 Nh6 11.Rb1 f6 12.b4 Nf7 13.a4 Bxf3 14.Rxf3 b6 15.b5 cxb5 16.axb5 a5 17.Nd5 Qc5 18.c4 Ng5 19.Rf2 Ne6 20.Qc3 Rd7 21.Rd1 Kb7 22.d4 Qd6 23.Rc2 exd4 24.exd4 Nf4 25.c5 Nxd5 26.exd5 Qxd5 27.c6+ Kb8 28.cxd7 Qxd7 29.d5 Re8 30.d6 cxd6 31.Qc6 1–0
- Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
- Create an account to access the games cloud.
Game 2
| Replay and check the LiveBook here |
Please, wait...
1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.e3 e6 4.c4 Be7 5.Nc3 Nbd7 6.c5 c6 7.b4 0-0 8.Bb2 Qc7 9.Be2 Ne8 10.0-0 f5 11.Qc2 Nef6 12.a4 Ne4 13.b5 Rf6 14.a5 Nxc3 15.Bxc3 a6 16.bxa6 bxa6 17.Rfb1 Rf8 18.Rb2 Bb7 19.Rab1 Rfb8 20.Ne1 Bc8 21.Nd3 Rxb2 22.Rxb2 Bf6 23.Qa4 Kf7 24.Qa3 Bd8 25.Bd1 Rb8 26.Rb6 Nxb6 27.cxb6 Qb7 28.Ne5+ Kg8 29.Ba4 Qe7 30.Bb4 Qf6 31.Qc3 h6 32.Bd6 Rxb6 33.axb6 Bxb6 34.Qxc6 Qd8 35.Bc5 Bc7 36.Ng6 Kh7 37.Be7 Bd7 38.Bxd8 Bxc6 39.Bxc6 Bxd8 40.Nf8+ Kg8 41.Nxe6 1–0
- Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
- Create an account to access the games cloud.
And who had the idea to sacrifice the exchange on move 26 in this game?
| | | |
|---|
| José Raúl Capablanca | 92 |
| 36% |
| Alexander Aljechin | 75 |
| 30% |
| Wilhelm Steinitz | 44 |
| 17% |
| Emanuel Lasker | 39 |
| 15% |
Game 3
| Replay and check the LiveBook here |
Please, wait...
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.c3 Bd7 6.d4 g6 7.Bg5 f6 8.Be3 Nh6 9.0-0 Bg7 10.h3 Nf7 11.Nbd2 0-0 12.dxe5 dxe5 13.Bc5 Re8 14.Bb3 b6 15.Be3 Qe7 16.Qe2 Ncd8 17.Bd5 Bc6 18.c4 Bxd5 19.cxd5 f5 20.Nc4 Nb7 21.Rac1 Rad8 22.d6 Nbxd6 23.Nxd6 Rxd6 24.Qxa6 Qd7 25.Rc2 c5 26.a4 f4 27.Bd2 g5 28.Qb5 Qxb5 29.axb5 Rd3 30.Ra1 Nd6 31.Ra6 Rb8 32.Bc3 Nxe4 33.Bxe5 Bxe5 34.Nxe5 Rd1+ 35.Kh2 Nd2 36.h4 Re8 37.Nf3 Nxf3+ 38.gxf3 Ree1 39.Kh3 h5 0–1
- Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
- Create an account to access the games cloud.
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Game 4
| Replay and check the LiveBook here |
Please, wait...
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 d6 4.d4 Bd7 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.dxe5 dxe5 7.Bg5 Bb4 8.0-0 Bxc3 9.bxc3 h6 10.Bh4 Qe7 11.Qd3 a6 12.Ba4 Rd8 13.Qe3 g5 14.Bg3 b5 15.Bb3 Nh5 16.Ne1 Na5 17.Nd3 Nf4 18.f3 Rg8 19.Rfd1 Rg6 20.Bf2 Bc8 21.Qe1 Nxd3 22.cxd3 Nxb3 23.axb3 c5 24.b4 cxb4 25.cxb4 g4 26.Bc5 Qg5 27.fxg4 Qxg4 28.Ra2 Be6 29.Rf2 Bc4 30.Qf1 Bb3 31.Ra1 Qd7 32.Rf3 Qc6 33.Qf2 Rd7 34.Qb2 Qe6 35.d4 exd4 36.Qxb3 Qxe4 37.Qd3 Qd5 38.Qxg6 1–0
- Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
- Create an account to access the games cloud.
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If you want to you can explain your choice the in comments. It is, of course, easy to find out who played which game if you search for the games in the ChessBase Megabase. But this would spoil the fun, so if you do, please keep it to yourself! Moreover, we'll reveal who played which game soon. And part two of the "Exercises in Style" series will also follow soon.
