Chess History in a Nutshell 113 – A brilliancy
In this "History in a Nutshell" series, we’ve explored many important and high-profile figures from chess history. Regular viewers may have noticed that I’ve tried to place each player within the spirit of their time—Zeitgeist—while also giving a nod to our present era.
Now that we, in the year 2025, have access to extremely powerful chess engines—many times stronger than the best human players—we're able to make fairly objective assessments of the quality of historical moves and games. By analyzing nearly all games and fragments with Stockfish (in various versions), we've been able to make accurate evaluations.
Although we've identified many inaccuracies and mistakes in the play of the old masters, the beauty of their strategic ideas and complex attacking concepts remains largely untouched. And that, ultimately, is what chess is all about: original gameplay, brilliant concepts—such as the principle of prophylaxis and Nimzowitsch’s Hemmungsstrategie.
Modern top players are buoyed by this wealth of accumulated knowledge and experience, and they are fortunate to acquire it at a much faster pace thanks to computers. It’s no surprise, then, that chess welcomed an 18-year-old world champion in 2024—the Indian prodigy Gukesh (see episode UbM 208).
As this series nears its end, I’d like to present a few final examples from both past and present that capture the splendor of our game. Take a moment to sit back—here comes a game that already holds eternal value.
The winner: the young Chinese prodigy Wei Yi (whom I also featured in a separate episode: UbM 227). Most of the commentary on this game is by IM Sagar Shah.
“There is something about the way this Chinese kid plays. He doesn’t just beat his opponents—he crushes them. And his combinations are so crisp that you're left with this simple question in your head: ‘How does he do it against the best in the world?’ Have a look at this game against Bruzon Batista, which many have called the ‘Modern Day Immortal Game.’”
— IM Sagar Shah
In the position we’re about to examine, White has just played Nc3–d5, and Black responded with ...Nf6–d5. Can you guess what stunning move White came up with next?
This week’s show (for Premium Members only)
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