Kasparov's Immortal: Kasparov v Topalov, Wijk aan Zee 1999

Garry Kasparov played this game against Veselin Topalov in round 4 of the Hoogovens tournament at Wijk aan Zee in January 1999. It is known as Kasparov's Immortal, and some consider it the best game ever played. Yasser Seirawan wrote of the combination that it was born of necessity but stunning all the same.

White to move after 23...Qd6. Kasparov's next move gives up a rook.

The whole game

Kasparov v Topalov, Wijk aan Zee 1999. Step through all 44 moves; Black resigned.

Topalov answered 1.e4 with 1...d6, a choice that led to a position Kasparov had never had in a classical game. Both sides castled queenside, Black's king went to a7, and the sacrifice came from there.

What Stockfish makes of it

We had Stockfish check every move. It confirms the sacrifice and finds that both players had better moves along the way, including one Kasparov missed.

24.Rxd4!!: the sacrifice

24.Rxd4!! cxd4 25.Re7+ Kb6 26.Qxd4+ Kxa5 27.b4+ Ka4: Black's king is driven up the board.

24.Rxd4 was Stockfish's first choice, but it doesn't win by force: with the best defence the position is about level. That defence was to decline the rook with 24...Kb6, as Kasparov later said himself, and Stockfish agrees: Black would have been slightly better. Topalov took it, later calling that "suicide", and after 24...cxd4 Stockfish rates White nearly three pawns better. 25.Re7+ and 26.Qxd4+ were each the only move that kept it.

28.Qc3: the stronger move Kasparov missed

White to move after 27...Ka4. 28.Ra7!! was much stronger than 28.Qc3.

Lubomir Kavalek was the first to point out that 28.Ra7!! was the stronger attack. Stockfish agrees, and by a long way: about five and three-quarter pawns better for White after 28.Ra7, against less than one after 28.Qc3. After the game move, Black had real chances to hold.

31...Kxa3 and Black's drawing chance

Black's king kept going forward, and that was a mistake too. Kasparov said 31...Rd1+ would have given Black much better drawing chances. Stockfish agrees: about one pawn worse for Black after 31...Rd1+, against two and a half after 31...Kxa3.

36.Bf1!! and 37.Rd7!!: the only moves

34.Qa1+ Kd2 35.Qb2+ Kd1 36.Bf1!! Rd2 37.Rd7!! Rxd7 38.Bxc4 bxc4 39.Qxh8.

From move 34 Kasparov had to find one move at a time. 34.Qa1+, 35.Qb2+, 36.Bf1, 37.Rd7 and 38.Bxc4 were each the only move that kept White's advantage; anything else at moves 34 to 36 would have left White losing. 36.Bf1 can't be taken: 36...Qxf1 allows mate. 37.Rd7 pins Black's rook and threatens mate on d2.

After 39.Qxh8 White has a queen for a rook and a pawn. Kasparov realised after the game that 39...Rf8 might have given Black drawing chances; Stockfish still rates White about three pawns better here. Topalov resigned after 44.Qa7, to applause from the audience.

How we checked

The moves are from Wikipedia's page on the game. We replayed every one with python-chess: all are legal.
The engine: Stockfish 16.1 checked every move at depth 22, and the key moments again at depth 26. "A pawn better" is Stockfish's measure of the position, not a count of material.
The history and the named opinions (Kasparov, Topalov, Seirawan, Kavalek) are from the Wikipedia article.

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