Steinitz v von Bardeleben, Hastings 1895: the rook nobody could take

Wilhelm Steinitz played this game in round ten of the Hastings tournament on 17 August 1895. His opponent was Curt von Bardeleben. The game won the tournament's first brilliancy prize, and it ended in an unusual way: von Bardeleben left the hall without resigning and lost on time.

White to move after 21...Ke8. Steinitz's rook is about to start checking.

The whole game

Steinitz v von Bardeleben, Hastings 1895. Step through all 25 moves played.

The opening is a Giuoco Piano. Black's king never castles, and once White's d-pawn breaks through, the king is caught on f7 with White's knight, queen and rooks coming.

What Stockfish makes of it

We had Stockfish check every move.

7...d5 and 10.Bg5: one inaccuracy each

Black to move after 7.Nc3. 7...Nxe4 wins a pawn and keeps Black better.

Taking the pawn with 7...Nxe4 would have left Black slightly better. After 7...d5 White is better by more than a pawn. Steinitz then played 10.Bg5; Stockfish prefers 10.Re1, which keeps about one and three-quarter pawns against about half a pawn after 10.Bg5.

16...c6: the move that lost

16...c6 17.d5! cxd5 18.Nd4 Kf7 19.Ne6: the knight lands on e6.

With 16...Kf7 Black would have been about level. 16...c6 lets White open the centre with 17.d5!, the only move that keeps White's advantage, and after 18.Nd4 and 19.Ne6 Black is losing. Stockfish rates White more than two pawns better after 16...c6, and about four and a half after 19...Rhc8.

22.Rxe7+!: the rook that can't be taken

22.Rxe7+! Kf8 23.Rf7+ Kg8 24.Rg7+ Kh8 25.Rxh7+: the rook gives check four times.

20.Qg4, 21.Ng5+ and 22.Rxe7+ were each the only move that kept White's advantage. After 22.Rxe7+ the rook gives check four times in a row, and Black can take it more than once, with the king or the queen. Each capture loses. If the queen takes, White exchanges rooks on c8 and keeps a winning attack. If the king takes on e7, 23.Qb4+ wins Black's rook; if it takes on g7, 25.Qxd7+ takes the queen and Stockfish finds a forced mate. Taking with the queen on move 22 was Black's most stubborn try, but White wins after that too, by more than four pawns.

How it ended

After 25.Rxh7+ von Bardeleben left the hall without resigning, and the game was given to Steinitz when his time ran out. Steinitz then showed the spectators how he would have won:

Steinitz's demonstration: 25...Kg8 26.Rg7+ Kh8 27.Qh4+ Kxg7 28.Qh7+ Kf8 29.Qh8+ Ke7 30.Qg7+ Ke8 31.Qg8+ Ke7 32.Qf7+ Kd8 33.Qf8+ Qe8 34.Nf7+ Kd7 35.Qd6#.

It is a beautiful mate, but it isn't forced. Stockfish finds that after 26.Rg7+ Black's best is to take the rook with 26...Qxg7, not 26...Kh8. White still wins, about six pawns ahead, but without a quick mate.

Accounts differ on why von Bardeleben walked out. One contemporary report says he was protesting against the long applause for winners, and the tournament committee then asked visitors not to applaud. Another says he had become despondent. Later stories, such as a resignation letter sent by special delivery, have no known source.

How we checked

The moves are from Edward Winter's article on the game and Wikipedia's page on the Hastings 1895 tournament, which agree; Steinitz's demonstration is from the Wikipedia page. We replayed every move with python-chess: all are legal, and the demonstration ends in mate.
The engine: Stockfish 16.1 checked every move at depth 22, and the key moments again at depth 24 to 26. "A pawn better" is Stockfish's measure of the position, not a count of material.
The history (the date, the round, the walkout and the accounts of it) is from Winter's article; the brilliancy prize from Wikipedia.

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