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Breslau, 20 July 1912

The Gold Coins Game

Stepan Levitsky – Frank Marshall · 0-1

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Result
0-1
Moves
23
Opening
French Defense: Paulsen Variation
The names end at
3... c5

Watch it on the mapFinal position on the map

The story

Played at the 1912 German Chess Federation congress in Breslau (today Wrocław), in a French Defense.

Marshall ends the game with one of the most famous moves ever played: 23...Qg3!!. The queen can be taken three different ways, and every one of them loses; Levitsky resigned.

Marshall said the spectators “threw gold pieces” onto the board after the move, which gave the game its name. Others doubted it — some said they were only paying off their bets — so the shower of gold is best taken as a legend.

The Gold Coins Game: the map where the opening names end
The position where the game leaves the named openings, with every game of the next four moves around it.

The moves

1.d4 e6 2.e4 d5 3.Nc3 c5 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.exd5 exd5 6.Be2 Nf6 7.O-O Be7 8.Bg5 O-O 9.dxc5 Be6 10.Nd4 Bxc5 11.Nxe6 fxe6 12.Bg4 Qd6 13.Bh3 Rae8 14.Qd2 Bb4 15.Bxf6 Rxf6 16.Rad1 Qc5 17.Qe2 Bxc3 18.bxc3 Qxc3 19.Rxd5 Nd4 20.Qh5 Ref8 21.Re5 Rh6 22.Qg5 Rxh3 23.Rc5 Qg3 0-1

Through the openings

  1. 1. d4Queen's Pawn Game
  2. 1... e6Horwitz Defense
  3. 2. e4French Defense: Normal Variation
  4. 2... d5French Defense
  5. 3. Nc3French Defense: Paulsen Variation
  6. 3... c5French Defense: Marshall Gambit

Source of the moves: en.wikipedia.org

More famous games

The Opera GameMorphy, Paris 1858Playing from a box at the opera, Morphy mates his two opponents in 17 moves. The Immortal GameAnderssen, London 1851Anderssen gives up both rooks, a bishop and his queen, then mates with the minor pieces he has left. The Evergreen GameAnderssen, Berlin 1852Anderssen sacrifices his queen and mates with a bishop; more than 170 years on, the game is still fresh. The Game of the CenturyD. Byrne – Fischer, New York 1956Thirteen-year-old Bobby Fischer gives up his queen and wins. Kasparov's ImmortalKasparov – Topalov, Wijk aan Zee 1999A rook sacrifice on move 24 starts a hunt that chases Black's king across the whole board. Deep Blue Beats KasparovDeep Blue – Kasparov, New York 1997The last game of the first match a computer won against the world champion, over in 19 moves. The Game Spassky ApplaudedFischer – Spassky, Reykjavik 1972Fischer almost never opened 1.c4; here he did, and at the end even Spassky joined the applause. The Octopus KnightKarpov – Kasparov, Moscow 1985Kasparov's knight digs in on d3 and paralyses White; that match made him world champion. Botvinnik's Bishop SacrificeBotvinnik – Capablanca, AVRO 1938Botvinnik beats former world champion Capablanca with a bishop sacrifice on move 30.