The Immortal Game
The idea: material is not the same as pieces that can reach the fight.
Read it
The same game for older readers
- The annotated game · ages 15-18
- For grown-ups · for grown-ups
Who is in this book
-
Warden Snare A trapped piece — close its safe squares one by one, and it falls where it stands from GambitTales -
Merle the Gleaner A hanging piece — a piece with no defender is a free piece (and the bait that only looks free) from GambitTales -
Mason the Interposer Interference — put a piece across the line between a defender and what it defends from GambitTales -
Kester the Finisher Checkmate — a check the king cannot escape, block or capture from GambitTales -
Sir Sidetrack Deflection — chase the guard off its duty, then take what it protected from GambitTales -
Inkling a child of the Green Names what she notices
Every recurring character has a short tune, so you can tell who is on stage before a word is said. The tunes play only when you tap, and the Reading Access sound switch turns them off.
The Honest Page
Which parts of this story are true, stretched or made up?
True
- Every move in this story is the game as it is usually published: Adolf Anderssen against Lionel Kieseritzky, twenty-three moves, mate.
- It was a casual game, played in London in 1851 during a break in the first international chess tournament. Source
- At the end, White had given up a bishop, both rooks and the queen. Black's two rooks and queen's bishop had never moved.
Stretched
- The story plays the game all the way to mate. What we simplified: Kieseritzky himself said the game ended before mate, and the last few moves may never have been played on the board. Versions also disagree about the order of some moves. Source
- It is called the Immortal Game. What we simplified: Nobody called it that in 1851. Ernst Falkbeer gave it the name in 1855. Source
Made up
- Captain Castle's academy, the re-staging and chess pieces who talk are made up.
Tell it back
Tell the story in your own words: who was there, what went wrong, and what they found out. Then the Immortal Game score sheet goes on your belt.
On your belt: the Immortal Game score sheet.
Your belt lives on this device. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Ring the hammer for someone
Pick this book for someone younger. The link carries only the book, and it will wait for them on the Green.