24.Rxd4!! - The Move of The Game of The Century

I've known how to play chess since I was a kid. We played chess at home, in school, and at my college. Now I play chess with my computer, and I also play chess online. But somehow I had never gotten around to understanding chess by way of its notations. Oh how I wish I had learnt that while I was still a school going kid.

What got me interested in learning about chess notations was a random search I did one day for 'the greatest game of chess ever played'. Too much free time at hand I guess. The chess match that seemed to have been called 'The Game of the Century' turned out to be the one played between Garry Kasparov and Veselin Topalov in 1999. I watched the very first youtube video that my quick google search returned. In this video, Kevin from 'thechesswebsite.com' goes move by move and explains the possible rationale behind both Kasparov's and Topalov's moves. One of the top comments for this video says, "24 minutes flew by". And I sure had to agree. Its an engrossing game of chess and some of Kasparov's moves were beyond comprehension when he made them but turned out to be brilliantly well thought out.

For a few days I just kept finding myself thinking about this game, and revisiting this video time and again to try to go through different scenarios had Kasparov made a different move or had Topalov responded with a different move. It was during one of those days that I searched for Kasparov's impression of this game that he played with Topalov. I was happy to locate a chess website that had this game move by move, complete with annotation from Kasparov - with his explanations of the moves that he made, the moves that he didn't make, and the moves he thought Topalov could have made to save the game. But my happiness was shortlived, for I wasn't particularly conversant in the notations of chess. That is when I decided to learn the notations of the game of chess. And I have to say, now that I am a little conversant in chess lingo, I am able to enjoy chess all the more.

If at some point in your life you've played chess, and still like to play chess, watch the video with commentary about this game below. If on the other hand you are a die hard chess fan, like the one I am turning into now, go through the entire game with Kasparov's annotated commentary here: http://medlem.spray.se/tal0/replay/kas-top.html. Also, you'd ask what is so special about the move 24.Rxd4!! - Kasparov sacrificed his Rook with this move, all in the build up to some beautiful lines and ultimate resignation by Topalov. You shall have to see for yourself why this move was so crucial in this match.

For those of you who already have kids or are expecting some soon: for god sake teach your kids how to play chess. They will thank you for that. If it were upto me, I'd gift each kid and his/her family 'checkmate! my first chess book' by Garry Kasparov.

Have fun chessheads.

The Chess Game Of The Century: