Kasparov's 24.Rxd4

White to play

Garry Kasparov(white)vsVeselin Topalov(black)

Hoogovens · 1999

SPEED1.2s

Solution

The opening move of the most famous king hunt in modern chess.

Review

Kasparov plays 24.Rxd4!! sacrificing the rook to open the d-file with check. Over the next 20 moves the Black king is chased from a7 across the entire board to e1. Computers needed years to confirm the soundness — Kasparov saw it over the board.

See the full master game →

Opening: Pirc Defense

More tactics

Rubinstein's 22...Rxc3
Lasker's Double Bishop Sacrifice
Anand's 15.Bxe6 — World Championship
Botvinnik's 30.Ba3 — AVRO 1938

Themes

SacrificeKing HuntModern Classic