The Kingly Immortal Game

The date was August 5th, 2018.  I was on Twitch watching a streamer by the name of "Bertrout".  He was accepting challenges on Chess.com so I obliged. 

It was just a normal game, me playing the London System and him loathing it. 

I was expecting to lose; it was not anything new to me to lose to a 1900-2000 expert.  Then it happened.  He castled queenside, and I ended up in a deep think in the following position:

I thought I saw a check with my knight, but he could just play Kb8, and my knight would get snapped off by the pawn on b7 after Nc6+.  I quickly processed all the other possibilities, or as many as I could in a 5 minute game.  Then I went back to the knight check line:

16. Na7+...Kb8 17. Nc6+...bxc6 18. Qxa6

A knight sacrifice was on the table, and I was even in material.  Did I want to go down 2 pawns for a better position?  It was really my only chance at mate, although it was nowhere in sight.  He played a calm and cool Qd6; his clock under 30 seconds.

Then it happened.  I found an offer he couldn't refuse: 19. Ra3

Lose the Queen or lose the game.

He chose the former, and ended up losing on time.  The game was not perfect.  I was happy just playing a fellow streamer, let alone getting a win.

I didn't think anything of it, and went along with my normal day.  He streamed again, but was not accepting challenges.  Instead, he was giving a lesson about chess history.  I said "hi" to the chat and tuned in.  A minute or so later, Bertrout saw me in the chat, and went on one of his world famous rants. 

Now I knew about these rants, but I had no idea the topic: The Kingly Immortal Game.

I had seen the world famous immortal game, but was unsure how our game was immortal.  He went on to break down the game, praise my play, and explain my "immortal" rook lift to the viewers.

Now I know my games, let alone this one are not immortal.  They are anything but immortal.  Bertrout went on to explain the rook "maneuver" as part of my chess progress, and I did agree with him on that.  I was never into "rook lifts" until that day, and now it is a part of my repertoire.

We all have our "best" games we remember, but not everyone knows which of their games is truly immortal.  I encourage everyone, particularly those feeling burned or depressed about their chess, to find their "immortal game" whether it's online or OTB.

We all have immortal games.  We just don't know it.