Levitsky versus Marshall, also known as the Gold Coins Game, is a famous game of

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

played by

Stepan Levitsky Stepan (Stefan) Levitsky (Levitski, Lewitzki) (25 April 1876, in Serpukhov – 21 March 1924, in Glubokaya) was a Russian Chess Master. In 1899 he took third place in Moscow (All Russian Masters’ Tournament, first Russian Championship, Mikhail ...

and Frank Marshall. It was played in Breslau (now

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

) on July 20, 1912, during the master's tournament of the

DSB Congress The '' Deutscher Schachbund'' (DSB) was founded in Leipzig on 18 July, 1877. When the next meeting took place in the Schützenhaus on 15 July 1879, sixty-two clubs had become member of the chess federation. Hofrat Rudolf von Gottschall became Ch ...

. According to legend, after Marshall's winning last move of the game, gold coins were tossed onto the board by spectators, although this is contested by other accounts.

Game summary

After the game started with a

French Defence The French Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves: :1. e4 e6 This is most commonly followed by 2.d4 d5. Black usually plays ...c5 soon after, attacking White's and gaining on the . The French has a reputation for solidity ...

, Levitsky made some suboptimal moves, and then a big mistake allowing Marshall to win a . Levitsky tried to counterattack, but Marshall's unexpected winning move put his

queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

—his most valuable piece—on a square where it could be captured by three of Levitsky's pieces. Legend says that this move immediately triggered a shower of gold.

The "shower of gold"

It is unclear whether the legend that the winning queen move triggered a shower of gold coins is true. Marshall insisted that "the spectators ... threw gold pieces on isboard at the conclusion of isbrilliant win over Levitsky", but

Israel Horowitz Israel Albert Horowitz (often known as I. A. Horowitz or Al Horowitz) (November 15, 1907 – January 18, 1973) was an American International Master of chess. He is most remembered today for the books he wrote about chess. In 1989, he was indu ...

reported that "Marshall's wife, Caroline, disclaims even a shower of pennies."

Eric Schiller Eric Schiller (March 20, 1955 – November 3, 2018) was an American chess player, trainer, arbiter and one of the most prolific authors of books on chess in the 20th century. Early life and education Schiller was born in New York City. He atten ...

wrote, "others say they were just paying off their wagers."

The game

White: Stefen Levitsky Black: Frank Marshall

Opening Opening may refer to: Types of openings * Hole * A title sequence or opening credits * Grand opening of a business or other institution * Inauguration * Keynote * Opening sentence * Opening sequence * Opening statement, a beginning statemen ...

: French Defence ('' ECO'' C10)
Tournament: DSB Congress XVIII 1912 1. d4 e6 2. e4 d5 3. Nc3 c5 :A theoretically suspect line, favored by Marshall at the time but now largely abandoned. White should play 4.exd5 exd5 5.dxc5 d4 6.Ne4, and Black will struggle to regain the pawn. But Levitsky's 4.Nf3 is reasonable. 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. exd5 exd5 6. Be2 Nf6 7. 0-0 Be7 :Levitsky's idea is to make the black bishop move again. 8. Bg5 0-0 9. dxc5 Be6 10. Nd4 Bxc5 11. Nxe6 :Pete Tamburro is highly critical of this move, which exchanges the knight for the bishop, saying, "Marshall has an open line for his king rook, and he will threaten e5 with a beautiful ." 11... fxe6 12. Bg4 Qd6 13. Bh3 Rae8 14. Qd2 Bb4 :Black

pins A pin is a device, typically pointed, used for fastening objects or fabrics together. Pins can have the following sorts of body: *a shaft of a rigid inflexible material meant to be inserted in a slot, groove, or hole (as with pivots, hinges, an ...

the knight to White's queen. 15. Bxf6 Rxf6 16. Rad1 Qc5 :Increasing the pressure on c3. Levitsky "figures that Black's threatened 17...Bxc3 18.Qxc3 Qxc3 would give him a lost endgame because of the doubled c-pawns, so he decides to make his queen more active ith 17.Qe2" 17. Qe2 Bxc3 18. bxc3 Qxc3 :Black wins a pawn. 19. Rxd5 :White regains his pawn, because of the pin on the e-pawn by White's queen (if 19...exd5 then mate follows: 20.Qxe8+ Rf8 21.Be6+ Kh8 22.Qxf8). 19... Nd4 20. Qh5 :A better choice would have been 20.Qe4 Rf4 21.Qe5 h6. 20... Ref8 :Marshall doubles his rooks on the f-, and, because he has removed the pin on his pawn, threatens 21...exd5. He also threatens 21...Rxf2 because 22.Rxf2?? would allow 22...Qe1+ 23.Rf1 Qxf1#. 21. Re5 :Levitsky moves his rook to a safe square and defends e1, but Tamburro notes that 21...Rxf2 was still possible because 22.Rxf2 loses to 22...Qa1+. Marshall, however, "has a greater treat in store". 21... Rh6 22. Qg5 :The placement of the queen means White's g2-pawn is overloaded with preventing the knight

fork In cutlery or kitchenware, a fork (from 'pitchfork') is a utensil, now usually made of metal, whose long handle terminates in a head that branches into several narrow and often slightly curved tines with which one can spear foods either to h ...

22...Nf3+ and defending the bishop, so Marshall wins a piece with his next move. 22... Rxh3 23. Rc5 Qg3 (diagram) :Black moves his queen where it may be captured three ways. Some annotators have given this move three exclamation marks ("!!!").

Tim Krabbé Hans Maarten Timotheus "Tim" Krabbé (born 13 April 1943) is a Dutch journalist, novelist and chess player. Krabbé was born in Amsterdam. His writing has appeared in most major periodicals in the Netherlands. Once a competitive cyclist, he is kn ...

considers it the third-most stunning move of all time. Black threatens ...Qxh2#. All three ways of capturing the queen lose, and other escape attempts fail as well: :*24.hxg3 Ne2# :*24.fxg3 Ne2+ 25.Kh1 Rxf1# (a

back-rank mate In chess, a back-rank checkmate (also known as a corridor mate) is a checkmate delivered by a rook or queen along the opponent's (that is, the closest to them) in which the mated king is unable to move up the board because the king is blocked ...

) :*any move by White's rook on f1 loses to 24...Qxh2+ 25.Kf1 Qh1# :*24.f4 (or 24.f3) Ne2+ 25.Kh1 Qxh2# :*24.Qe5 Nf3+ 25.Kh1 Rxh2# :*24.Qxg3 (relatively best) Ne2+ 25.Kh1 Nxg3+ 26.Kg1 (if 26.fxg3 Rxf1#) Nxf1 27.gxh3 Nd2 with an easily won endgame, or 26...Ne2+ 27.Kh1 followed by moving the rook on h3 away. 0–1 :Levitsky

resigned Resignation is the formal act of relinquishing or vacating one's office or position. A resignation can occur when a person holding a position gained by election or appointment steps down, but leaving a position upon the expiration of a term, or ...

References

Bibliography * * * * * * *{{cite web, url=http://timkr.home.xs4all.nl/chess/fant100.htm#3 , title=The 110 Most Fantastic Moves Ever Played, part 11: The top ten. , last=Krabbé , first=Tim , authorlink=Tim Krabbé , date=November 20, 1998 , access-date=January 2, 2012 Chess games 1912 in chess 1912 in Poland History of Wrocław July 1912 sports events in Europe

Game summary

The "shower of gold"

The game

See also

References