One of Rashid Nezhmetdinov’s most beautiful games, which isn’t as well-known as some of his other masterpieces, partly because it was played in a simultaneous exhibition. In this game, Nezhmetdinov’s opponent followed an opening line recommended by the Opening Encyclopedia. However, with fantastic sacrifices, Nezhmetdinov refutes the line, which was then corrected in the next edition of the encyclopedia.

Nezhmetdinov vs Lusikal, Kazan 1951

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 c5 7.Bb5+ Nc6 8.d5 Qa5 9.Qa4 Qxc3+ 10.Ke2 Bd7 11.dxc6 bxc6 12.Bxc6 Rd8 13.Qb3 Qxa1 14.Bb2 Qb1 15.Nf3 Qxh1 16.Ne5 e6 17.Bxd7+ Rxd7 18.Qb8+ Rd8 19.Qb5+ Ke7 20.Qb7+ Kf6 21.Qxf7+ Kg5 22.Nf3+ Kh5 23.g4+ Kxg4 24.Qxe6+ Kf4 25.Be5+ Kxe4 26.Ng5# 1-0