Traps, Tricks & Mistakes: Zukertort’s Checkmate

Today’s example is a short game which was played more than 150 years ago and lasted only 12 moves.
A chess game ending in less than 25 moves is considered a miniature.
The player losing that kind of games usually makes at least one critical mistake that quickly leads to a hopeless position.
Contenders in today’s game are Johannes Zukertort and Adolf Anderssen who are representative players from the romantic era of chess.
Zukertort (1842-1888) was a Polish chess master and one of the leading world players for most of the 1870s and 1880s.
Anderssen (1818-1879) was a German chess player. He became the most successful tournament player in Europe winning over half the events where he played. He achieved most of these successes when he was over the age of 50.

Impressive that a player like Anderssen could make such mistakes and lose a game in only 12 moves!!

Nairobi Chess Club site is closed until further notice due to the COVID-19 crisis and all chess events in Kenya are cancelled.
But if you want to play chess, you are lucky. Our virtual Chess.com club organizes regularly online tournaments and matches. Register and join the events running there.
Meanwhile, to get updated about this crisis check the website World Health Organization which includes links to country-specific information.