Recently I downloaded a World Championship database and was wondering if anyone could recommend a few matches for study. In the past I've gone through Fischer/Spassky, Tal/Botvinnik, the "unofficial" Morphy/Andersson, and Anand/Topalov. Fischer's probably my favorite player, but his match with Spassky was too one sided. I enjoyed playing through Tal/Botvinnik the most, I didn't look at a game table before playing it through, so there were definitely some games that raised my heart rate.

If it's a complete WC base then the Steinitz v Zugertort and Lasker are good.
Lasker v Tarrasch is enthralling. Alekhine v Euwe (find the The Pearl of Zandvoort).

The things you find in these old games is bread and butter knowledge to GM's
and IM's so much so often when they note up a game they take it for granted
the reader knows what they know.
Consequently you get the 'Whoosh right over your head' effect.

Take a stroll in the history chess when the Evans Gambit was
regular fare in a WC match.

Here is the Pearl of Zandvoort/ Euwe v Alekhine. 1935.
Watch Euwe's Kings's Knight win this game. It makes 20 of the 47 moves.

Great game.
Love the knight maneuver: Nb4-c2-e3-f5-d6-e4-d2

As if Euwe was playing checkers.Or draughts.What's the differece between those two anyway?

I always liked Lasker-Schlechter,great drama,and when Smyslov took the title from Botwinnik,great games.

toet.

But enough of those games.

Open the door of Pandora's Box which is the RHP database.
Look at the White Knight in the tail end of this game.
Would would have thought that one wee Knight move would make
one so happy but I bet White did somersaults after this one.

germanshepherddog - Checkagain Game 1757703

There is much to be learned from the Botvinnik Petrosian match.

Originally posted by greenpawn34
But enough of those games.

Open the door of Pandora's Box which is the RHP database.
Look at the White Knight in the tail end of this game.
Would would have thought that one wee Knight move would make
one so happy but I bet White did somersaults after this one.

[b]germanshepherddog - Checkagain Game 1757703

[pgn]
[FEN "8/8/8/ppn ...[text shortened]... 7. Nc5+
Ka3 8. Ne6 b4 9. Nd4 b3 10. Nc2+[/pgn]

The Knight has to be taken - stalemate.[/b]

My favorite was the 1987 match between Kasparov and Karpov in Seville. I was a senior in college, and my roommate and I would check the paper each game day to cut the game scrore and play it out on a board. By this time much of the politics had settled, and the chess was once again coming to the fore.

Game 2 had the novelty on move 9 that Karpov had planned for Korchnoi in his earlier matches, but never used.

Game 24 saw Karpov with a one point edge, and Kasparov needing to win just to tie and save the crown. And it what might have been the most important game he had played up to that point, he turns to ... the Reti!

Both played spectacularly, and a tie score was a fitting result.

Paul

Originally posted by National Master Dale
I guess I`m not psychic since I was predicting white was going to win that ending with a smothered mate.

I've wanted to go over a Kasparov/Karpov match but I'm just a bit too intimidated... I imagine there level of play is far far beyond my ken, so I probably wouldn't gain much from studying those matches. At least with Fischer/Spassky and Tal/Botvinnik I had books to accompany me. I think I'm going to take GP's advice and go way back to the time of Steinitz... the database I have has Steinitz's own annotations which should be interesting. I don't think I've ever played through a single Steinitz game, and searching Amazon, I don't see a single (decent) book on his games... the WC that time forgot?