Play Chess Against Miguel Najdorf

Miguel Najdorf (1910-1997), the name behind the most played opening line in history, sits across the board. Set the strength, clock, color and starting position, then press Start game.

Play Najdorf now

Portrait of Miguel Najdorf — Miguel Najdorf, 1910-1997.

Black · Miguel Najdorf10:00

Choose the settings, then press Start game.

White · You10:00

Miguel Najdorfhistorical player

Preparing the board.

Set the game on the right. Start unlocks the board and starts the side-to-move clock.

Set up your game against Miguel Najdorf

Miguel Najdorf stays selected. Choose the playing strength, clock, color and starting position.

OpponentMiguel NajdorfStrength1500Clock10+5You playWhite

Opponent

Miguel Najdorf remains selected while you choose the settings for this game.

Miguel Najdorf1910-1997

Playing strength

Legend playing strength100-point steps

1500

1500Najdorf, 1500 Elo target2600

Time control

The first number is the starting time in minutes. The second is the increment after each completed legal move.

Your color

Starting position optional

All chess legends

Start game locks these settings and begins the selected clock. Change setup unlocks them for a new game.

About Miguel Najdorf

Miguel Najdorf (1910-1997) was a Polish-born grandmaster who became an Argentine legend. When Germany invaded Poland during the 1939 Buenos Aires Olympiad he stayed in South America; his family was murdered in the Holocaust, and his record blindfold displays were partly attempts to get word of his survival back to Europe. His ...a6 line in the Sicilian, the Najdorf Variation, became the most deeply studied opening system in chess history, the weapon of Fischer and Kasparov. He played with undimmed energy into his eighties and died in Spain on a chess trip at 87.

The Najdorf VariationHis 5...a6 Sicilian became the most studied opening line in chess history

Blindfold world recordPlayed 45 blindfold games simultaneously in Sao Paulo in 1947

Eight Argentine titlesWon the championship of Argentina eight times after settling in Buenos Aires

Zurich 1953 CandidatePlayed the great Candidates tournament in Zurich, his closest approach to a title match

1910
Born in Warsaw
Mieczysław Najdorf was born on 15 April 1910 in Warsaw, later known to the chess world as Miguel.
1939
War strands him in Argentina
Playing for Poland at the Buenos Aires Olympiad when Germany invaded, he chose to stay in South America.
1943
Forty boards blindfolded
Set a world blindfold record with forty simultaneous games in Rosario, hoping word of his survival would reach family in Europe.
1945
Loss of his family
After the war he learned that his parents, wife and daughter had been murdered in the Holocaust.
1947
Record raised to 45
Extended his own blindfold world record to forty-five boards in Sao Paulo.
1950
Grandmaster
Among the twenty-seven players awarded the new grandmaster title when FIDE introduced it.
1953
Candidate in Zurich
Played the great Zurich Candidates tournament, his closest approach to a world title match.
1997
Died on a chess trip
Died in Malaga, Spain on 4 July 1997, still traveling and playing at 87. The Sicilian line he pioneered outlives him everywhere.