20 July 1912 (round 6 of the 18th DSB Congress) · Breslau (now Wrocław)

The Gold Coins Game: Levitsky vs Marshall, Breslau 1912

The Gold Coins Game is a 1912 chess game between Stepan Levitsky and Frank Marshall in Breslau, won by Marshall with Black through the queen sacrifice 23…Qg3!!. The legend says the audience showered Marshall with gold coins; the story is told as a legend, and the moves are the real game.

Date: 20 July 1912 (round 6 of the 18th DSB Congress)
Place: Breslau (now Wrocław)
Players: Frank Marshall (Black) vs Stepan Levitsky (White)
Result: 0-1 in 23 moves
Opening: French Defence (1.d4 e6 2.e4 d5 3.Nc3 c5)
On Chess History: You play Marshall, who tells the story himself

Play the story Interactive: the moves, the characters, the endings to find.

The moves

1.d4 e6 2.e4 d5 3.Nc3 c5 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.exd5 exd5 6.Be2 Nf6 7.O-O Be7 8.Bg5 O-O 9.dxc5 Be6 10.Nd4 Bxc5 11.Nxe6 fxe6 12.Bg4 Qd6 13.Bh3 Rae8 14.Qd2 Bb4 15.Bxf6 Rxf6 16.Rad1 Qc5 17.Qe2 Bxc3 18.bxc3 Qxc3 19.Rxd5 Nd4 20.Qh5 Ref8 21.Re5 Rh6 22.Qg5 Rxh3 23.Rc5 Qg3 0-1

After 22…Rxh3 White must defend against the threats, and 23…Qg3!! is a queen sacrifice that forces mate or a lost endgame. Engines show that 20.Qe4! was the better move for White in the middlegame.

The coins

The most colourful part of the story is the legend. Marshall wrote in My Fifty Years of Chess (1942) that the spectators “showered me with gold pieces” after the game. His wife denied it, and Czech witnesses spoke of bets being paid on the result. Nobody knows what happened, so the story tells it as a legend.

What is not a legend is the game: a quiet French Defence in which Marshall, a player known for his showmanship, wins by attack on the king’s side and an unexpected queen sacrifice.

The sacrifice that decides it

The rook has just taken White’s bishop on h3. Then 23…Qg3!! gives the queen for nothing: after 24.hxg3 Ne2# or 24.fxg3 Ne2+ 25.Kh1 Rxf1#, the knight and rooks finish the king.

The course shows the choice White has at move 23: 23.gxh3?? loses at once to Nf3+ and Nxg5, and 23.Rc5 Qg3!! gives Black the win with best play.

Questions and answers

Did Marshall really get gold coins?

Nobody can confirm it. Marshall himself wrote about it in 1942, his wife denied it, and other witnesses spoke of bets. Chess History tells it as a legend.

What is the key move of the Gold Coins Game?

23…Qg3!!, a queen sacrifice that mates or wins by force after 24.hxg3 Ne2# and the other replies.

Who won the Gold Coins Game?

Frank Marshall, with Black. The score is 0-1.

Can I play the Gold Coins Game for free?

Yes. On Chess History the whole game is free, from the first move of the course to 23…Qg3!! and the defence that holds out longest, with no account and no card. White’s other tries are in the Chess History Pass.

Sources and checks

Levitsky–Marshall, Breslau 1912 (score as in Wikipedia and chessgames.com)
Frank Marshall, My Fifty Years of Chess (1942)
Engine check on this site: Stockfish 17

The moves on this page are checked for legality, and the engine evaluations come from Stockfish 17. Where a game is more legend than fact, the story says so.