The Peruvian Immortal is the name given to a chess game played by the Peruvian master (later grandmaster) Esteban Canal against an unknown amateur in a simultaneous exhibition he gave at Budapest in 1934. In just 14 moves, Canal sacrificed both his rooks and his queen, finishing with Boden's mate. Julius du Mont calls it, "A charming game." Irving Chernev writes, "In 13 moves, Canal sacrifices both Rooks and his Queen—and then mates on his 14th move! ... A man might play a million games of chess and never duplicate Canal's feat." Fred Reinfeld writes, "When Anderssen sacrificed two Rooks, the Queen etc. against Kieseritzky, the finished product was described as the immortal game'. It might be more accurate to call it an immortal game', for since that time there have been many claimants to the title. Not the least deserving is [this] little gem, on which Canal may have lavished something less than five minutes. The game has the blazing quality of a Liszt improvisation."

The game

White: Esteban Canal Black: Opening: Scandinavian Defense (ECO B01) Budapest 1934 '''1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 c6 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. Bf4 e6 7. h3 Bxf3 8. Qxf3 Bb4 9. Be2 Nd7 10. a3 0-0-0''' (diagram) 11. axb4 11... Qxa1+ 12. Kd2 12... Qxh1 '''13. Qxc6+! bxc6 14. Ba6# '''