In 1999 Kasparov kicked things off with Wijk aan Zee where he won his masterpiece against Topalov and won the tournament with a record score. The rest of 1999 was equally impressive, with a huge victory at Linares and undefeated performances at Sarajevo and Siemens, allowing Kasparov to reach a record rating of 2851, a mark not equaled until Carlsen surpassed it 14 years later in 2013.

The famous immortal game features an incredible rook sacrifice on move 24 that Topalov should have turned down, but once the sacrifice was accepted, Kasparov was able to launch a king hunt that hinged on a breathless cascade of sacrificial checkmating ideas.

Garry Kasparov - Veselin Topalov