The Queen on e6

The game, move by move

A French, exchanged

1. 1. e4 King’s pawn
2. 1… e6 The French
3. 2. d4 The centre
4. 2… d5 d5, the point of e6
5. 3. Nc3 Developing
6. 3… Nf6 The knight out
7. 4. exd5 Taken
8. 4… Nxd5 Recaptured with the knight
9. 5. Ne4 The knight to e4
10. 5… f5 f5, driving it It gains a tempo and it takes e6 and g6 away from Black’s own pieces. Both of those squares matter in six moves.
11. 6. Ng5 The knight to g5
12. 6… Be7 Developing
13. 7. N5f3 Back to f3
14. 7… c6 c6, solid

Two knights at the king

1. 8. Ne5 The knight to e5 The outpost. Nothing can take it and nothing can chase it, and it is the piece that opens the position.
2. 8… O-O Black castles
3. 9. Ngf3 The second knight to f3
4. 9… b6 b6, for the diagonal
5. 10. Bd3 The bishop to d3
6. 10… Bb7 The bishop to b7
7. 11. O-O White castles
8. 11… Re8 The rook to e8
9. 12. c4 c4, holding d5
10. 12… Nf6 The knight back to f6
11. 13. Bf4 The bishop to f4 Aimed at h6 and g5 — the two squares that cover the king’s escape at the end.
12. 13… Nbd7 The second knight out
13. 14. Qe2 The queen to e2 On the file, behind a rook and two knights. The whole position is one move from being opened.
14. 14… c5 c5, on the queenside The last quiet move of the game, and it is played on the wrong side of the board.

The knight on f7

1. 15. Nf7 The knight, on f7 It attacks the queen and the rook and it is not check. Taking it opens the e-file onto a king who is about to be standing on it.
2. 15… Kxf7 Taken
3. 16. Qxe6+ The queen, on e6 Offered to a bishop, a knight and a king at once. The bishop on b7 is blocked by its own knight on d7; the knight on d7 is holding f6 and f8; and the king cannot take because of the knight on f3.

Mated on g6

1. 16… Kg6 The king walks to g6 The only square: f7 and e7 and f8 are all covered, and every one of the pieces that should be guarding this king is somewhere else.
2. 17. g4 g4 — the last preparation A pawn move in the middle of a mating attack. It covers h5, which is the one square the king would otherwise have.
3. 17… Be4 The bishop comes to e4 Attacking the queen at last, and there is no time.
4. 18. Nh4# Checkmate, on h4 The knight steps to h4 and the king on g6 has nothing. The bishop on f4 covers h6 and g5; the pawn on g4 covers h5; the queen on e6 covers f7; and f6, g7, h7 and f5 are all Black’s own men.