The Rook Nobody Should Have Taken

The game, move by move

The Berlin

1. 1. e4 King’s pawn
2. 1… e5 The same claim
3. 2. Nf3 The knight out
4. 2… Nc6 And Black’s
5. 3. Bb5 The Ruy Lopez
6. 3… Nf6 The Berlin Defence
7. 4. d4 d4, at once
8. 4… exd4 Taken
9. 5. e5 e5, hitting the knight
10. 5… Ne4 To e4, in the middle
11. 6. Nxd4 The pawn taken back
12. 6… Be7 Developing

A rook for a knight’s freedom

1. 7. O-O White castles
2. 7… Nxd4 The knights come off
3. 8. Qxd4 Recaptured with the queen
4. 8… Nc5 The knight steps back to c5
5. 9. f4 f4 — the pawns start walking Two pawns abreast on e5 and f4, and a queen behind them. Everything that happens for the next fifteen moves is those pawns.
6. 9… b6 b6, to hold c5
7. 10. f5 f5, past the square
8. 10… Nb3 The knight goes for the rook Nb3 attacks the queen and the rook at once. It wins the exchange and it is the losing move.
9. 11. Qe4 The queen steps to e4 She leaves the rook to be taken and keeps the diagonal at h7, which is the square she takes eight moves from now.
10. 11… Nxa1 The rook, taken A rook for a knight, and the knight is in the corner behind a pawn on a2. It never moves again, and Black plays the rest of the game with one fewer piece than the board says he has.

Two pawns up the board

1. 12. f6 f6 — past the pawns The pawn steps beside the king’s position and is not taken by the g-pawn, because taking opens the file.
2. 12… Bc5+ Check, from c5
3. 13. Kh1 Kh1
4. 13… Rb8 The rook to b8
5. 14. e6 e6, the second pawn Two white pawns on the sixth rank on move fourteen, with Black’s king still on e8 and his rooks still on the back rank.
6. 14… Rg8 The rook to g8
7. 15. Qxh7 The queen takes h7
8. 15… Rf8 The rook back to f8

Mate on f7

1. 16. exf7+ The pawn takes f7, with check
2. 16… Rxf7 Recaptured
3. 17. Re1+ Check, down the e-file
4. 17… Be7 The bishop comes back to block It is the only interposition, and it fills in one more of the squares around Black’s own king.
5. 18. Qg8+ The queen to g8, with check Offered to the rook on f7 — and the rook cannot take her, because it is holding f7 against the pawn.
6. 18… Rf8 Blocked with the rook The rook steps to f8 to block the check and stops guarding f7 in the same move.
7. 19. f7# Checkmate, by the pawn f7 is covered by the queen on g8 so the king cannot take it. f8 is his own rook, d8 his own queen, e7 his own bishop, d7 his own pawn — and the knight that took the rook is still on a1.