The Black Death, and a King on f4

The game, move by move

A Queen’s Gambit, and a pawn on d4

1. 1. d4 Queen’s pawn
2. 1… d5 The same claim
3. 2. c4 The Queen’s Gambit
4. 2… e6 Declined
5. 3. Nf3 The knight out — the one that mates It goes to f3 on the third move, to g5 on the seventeenth and to h3 on the twenty-first, where it gives mate.
6. 3… Nf6 And Black’s
7. 4. Nc3 The second knight
8. 4… c5 c5, striking back
9. 5. Bg5 The bishop to g5
10. 5… cxd4 The pawn taken in the middle
11. 6. Qxd4 The queen recaptures
12. 6… Nc6 Developing
13. 7. Qh4 The queen to h4 Off the middle and onto the diagonal that ends at f6 — the square the game is decided on.
14. 7… d4 d4, in her way
15. 8. O-O-O White castles long The king goes to the other wing from everything that is about to happen, which is why the mate takes place in front of his own untouched pawns.
16. 8… e5 e5, propping the pawn

The knight to d5

1. 9. e3 e3, at the pawn chain
2. 9… Bc5 The bishop out
3. 10. exd4 Taken
4. 10… exd4 And taken back
5. 11. Nd5 The knight to d5 Onto the square nothing can chase it from, and pointing at f6 where the queen is already looking.
6. 11… Qa5 The queen to a5, out of the way
7. 12. Bxf6 The bishop takes on f6 Given for a knight, to force a pawn onto f6 so that taking it opens the file.
8. 12… gxf6 Recaptured with the g-pawn
9. 13. Nxf6+ The knight takes f6, with check The second piece on the square, and the king has to move: g8 and e8 are both covered.
10. 13… Kf8 Kf8

A rook given on e6

1. 14. Re1 The rook to e1
2. 14… Be6 The bishop to e6, blocking
3. 15. Rxe6 The rook takes it A rook for a bishop. What it buys is the pawn on f7 being pulled to e6, and once f7 is empty the checks begin.
4. 15… fxe6 Taken — and f7 is open

The king walks to f4

1. 16. Qh6+ Check, on h6 The first of six in a row. There is no square on the back rank left and every reply is forced.
2. 16… Kf7 Kf7
3. 17. Ng5+ The knight to g5, with check
4. 17… Ke7 Ke7
5. 18. Qg7+ The queen to g7, with check
6. 18… Kd6 Kd6
7. 19. Qd7+ The queen to d7, with check The king is on the sixth rank on move nineteen with almost every one of his own pieces still at home.
8. 19… Ke5 Ke5 — the middle of the board
9. 20. Qxe6+ The pawn on e6, taken with check The queen takes the pawn that came from f7 fourteen half-moves ago and drives the king down onto the fourth rank.
10. 20… Kf4 Kf4 — as far as he goes
11. 21. Nh3# Checkmate, on h3 The knight steps back to h3 and covers g5. The queen on e6 holds e5, f5, e4 and g4; the knight on f6 also holds e4 and g4; f3 is White’s own pawn on g2’s square; and g3 and e3 are held by the pawns on f2 and h2 that have not moved all game.