A World Championship, Mated

The game, move by move

An Indian, opened up

1. 1. d4 Queen’s pawn
2. 1… Nf6 The knight out
3. 2. c4 The second pawn
4. 2… b6 b6, for the diagonal
5. 3. Nc3 Developing
6. 3… Bb7 The bishop to b7
7. 4. f3 f3, propping up e4
8. 4… d5 d5, hitting the centre
9. 5. cxd5 Taken
10. 5… Nxd5 Recaptured with the knight
11. 6. e4 e4, the big centre
12. 6… Nxc3 The knights come off
13. 7. bxc3 Recaptured
14. 7… e6 e6, solid
15. 8. Bb5+ Check, from b5
16. 8… Nd7 Blocked with the knight
17. 9. Ne2 The second knight
18. 9… Be7 Developing
19. 10. O-O White castles
20. 10… a6 a6, asking

Two attacks on one wing

1. 11. Bd3 The bishop to d3
2. 11… c5 c5, at the centre
3. 12. Bb2 The bishop to b2
4. 12… Qc7 The queen to c7
5. 13. f4 f4 — White’s attack starts
6. 13… Nf6 The knight comes back
7. 14. Ng3 The knight to g3
8. 14… h5 h5 — and Black’s A rook’s pawn sent up the board on move fourteen with the king still in the middle. It is going to h4, and from h4 it takes on g3 and opens the file.
9. 15. Qe2 The queen to e2
10. 15… h4 h4, driving the knight
11. 16. Nh1 The knight to the corner Nh1 is where the knight has to go, and it is out of the game for eleven moves.
12. 16… Nh5 The knight to h5 Heading for g3, the square White’s knight has just been chased off.
13. 17. Qg4 The queen to g4
14. 17… O-O-O Black castles long The king goes to the queenside and the rooks connect on the side of the board where the pawns are moving.
15. 18. Rae1 The rook to e1
16. 18… Kb8 Kb8, tucked away

The centre closed

1. 19. f5 f5, pushing on
2. 19… e5 e5, closing the centre Black shuts the middle of the board so that neither white rook can be swung across. From here it is a race on one wing and Black is a move ahead of it.
3. 20. d5 d5, gaining space
4. 20… c4 c4, taking d3
5. 21. Bc2 The bishop to c2
6. 21… Bc5+ Check, from c5 And it is not just a check: the bishop lands on the diagonal that ends at g1, which is one of the squares in the mating net eighteen half-moves later.
7. 22. Nf2 Blocked with the knight
8. 22… g6 g6, hitting f5
9. 23. fxg6 Taken
10. 23… Rdg8 The rook to g8
11. 24. Bc1 The bishop steps back
12. 24… Bc8 The bishop comes home Bc8 gives up the long diagonal to bring the bishop to a square where it can be given away on h3.
13. 25. Qf3 The queen to f3
14. 25… Rxg6 The pawn on g6, taken

Down the h-file

1. 26. Kh1 Kh1 — off the diagonal
2. 26… Ng3+ The knight, on g3 Offered to the h-pawn, and taking it is the only way to answer the check. That is the whole point: the pawn on h4 recaptures and the h-file opens.
3. 27. hxg3 Taken
4. 27… hxg3+ The pawn takes back, with check
5. 28. Nh3 The knight blocks on h3
6. 28… Bxh3 The bishop takes it A bishop for a knight, and it drags the g-pawn onto h3 so that the file is completely clear.
7. 29. gxh3 Recaptured
8. 29… Rxh3+ The rook takes h3, with check Down the file that has been being opened since move fourteen.
9. 30. Kg2 Kg2
10. 30… Rh2# Checkmate, on h2 The rook steps to h2 held by the pawn on g3 — the pawn that took on g3 six half-moves ago. It covers f2, h3 and h1; the bishop on c5 covers f2 and g1; the rook on g6 covers g3; and f1 and f3 are White’s own rook and queen.