Both Wings at Once

The game, move by move

King’s Indian Attack

1. 1. e4 King’s pawn
2. 1… e6 The French
3. 2. d3 A pawn, not a push d3 rather than d4. White declines the big centre and sets up the King’s Indian Attack — the same formation Black plays against 1.d4, a move earlier and reversed.
4. 2… d5 Taking the space instead
5. 3. Nd2 The knight to d2
6. 3… Nf6 Developing
7. 4. g3 The long diagonal
8. 4… c5 A pawn to c5 Black takes the centre and the queenside. From here the two players are building on opposite sides of the board and barely interfere with each other for twenty moves.
9. 5. Bg2 The bishop, fianchettoed
10. 5… Nc6 The last knight out
11. 6. Ngf3 The second knight to f3
12. 6… Be7 The bishop to e7
13. 7. O-O White castles
14. 7… O-O And Black castles Twelve moves of development with no contact at all. Everything from here is a race.

e5 closes the centre

1. 8. e5 e5 — the centre closes The pawn steps past and locks the position. It also settles f6 for the rest of the game: it is the square White’s bishop mates from, held there by this pawn.
2. 8… Nd7 The knight steps back
3. 9. Re1 The rook to e1
4. 9… b5 Black starts on the queenside
5. 10. Nf1 The knight to f1 Backwards, on move ten, and it is not a retreat — f1 is on the way to e3 and then back to e4. The knight takes five moves to cross the board, and Black gains space on the other side of it the whole time.
6. 10… b4 The pawn to b4
7. 11. h4 h4 — the other attack starts The pawn that decides the game. Its job is h5, and h5 is what opens the file the rook mates on.
8. 11… a5 a5, pressing on
9. 12. Bf4 The bishop out to f4
10. 12… a4 a4
11. 13. a3 Meeting it with a3
12. 13… bxa3 Taken
13. 14. bxa3 Recaptured The queenside opens for Black, which is exactly what he has been playing for. He now has a file, a knight coming to a5 and every reason to think he is faster.
14. 14… Na5 The knight to a5

Two attacks, opposite wings

1. 15. Ne3 The knight to e3 Second leg of the regrouping, and it hits d5.
2. 15… Ba6 The bishop to a6
3. 16. Bh3 The bishop to h3 Pointing at e6, which is the pawn holding Black’s whole centre together.
4. 16… d4 d4, kicking the knight
5. 17. Nf1 Back to f1
6. 17… Nb6 The knight to b6
7. 18. Ng5 The knight to g5 White is now three pieces into an attack on the king. Black is three pawns into an attack on nothing in particular.
8. 18… Nd5 The knight to d5
9. 19. Bd2 The bishop back to d2
10. 19… Bxg5 Taking the knight Black trades off the piece nearest his king, which is the right instinct and costs him the bishop that was covering f6 and g7.
11. 20. Bxg5 Recaptured with the bishop
12. 20… Qd7 The queen to d7

The queen comes over

1. 21. Qh5 The queen to h5 She comes over in one move and does not go back. Every white piece is now on the kingside except the knight, and it is on its way.
2. 21… Rfc8 The rook to c8
3. 22. Nd2 The knight to d2
4. 22… Nc3 The knight lands on c3 Deep in White’s position, hitting a rook, and it has nothing to do with the black king. This is the move that shows both players are past the point of defending.
5. 23. Bf6 The bishop to f6 Onto the square the pawn on e5 has been holding since move eight. It takes g7 away and cannot be taken — the pawn is behind it.
6. 23… Qe8 The queen back to e8
7. 24. Ne4 The knight arrives on e4 Five knight moves since it left d2, and it is finally on the square it set out for.
8. 24… g6 g6, to stop the queen Forced, and it hands White the target. The pawn on g6 is what h5 comes to take.
9. 25. Qg5 The queen to g5
10. 25… Nxe4 Taking the knight
11. 26. Rxe4 Recaptured with the rook And the rook is now on the fourth rank, one move from the h-file. Nothing about that looks urgent yet.
12. 26… c4 A pawn to c4 Three moves from a new queen, and Black has counted the race. He is one move short of it.

h5, and a pawn on c2

1. 27. h5 h5 — the file opens The pawn arrives, and the one on g6 cannot be defended a second time. Everything Black plays from here is on the far side of the board.
2. 27… cxd3 The pawn takes d3
3. 28. Rh4 The rook swings to h4 Onto the file, behind the pawn. Every piece that mates is now on its final square except the bishop, and the bishop is one move from it.
4. 28… Ra7 The rook to a7
5. 29. Bg2 The bishop back to g2 Home, to the diagonal it started on — and the diagonal that ends at h7 by way of e4, which is the square it delivers mate from.
6. 29… dxc2 A pawn on c2 One square from a queen, and it is the last move Black gets. The pawn stays on c2 for the rest of the game and appears in the final diagram as a spectator.

The queen given away

1. 30. Qh6 The queen to h6 Threatening mate on h7. Black has one defence and it does not work.
2. 30… Qf8 Guarding h7 with the queen
3. 31. Qxh7+ The queen, given away on h7 She has to be taken — and taking her puts the king on the file the rook is standing on.
4. 31… Kxh7 Forced
5. 32. hxg6+ The pawn takes g6, with check The h-pawn that started forward on move eleven, cashing in. The king has one square.
6. 32… Kxg6 The king takes it
7. 33. Be4# Checkmate The bishop steps to e4 and the king has nothing: the rook on h4 holds three squares, the bishop on f6 holds two and cannot be taken because of the e5 pawn, and f7 is Black’s own pawn. The queen was given away two moves ago and the pawn on c2 never promoted.