The Knight on a8

The game, move by move

Two Knights, and a pawn in the middle

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. Bc4 The bishop at f7
6. 3… Nf6 The second knight
7. 4. d4 d4, at once
8. 4… exd4 Taken
9. 5. O-O White castles rather than recapture
10. 5… d5 d5, hitting the bishop
11. 6. exd5 Taken
12. 6… Nxd5 Recaptured with the knight
13. 7. Bxd5 The bishops and knights come off
14. 7… Qxd5 The queen takes on d5 She is in the middle of the board on move seven and she stays out for the whole game. It ends with her on h1.

The knight goes for the rook

1. 8. Nc3 The knight out, at the queen
2. 8… Qh5 The queen to h5 Onto the diagonal and the file that decide it: h5, h2, h1. She only ever moves along them again.
3. 9. Qe2+ Check on e2 And the queen stays on e2 for the rest of the game. At the end she is one of the pieces blocking her own king’s escape.
4. 9… Be7 The bishop blocks
5. 10. Nb5 The knight to b5, at c7
6. 10… O-O Black castles and lets it go The rook on a8 is offered rather than defended. Alapin has counted the four moves the knight will need and decided he has better ones.
7. 11. Nxc7 The pawn on c7, taken
8. 11… Bd6 The bishop steps to d6, at h2

The bishop takes h2

1. 12. Nxa8 The rook, taken on a8 The exchange won, and the knight is now on the far corner of the board. It never moves again, and every square it could move to is behind the position.
2. 12… Bxh2+ The bishop takes h2, with check Given for a pawn, to pull the king onto h1 — which is the square the queen mates him on fourteen half-moves later.
3. 13. Kh1 Kh1, taking nothing Taking the bishop loses the queen on e2 to the check from h2. So the king steps aside and the bishop simply walks away.
4. 13… Bd6+ The bishop back to d6, with check
5. 14. Kg1 Kg1
6. 14… Bg4 The bishop to g4, at f3
7. 15. Rd1 The rook to d1
8. 15… Ne5 The knight to e5, at f3 Two pieces on f3 and a queen on h5 behind them, against a king on g1 with a knight in the far corner.

Mated on f1

1. 16. Rd3 The rook lifts to d3
2. 16… Nxf3+ The knight takes f3, with check A knight for a pawn. Taking it opens the file the queen is on, which is the whole point.
3. 17. gxf3 Taken — and h1 is empty
4. 17… Qh2+ Check on h2
5. 18. Kf1 Kf1 — the last square
6. 18… Qh1# Checkmate, on h1 The queen drops into the corner. She covers g1, e1 and g2 herself; f2 is White’s own pawn; and e2 is White’s own queen, sitting on the square she was checked onto on move nine. The knight on a8 is as far from this as a piece can be.