One Knight, Five Captures

The game, move by move

A pawn for the centre

1. 1. e4 King’s pawn
2. 1… e5 The same claim
3. 2. Bc4 The bishop first The Bishop’s Opening: c4 before the knight comes out, so that f7 is looked at from the second move.
4. 2… Bc5 The same idea back
5. 3. d4 d4, offered A pawn in the middle that cannot be held, given so that the bishop is pulled off the diagonal it wanted.
6. 3… Bxd4 Taken with the bishop
7. 4. Nf3 The knight out — the one to watch It goes to e5, f7, h8, f7, g5 and h7, taking something on four of them.
8. 4… Qf6 The queen to f6, guarding
9. 5. O-O White castles
10. 5… Bb6 The bishop back to b6 Onto the diagonal it is still standing on at the end, where it is doing nothing.
11. 6. Nc3 The second knight out
12. 6… c6 c6, quietly

The knight sets off

1. 7. Bg5 The bishop to g5, at the queen
2. 7… Qg6 The queen sidesteps
3. 8. Nxe5 The knight takes e5 The first capture, and it comes with a discovered attack on the queen from the bishop on g5.
4. 8… Qxg5 The bishop, taken
5. 9. Nxf7 And the knight takes f7 The second. It forks the queen and the rook, and Black cannot take it — the king would step onto a square the bishop covers.
6. 9… Qc5 The queen steps away
7. 10. Bb3 The bishop to b3, keeping the diagonal It stands on b3 for the rest of the game, and at the end it is what covers g8 and f7.
8. 10… d5 d5, hitting the bishop
9. 11. Nxh8 The rook, taken The third capture. Black’s king has not moved and his rook on h8 is gone.
10. 11… Nf6 Developing

Both knights in Black’s half

1. 12. exd5 Taken in the middle
2. 12… cxd5 Recaptured
3. 13. Nxd5 The other knight takes d5 Both knights are now inside Black’s position and Black has castled with neither king nor rook.
4. 13… Nbd7 The last piece out
5. 14. Qe2+ Check, on the open file
6. 14… Kf8 The king to f8 The only square. He is mated on it eleven half-moves later.
7. 15. Rae1 The rook to e1 Behind the queen, onto the file the king is stuck on. At the end it is the piece covering e7.
8. 15… a6 a6, waiting
9. 16. Nxf6 The knights come off
10. 16… Nxf6 Recaptured

Mated on f8

1. 17. Nf7 Out of the corner, to f7 The knight that took the rook comes back into the game. From f7 it goes to g5 and then to h7.
2. 17… Bd7 The bishop to d7
3. 18. Ng5 The knight to g5 Threatening the pawn on h7, which is the last thing between the knight and mate.
4. 18… Re8 The rook to e8, blocking
5. 19. Qxe8+ The queen takes the rook, with check She is given up for a rook so that the knight on e8 has to stand on the square that stops the king running.
6. 19… Nxe8 Taken — and now the king has nothing
7. 20. Nxh7# Checkmate, on h7 The knight takes a pawn and it is mate. e8 is Black’s own knight and g7 his own pawn; g8 and f7 are covered by the bishop that has stood on b3 since move ten; e7 by the rook on e1. Five captures by one knight, and the mate is the fifth.