The Knight Given on g6

The game, move by move

The Scotch, and the knights off

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. d4 d4 — the Scotch
6. 3… exd4 Taken
7. 4. Bc4 The bishop to c4 Rather than recapturing at once. It goes to f7 twelve moves later and it is the piece that covers g8 at the end.
8. 4… d6 d6
9. 5. Nxd4 The knight takes back
10. 5… Nxd4 The knights come off
11. 6. Qxd4 Recaptured by the queen
12. 6… Nf6 The knight out
13. 7. O-O White castles
14. 7… Be7 Be7
15. 8. b3 b3, holding c4
16. 8… O-O Black castles Onto g8, and the pawn on h7 is the only thing that will ever stand between his king and a rook.

f4 and e5

1. 9. Bb2 The bishop to b2, the long diagonal
2. 9… Ne8 The knight back to e8
3. 10. f4 f4 — the file opened The rook behind it goes to f4 and then to h4. This one pawn move is the whole plan.
4. 10… Bf6 The bishop to f6, contesting the diagonal
5. 11. e5 e5, pushing past
6. 11… dxe5 Taken
7. 12. fxe5 Recaptured with the f-pawn
8. 12… Qxd4+ The queens come off with check
9. 13. Bxd4 The bishop takes back on d4
10. 13… Be7 The bishop retreats to e7

The knight to d5

1. 14. Nc3 The knight out
2. 14… c5 c5, at the bishop
3. 15. Nd5 The knight to d5 — ignoring it White leaves the bishop on d4 to be taken and goes for e7 instead. It is a piece for two tempi, and the two tempi arrive first.
4. 15… cxd4 The bishop, taken
5. 16. Nxe7+ The knight takes e7, with check
6. 16… Kh8 Kh8 — into the corner And onto the file the rook is about to open. There is one pawn on it and White is going to buy that pawn with a knight.
7. 17. Bxf7 The bishop takes f7 It arrives on the diagonal it aimed at from move four. From f7 it covers g8, which is the other half of the mate.
8. 17… Nc7 The knight to c7

A knight for the h-file

1. 18. Rf4 The rook lifts to f4 One move from h4 — and h4 is only a mate if the pawn on h7 is not there.
2. 18… Be6 The bishop to e6
3. 19. Ng6+ The knight given on g6, with check A knight for a pawn. The pawn on h7 is the only piece that can take it, and taking it is the one thing Black cannot afford to do.
4. 19… hxg6 Taken — and the file is open
5. 20. Rh4# Checkmate, on h4 The rook slides across onto a file with nothing on it. h7 is covered by the rook itself; g8 by the bishop on f7; and g7 is Black’s own pawn.