Thirteen King Moves

The game, move by move

The Schliemann

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. Bb5 The Ruy Lopez
6. 3… f5 f5 — the Schliemann A pawn thrown at the centre on the third move. It is the sharpest answer to the Ruy Lopez there is and at five minutes a game it is a reasonable bet.
7. 4. Nc3 The knight out rather than taking
8. 4… fxe4 Taken
9. 5. Nxe4 The knight recaptures
10. 5… d5 d5, at the knight
11. 6. Nxe5 The knight takes e5
12. 6… dxe4 And the pawn takes the knight
13. 7. Nxc6 The knight takes c6 Two knights and two pawns off in three moves, and Black’s king is still on e8 with the f-file open.
14. 7… Qg5 The queen to g5, at the knight
15. 8. Qe2 The queen to e2
16. 8… Nf6 The knight to f6, blocking
17. 9. f4 f4, at the queen
18. 9… Qxf4 The pawn, taken

A queen loose on h3

1. 10. d4 d4, shutting her out
2. 10… Qh4+ Check from h4
3. 11. g3 g3 — the pawn the king is mated on It blocks the check, and it sits on g3 for the next forty-four half-moves until a king walks up the board and takes it.
4. 11… Qh3 The queen to h3 Out of the game. From h3 she goes to h2 and stays there, and at the end she is one of the pieces her own king cannot get past.
5. 12. Bg5 The bishop to g5
6. 12… a6 a6
7. 13. Ba4 The bishop steps back
8. 13… Bd7 The bishop to d7
9. 14. Bxf6 The bishop takes f6
10. 14… gxf6 Recaptured with the g-pawn
11. 15. Qxe4+ The queen takes e4, with check And the king has to leave the back rank. He does not get back to it except for one move.
12. 15… Kf7 Kf7 — one

Both rooks on the seventh

1. 16. Ne5+ The knight to e5, with check
2. 16… fxe5 Taken
3. 17. Rf1+ Check from f1
4. 17… Ke7 Ke7 — two
5. 18. Bxd7 The bishop takes d7
6. 18… Kxd7 Kxd7 — three, and the first capture
7. 19. Rf7+ The rook to f7, with check
8. 19… Ke8 Ke8 — four, and back home for one move
9. 20. Rxc7 The rook takes c7
10. 20… Bd6 The bishop to d6
11. 21. Rxb7 The rook takes b7
12. 21… Rc8 The rook to c8
13. 22. O-O-O White castles, on move twenty-two The only quiet move in the game. Both white rooks are now doing something and the black queen is on h3 doing nothing.
14. 22… Qxh2 The queen takes h2 And there she stays. It is a pawn, and at the end it is the reason the king has no square on h2.

The king walks to g3

1. 23. dxe5 The pawn taken on e5
2. 23… Be7 The bishop to e7
3. 24. Rxe7+ The rook takes it, with check A rook for a bishop, to pull the king out again. He does not come back this time.
4. 24… Kxe7 Kxe7 — five
5. 25. Qb7+ Check from b7
6. 25… Ke6 Ke6 — six
7. 26. Qd7+ Check from d7
8. 26… Kxe5 Kxe5 — seven, and a pawn taken
9. 27. Qd5+ Check from d5
10. 27… Kf6 Kf6 — eight
11. 28. Rf1+ The rook to f1, with check The second rook joins in, and every check from here pushes the king one file further towards White’s corner.
12. 28… Kg6 Kg6 — nine
13. 29. Qf5+ Check from f5
14. 29… Kh6 Kh6 — ten
15. 30. Qe6+ Check from e6
16. 30… Kh5 Kh5 — eleven
17. 31. Rf5+ The rook to f5, with check
18. 31… Kg4 Kg4 — twelve A black king on g4 with a white king on c1, thirty-one moves in and at five minutes a game.
19. 32. Rf4+ The rook to f4, with check
20. 32… Kxg3 Kxg3 — thirteen He takes the pawn that has been standing on g3 since move eleven, and there is nothing wrong with taking it.
21. 33. Qg4# Checkmate, on g4 The queen steps to g4, held by the rook on f4. She covers h3, g2, h4 and f4; the rook covers f3, f2 and g4 as well; and h2 is Black’s own queen, sitting on the square she took a pawn on twenty-one half-moves ago.