The Rook on h3

The game, move by move

The Semi-Tarrasch

1. 1. d4 Queen’s pawn
2. 1… Nf6
3. 2. c4
4. 2… e6
5. 3. Nf3
6. 3… d5
7. 4. Nc3
8. 4… c5 c5 — the Semi-Tarrasch
9. 5. cxd5
10. 5… Nxd5
11. 6. e4 e4, the big centre
12. 6… Nxc3
13. 7. bxc3
14. 7… cxd4
15. 8. cxd4
16. 8… Bb4+
17. 9. Bd2
18. 9… Bxd2+
19. 10. Qxd2
20. 10… O-O Black castles

h4, and the rook lift

1. 11. h4 h4 — White is not castling The pawn clears the way for the rook on h1 to come into the game from the side.
2. 11… b6
3. 12. Rd1
4. 12… Bb7
5. 13. Bd3
6. 13… Nc6
7. 14. Bb1 The bishop to b1, aimed at h7
8. 14… Ba6
9. 15. e5 e5, taking f6 away
10. 15… Rc8
11. 16. Ng5 Ng5, at h7
12. 16… h6 h6, at the knight
13. 17. Ne4 Ne4, towards f6
14. 17… Qd5
15. 18. Rh3 Rh3 — the rook lift The rook comes to the third rank, from where it can swing to g3. Kh8 was the defence.

Nf6+, and the king is open

1. 18… Rfd8 Rfd8 — the natural move, and it loses A rook to the open file. The engine’s score jumps from a quarter of a pawn to more than eight.
2. 19. Nf6+ Nf6+ — the knight is given
3. 19… gxf6 Taken, and the king is open
4. 20. Qxh6 Qxh6 The queen takes h6 beside the king, and the rook on h3 is one move from g3 with check.
5. 20… Qa5+ Qa5+, a check that changes nothing
6. 21. Rd2 Rd2, in the way
7. 21… Nxe5 The knight takes e5
8. 22. Bh7+ Bh7+ — the bishop from b1
9. 22… Kh8 Kh8
10. 23. Bf5+ Bf5+, a discovered check
11. 23… Kg8 Back to g8
12. 24. Rg3+ Rg3+ — and Dzagnidze resigned The rook from h3 gives the last check, and the engine counts mate in two. India drew the match 2–2 and took the bronze.