Both Bishops, on h7 and g7

The game, move by move

A Bird Opening, quietly

1. 1. f4 f4 — the Bird Opening Henry Bird’s move, and it is in this library on the other side of the board too: see `bird-steinitz`. It puts a pawn on f4 and asks Black to prove it is a weakness.
2. 1… d5 d5, the centre
3. 2. e3 e3
4. 2… Nf6 The knight out
5. 3. b3 b3, for the bishop
6. 3… e6 e6
7. 4. Bb2 The bishop to b2 — the long diagonal It goes to b2, then takes on e5, then takes on g7. Two of those are the game.
8. 4… Be7 Be7
9. 5. Bd3 The bishop to d3 — the other one c1 to d3, and the diagonal ends on h7. Both white bishops are now aimed at squares beside a king that has not castled yet.
10. 5… b6 b6, for the second bishop
11. 6. Nf3 The knight out
12. 6… Bb7 Bb7
13. 7. Nc3 The second knight
14. 7… Nbd7 And Black’s
15. 8. O-O White castles
16. 8… O-O And Black — into it Nothing is wrong with castling here. What is wrong is what Black does over the next six moves, which is take pieces off around his own king.
17. 9. Ne2 The knight to e2, heading for g3
18. 9… c5 c5
19. 10. Ng3 The knight to g3, at h5
20. 10… Qc7 The queen to c7

Both bishops given

1. 11. Ne5 The knight to e5, offered
2. 11… Nxe5 Taken
3. 12. Bxe5 The bishop recaptures on e5 Now both bishops are on the two long diagonals and both point at the black king. This is the position the sacrifice needs and Black has helped to build it.
4. 12… Qc6 The queen to c6
5. 13. Qe2 The queen to e2, joining them
6. 13… a6 a6
7. 14. Nh5 The knight to h5, at f6
8. 14… Nxh5 Taken — and h7 is uncovered The knight on f6 was the piece guarding h5 and h7. Taking on h5 wins a piece and opens both.
9. 15. Bxh7+ The first bishop, on h7, with check A bishop for a pawn. The king has to take — everything else loses the queen or the game at once.
10. 15… Kxh7 Kxh7 — forced
11. 16. Qxh5+ The queen takes h5, with check The material is level again for a moment, and the king has one square.
12. 16… Kg8 Kg8 — back home
13. 17. Bxg7 And the second bishop, on g7 On a square the king himself is defending, which is the whole point: it is not a threat, it is a summons. Declining it loses to Qh8 mate.
14. 17… Kxg7 Kxg7 — and out he comes
15. 18. Qg4+ Check from g4 — and the bishop on b7 This is the move that pays for both bishops. The check is on the g-file and the queen’s diagonal from g4 runs to b7, where Black’s bishop is standing undefended.
16. 18… Kh7 Kh7

The rook for the queen

1. 19. Rf3 The rook lifts to f3
2. 19… e5 e5, blocking the diagonal
3. 20. Rh3+ The rook to h3, with check
4. 20… Qh6 The queen blocks on h6
5. 21. Rxh6+ The rook takes her, with check A rook for the queen, and it has to be taken by the king.
6. 21… Kxh6 Kxh6
7. 22. Qd7 The queen to d7
8. 22… Bf6 Bf6
9. 23. Qxb7 The bishop on b7, collected Two bishops given on move fifteen and sixteen; a queen and a bishop back by move twenty-three. That is the whole arithmetic of it.
10. 23… Kg7 Kg7
11. 24. Rf1 The rook to f1
12. 24… Rab8 The rook to b8

Twenty moves of a lost position

1. 25. Qd7 The queen back to d7
2. 25… Rfd8 The rook to d8
3. 26. Qg4+ Check from g4
4. 26… Kf8 Kf8
5. 27. fxe5 The pawn taken on e5
6. 27… Bg7 Bg7
7. 28. e6 e6, a passed pawn
8. 28… Rb7 The rook to b7
9. 29. Qg6 The queen to g6
10. 29… f6 f6, blocking
11. 30. Rxf6+ The rook takes f6, with check
12. 30… Bxf6 Taken
13. 31. Qxf6+ And the queen takes back, with check
14. 31… Ke8 Ke8
15. 32. Qh8+ Check from h8
16. 32… Ke7 Ke7
17. 33. Qg7+ Check from g7
18. 33… Kxe6 The king takes the pawn on e6
19. 34. Qxb7 The rook on b7, taken
20. 34… Rd6 The rook to d6, holding on
21. 35. Qxa6 The pawn on a6, taken
22. 35… d4 d4, a pawn of his own
23. 36. exd4 Taken
24. 36… cxd4 And taken back
25. 37. h4 h4, unhurried
26. 37… d3 d3 — the last try
27. 38. Qxd3 Qxd3 — and Black resigned A queen taking a pawn on move thirty-eight, twenty-three moves after the part of this game anybody remembers. Bauer had a rook and three pawns against a queen and four and nothing to do with them. The shot holds on the move he resigned to, which is what the end of a great game usually looks like.