The Knight That Never Moved

The game, move by move

The Petrov, and a knight on e5

1. 1. e4 King’s pawn
2. 1… e5 The same claim
3. 2. Nf3 The knight out
4. 2… Nf6 The Petrov Black answers the threat by making the same one. It is the safest opening there is and it does not save him here.
5. 3. d4 d4, the modern attack Rather than taking on e5. White gives the pawn and gets the middle of the board.
6. 3… Nxe4 The pawn taken instead
7. 4. Bd3 The bishop to d3
8. 4… d5 d5, propping the knight up
9. 5. Nxe5 The knight takes e5
10. 5… Bd6 The bishop to d6, at it
11. 6. O-O White castles
12. 6… O-O And Black

Everything traded off

1. 7. c4 c4, at the pawn chain
2. 7… c6 c6, holding d5
3. 8. Nc3 The second knight out
4. 8… Bxe5 The bishops come off on e5
5. 9. dxe5 Recaptured with the pawn
6. 9… Nxc3 The knights come off
7. 10. bxc3 Recaptured with the b-pawn Doubling White’s c-pawns and opening the b-file for a queen. She goes to b3 four moves later.
8. 10… dxc4 The pawn taken on c4
9. 11. Bxc4 The bishop takes back
10. 11… Be6 Be6, offering the last minor piece
11. 12. Bxe6 Taken
12. 12… fxe6 Recaptured with the f-pawn And that is the last piece off. Both sides have a queen, two rooks and pawns — and Black’s knight on b8 is still on b8.

The rook to d6

1. 13. Qb3 The queen to b3, on the open file
2. 13… Qc8 The queen to c8
3. 14. Ba3 The bishop to a3, at f8 It never moves again. Its diagonal ends on f8, which is one of the squares the king does not get to use.
4. 14… c5 c5, blocking it
5. 15. Rad1 The rook to d1
6. 15… b6 b6, propping the pawn
7. 16. Rd6 The rook to d6 — the seventh rank in reach It cannot be taken and it cuts the position in half. Everything Black has left is on the wrong side of it.
8. 16… Re8 The rook to e8, defending From f8. The other rook is on a8 and cannot come — the knight on b8 is in the way, and it has been all game.

Mated on the back rank

1. 17. Qa4 The queen to a4, at the rook on a8
2. 17… Qa6 The queen to a6, blocking her off The last move Showalter makes, and it takes his own queen off the back rank. Now nothing defends e8 but the rook standing on it.
3. 18. Qxe8# Checkmate, on e8 The queen takes the rook. From e8 she covers h8, f8 and f7 along the rank and the diagonal; g7 and h7 are Black’s own pawns. The rook on a8 is four empty squares away and cannot come, because the knight on b8 has never moved.