The Bishop in the Corner

The game, move by move

The Tarrasch Defence

1. 1. d4 Queen’s pawn
2. 1… d5 The same claim
3. 2. c4 The Queen’s Gambit
4. 2… e6 Declined
5. 3. Nc3 The knight out
6. 3… c5 c5 — the Tarrasch Defence Black takes an isolated pawn in the middle in exchange for having his pieces out. Rubinstein played it his whole life.
7. 4. cxd5 Taken
8. 4… exd5 Recaptured — the pawn is isolated
9. 5. Nf3 The second knight
10. 5… Nf6 And Black’s
11. 6. Bg5 The bishop to g5
12. 6… Be7 Be7
13. 7. dxc5 The pawn taken on c5
14. 7… Be6 The bishop to e6, holding d5
15. 8. Rc1 The rook to the c-file
16. 8… O-O Black castles Onto g8, and the king leaves it on the forty-fourth half-move and does not come back.
17. 9. Bxf6 The bishops come off
18. 9… Bxf6 Recaptured — the bishop to f6

The bishop goes home to b1

1. 10. e3 e3, solid
2. 10… Qa5 The queen to a5
3. 11. a3 a3
4. 11… Nc6 The last knight out
5. 12. Bd3 The bishop to d3, at h7
6. 12… Qxc5 The pawn on c5, taken back
7. 13. h4 h4 — the rook’s file opened The pawn goes for h6 and the h-file. Seventeen moves later the rook comes down it and takes on h6, which is the move before the mate.
8. 13… Qe7 The queen to e7
9. 14. Ng5 The knight to g5, at e6
10. 14… h6 h6, at the knight
11. 15. Nxe6 The knight takes e6
12. 15… fxe6 Recaptured with the f-pawn Which opens the f-file for Black and puts a pawn on e6 — the square that is in the king’s way at the end.
13. 16. Bb1 The bishop to b1 — all the way home Chased off d3 by nothing in particular, and it goes to the corner rather than to c2. From b1 the diagonal runs to h7, and it is g6 and f5 on that diagonal that matter.
14. 16… Bxh4 The bishop takes h4

Both sides taking on g3

1. 17. g3 g3, at the bishop
2. 17… Bxg3 And takes on g3
3. 18. fxg3 Recaptured with the f-pawn
4. 18… Qg5 The queen to g5
5. 19. Qd3 The queen to d3
6. 19… Qxg3+ The queen takes g3, with check Black is two pawns up with a queen in White’s position, and it is White who is one move from a mating attack.
7. 20. Kd2 The king to d2
8. 20… Rf2+ The rook to f2, with check
9. 21. Ne2 The knight blocks on e2
10. 21… Ne5 The knight to e5 It ends up on e5 in front of its own king, which is one of the squares he needs.

The king walked to f6

1. 22. Qh7+ Check on h7 — down the diagonal The queen arrives on the diagonal the bishop on b1 opened, and the king has to leave the back rank.
2. 22… Kf7 Kf7
3. 23. Rc7+ The rook to c7, with check
4. 23… Kf6 Kf6 — out into the open The only square: e8 and e6 are gone and g6 and f5 are covered by the bishop on b1.
5. 24. Rxh6+ The rook given on h6, with check A whole rook, so that the pawn on g7 has to leave and g7 becomes a square the queen can cover.
6. 24… gxh6 Taken — and g7 is empty
7. 25. Qe7# Checkmate, on e7 The queen steps to e7, held by the rook on c7. She covers f7, g7 and g5; e6 is Black’s own pawn and e5 his own knight; and g6 and f5 are covered by the bishop standing on b1, seven squares away.