The Pawn Wedge on e3

The game, move by move

The Berlin, 1862 style

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… Nf6 The Berlin Defence
7. 4. d3 d3, quietly
8. 4… Bc5 The bishop out
9. 5. c3 Preparing d4
10. 5… O-O Black castles
11. 6. O-O And White
12. 6… d5 d5, in the centre Black strikes in the middle first, which is not what the Berlin does today.
13. 7. Bxc6 The bishop takes
14. 7… bxc6 Recaptured towards the centre

A pawn for the centre

1. 8. Nxe5 A pawn, won White takes on e5 and is a clean pawn up. It costs him the initiative and, eventually, the game.
2. 8… dxe4 Taken back in the centre
3. 9. d4 d4, holding the knight
4. 9… Bb6 The bishop steps back
5. 10. f4 f4, propping it up again
6. 10… c5 Hitting the centre
7. 11. dxc5 Taken
8. 11… Bxc5+ Recaptured with check
9. 12. Kh1 Kh1 — into the corner The king steps off the diagonal and onto the square that everything in the last ten half-moves is about.
10. 12… Bb7 The bishop to b7 The long diagonal, aimed straight at the corner the king has just gone to.
11. 13. c4 c4, blocking it
12. 13… Re8 The rook to e8

The wedge on e3

1. 14. a3 a3, on the wrong side
2. 14… e3 e3 — the wedge The pawn steps in and stays. It cannot be taken by the bishop on c1 without losing it, and while it stands there the bishop, the rook on a1 and the knight on b1 have no way into the game.
3. 15. Qe2 The queen to e2
4. 15… Qd4 The queen to d4 Behind the pawn, holding it, and looking at g1 down the diagonal the king came off.
5. 16. Nc3 The knight, out at last
6. 16… Rad8 Both rooks on the middle files
7. 17. Nb5 The knight to b5
8. 17… Qe4 The queen to e4 Onto the long diagonal in front of her own bishop — two pieces on one line, both of them aimed at g2.
9. 18. b4 b4, on the other wing White wins a piece on the queenside over the next two moves. It is entirely beside the point.
10. 18… Nh5 The knight to h5 Heading for f4, where taking it opens the f-file and not taking it loses a pawn with check.

The queen for the corner

1. 19. bxc5 The bishop, won
2. 19… Nxf4 The knight takes f4
3. 20. Rxf4 The rook takes the knight And leaves f1. It is the last moment White has a piece on his own back rank that is doing anything.
4. 20… Rd1+ Check, on d1 The rook comes to the back rank behind the pawn that has been sitting on e3 for eight moves. The only piece that can answer it is the rook on f4.
5. 21. Rf1 Blocked, back on f1
6. 21… Qxg2+ The queen, on g2 Given away to a pawn that cannot take her, to a queen that has to. She is protected by the bishop on b7 — so the pawn is pinned, and the recapture has to be made by the one piece guarding f1.
7. 22. Qxg2 Taken — there is nothing else
8. 22… Rxf1# Checkmate The rook takes on f1 and the king in the corner has nothing. g1 is the rook’s; h2 is his own pawn; and g2 is his own queen, standing on the square she was forced to take on.