Twelve Years Old, Against His Father

The game, move by move

The Evans Gambit

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. Bc4 The bishop at f7
6. 3… Bc5 Facing it
7. 4. b4 The Evans Gambit A pawn on the wing, offered so that c3 and d4 can be played with tempo. Morphy played it for ten years and this is one of the first times he did.
8. 4… Bxb4 Accepted
9. 5. c3 c3, asking the bishop back
10. 5… Bc5 To c5
11. 6. d4 d4 — what the pawn bought
12. 6… exd4 Taken
13. 7. cxd4 Recaptured, two pawns in the middle
14. 7… Bb6 The bishop to b6

The bishop to a3

1. 8. O-O White castles
2. 8… Na5 The knight to the rim It goes to a5 to hit the bishop and stays there for the rest of the game, out of everything that follows.
3. 9. Bd3 The bishop steps to d3
4. 9… d5 d5, the break
5. 10. exd5 Taken
6. 10… Qxd5 The queen recaptures She is going to spend the next ten half-moves taking things and being chased, and she is on a6 when the mate happens.
7. 11. Ba3 The bishop to a3 — the move of the game It attacks nothing. From a3 the diagonal runs a3–b4–c5–d6–e7–f8, and f8 is where the mate is given twenty-one half-moves later.
8. 11… Be6 The bishop to e6, holding d5
9. 12. Nc3 The knight out
10. 12… Qd7 The queen to d7

Everything for the open files

1. 13. d5 d5, offered again
2. 13… Bxd5 Taken by the bishop
3. 14. Nxd5 And by the knight
4. 14… Qxd5 And by the queen Three captures on one square. What is left is a black queen in the middle of the board with nothing near her and a white king that has castled.
5. 15. Bb5+ Check from b5, offering the bishop A piece for one tempo: the queen has to take, and taking puts her on b5 where the rook on b1 comes after her.
6. 15… Qxb5 She has to take
7. 16. Re1+ Check on the e-file
8. 16… Ne7 The knight blocks The only piece that can, and it is pinned there for good: taking it opens the file onto the king.
9. 17. Rb1 The other rook to b1, at the queen
10. 17… Qa6 The queen runs to a6 Off the file and out of the game. Black’s queen and knight are both on the a-file and the mate happens on the other side of the board.

Mated on g8

1. 18. Rxe7+ The rook takes the knight, with check And the king cannot take back — e7 is covered by the bishop on a3.
2. 18… Kf8 Kf8
3. 19. Qd5 The queen to d5, at f7
4. 19… Qc4 A check of Black’s own, ignored
5. 20. Rxf7+ The rook takes f7, with check Held by the queen on d5. The king has one square and it is the corner.
6. 20… Kg8 Kg8 — forced
7. 21. Rf8# Checkmate, on f8 The rook steps across. h8 is Black’s own rook, g7 and h7 his own pawns, f7 is covered by the queen on d5 — and f8 by the bishop that went to a3 on move eleven and never moved again.