Morphy, Mated in Twelve

The game, move by move

The Bishop’s Gambit

1. 1. e4 King’s pawn
2. 1… e5 The same claim
3. 2. f4 The King’s Gambit
4. 2… exf4 Accepted
5. 3. Bc4 The Bishop’s Gambit
6. 3… Qh4+ Check, on move three
7. 4. Kf1 The king steps aside
8. 4… b5 b5 — the Immortal Game’s move The same pawn offer Kieseritzky played four years earlier, to drag the bishop off the diagonal that points at f7. Anderssen took it; Morphy does not.

A bishop, offered twice

1. 5. Bd5 The bishop steps to d5 Declining, and hitting c6 and f7 from a square where the pawn cannot reach him.
2. 5… Nc6 The knight, challenging it
3. 6. Nf3 Developing with tempo
4. 6… Qh5 The queen to h5 Out of the knight’s way and onto the file her opposite number is about to leave.
5. 7. d4 Building the centre
6. 7… Nf6 The knight out And it does not move again until the move that mates.
7. 8. Bb3 The bishop retreats
8. 8… Ba6 The bishop to a6 It pins nothing and attacks nothing that matters. What it does is stand on a square where taking it costs a move.

The pawn nobody looked at

1. 9. Qe2 The queen to e2 Defending the bishop and the knight at once. She is also, from now on, the only thing guarding d1.
2. 9… Nxd4 A knight for a pawn
3. 10. Nxd4 Taken back
4. 10… b4 b4 — and the bishop is still hanging A quiet pawn move that does nothing except leave a bishop on a6 for a second move running. It is bait, and it is taken.

Mate on f2

1. 11. Qxa6 The bishop, won Morphy takes it, and the queen who was guarding d1 is now on a6, seven squares away from the square that matters.
2. 11… Qd1+ Check, on d1 The black queen crosses the whole board to the square White’s queen left one move ago. There is one legal reply.
3. 12. Kf2 The only square e2, f1 and g1 are all covered by the queen on d1; f2 is the one square left.
4. 12… Ng4# Checkmate The knight from f6 lands on g4 and the king on f2 has nowhere. The queen holds e1, f1, g1 and e2; the black pawn still sitting on f4 holds g3 and e3; the knight holds e3 as well; and g2 is White’s own pawn.