A Rook Given for a Draw

The game, move by move

A Modern Defence at a world championship

1. 1. Nf3 The knight first
2. 1… g6 g6 — the Modern
3. 2. c4 c4
4. 2… Bg7 Bg7 — the long diagonal It is the piece a rook is given for on move twenty-eight, and its absence is the whole reason there is a perpetual check.
5. 3. d4 d4
6. 3… d6 d6
7. 4. Nc3 The knight out
8. 4… Nd7 Nd7
9. 5. e4 e4 — the full centre
10. 5… e6 e6
11. 6. Be2 Be2
12. 6… b6 b6
13. 7. O-O White castles
14. 7… Bb7 Bb7
15. 8. Be3 The bishop to e3
16. 8… Ne7 Ne7
17. 9. Qc2 The queen to c2
18. 9… h6 h6
19. 10. Rad1 The rook to d1
20. 10… O-O And Black castles
21. 11. d5 d5, closing the centre
22. 11… e5 e5
23. 12. Qc1 The queen to c1
24. 12… Kh7 Kh7 — the king steps across Both kings make several moves in this game and neither is in danger for the first twenty-five of them. It is a manoeuvring position and both men were very good at those.

Both kings walk about

1. 13. g3 g3
2. 13… f5 f5, at the centre
3. 14. exf5 Taken
4. 14… Nxf5 The knight recaptures
5. 15. Bd3 The bishop to d3
6. 15… Bc8 Bc8
7. 16. Kg2 Kg2
8. 16… Nf6 Nf6
9. 17. Ne4 The knight to e4
10. 17… Nh5 Nh5
11. 18. Bd2 The bishop to d2
12. 18… Bd7 Bd7
13. 19. Kh1 Kh1
14. 19… Ne7 Ne7
15. 20. Nh4 The knight to h4
16. 20… Bh3 Bh3
17. 21. Rg1 The rook to g1 — the file Onto the g-file, which is where every check at the end comes from.
18. 21… Bd7 Bd7
19. 22. Be3 The bishop back to e3
20. 22… Qe8 The queen to e8
21. 23. Rde1 The second rook to e1
22. 23… Qf7 The queen to f7
23. 24. Qc2 The queen to c2
24. 24… Kh8 Kh8

A rook given on g7

1. 25. Nd2 The knight to d2
2. 25… Nf5 Nf5
3. 26. Nxf5 The knights come off
4. 26… gxf5 Recaptured with the g-pawn And now the g-file has one black pawn on it and a black king behind it. Six half-moves later a rook takes on g7.
5. 27. g4 g4, at the pawn
6. 27… e4 e4, counter-attacking
7. 28. gxh5 The pawn takes h5
8. 28… f4 f4, at the bishop
9. 29. Rxg7 Rxg7 — the rook, for a bishop A rook given at a world championship for the piece guarding the dark squares. Petrosian has calculated that it is worth exactly half a point, and takes it.
10. 29… Qxg7 The queen takes it
11. 30. Rg1 The second rook to g1
12. 30… Qe5 The queen to e5
13. 31. Nf3 The knight to f3, at her
14. 31… exd3 The pawn takes the bishop on d3
15. 32. Nxe5 The knight takes the queen
16. 32… dxc2 And the pawn takes on c2 — one square from a queen

Perpetual check

1. 33. Bd4 The bishop to d4
2. 33… dxe5 The pawn takes the knight
3. 34. Bxe5+ The bishop takes back, with check And now the checks begin. Black is a rook up on the count with a pawn on c2, and it does not matter: he cannot get off h7 and h8.
4. 34… Kh7 Kh7
5. 35. Rg7+ Rg7+ — the first
6. 35… Kh8 Kh8
7. 36. Rf7+ Rf7+ — off the file and back
8. 36… Kg8 Kg8
9. 37. Rg7+ Rg7+ — again
10. 37… Kh8 Kh8
11. 38. Rg6+ Rg6+ — and a different square
12. 38… Kh7 Kh7
13. 39. Rg7+ Rg7+ — and it is a draw The rook returns to g7 and the position repeats. Black has exactly ONE legal move — Kh8, back where he came from — and after it the rook checks again. Taking the rook is not among them: Kxg7 walks into mate. Petrosian gave a rook to reach this and kept his title 12–12.