Légal’s Mate, a Hundred and Fifty Years On

The game, move by move

A Vienna Game

1. 1. e4 King’s pawn
2. 1… e5 The same claim
3. 2. Nc3 The Vienna Game The knight to c3 before anything else, so that f4 can be played next.
4. 2… Nc6 The knight out
5. 3. f4 f4 — the Vienna Gambit A pawn offered at e5, and it is the pawn that opens the f-file the bishop uses two moves later.
6. 3… d6 d6, holding e5 instead of taking
7. 4. Nf3 The knight to f3
8. 4… a6 a6 — a move with nothing in it Not a mistake yet. But Black has one piece out and White has three, and there are ten half-moves left in the game.

The bishop pins the knight

1. 5. Bc4 The bishop to c4, at f7 Both of White’s bishops and both knights are now pointed at the same corner of the board.
2. 5… Bg4 Bg4 — the pin The bishop pins the knight on f3 to the queen on d1. In almost every position that is a good move, and here it is the losing one.
3. 6. fxe5 The pawns come off on e5
4. 6… Nxe5 The knight takes back

Légal’s Mate

1. 7. Nxe5 The knight moves anyway Nxe5, into the pin. White offers the queen on d1 for a pawn, and the whole of Légal’s idea is in this one move.
2. 7… Bxd1 The queen, taken Almost impossible to decline, and it is mate in two. Declining — 8…Be6, say — is a bad position rather than a lost one.
3. 8. Bxf7+ The bishop takes f7, with check A bishop for a pawn, and there is exactly one square: e7. The knight on e5 covers f7 and d7 behind it.
4. 8… Ke7 Ke7 — forced
5. 9. Nd5# Checkmate, on d5 The knight steps to d5 and covers f6. The other knight on e5 holds f7 and d7; the bishop on f7 holds e8 and e6; and f8, d8 and d6 are Black’s own bishop, queen and pawn, none of which have moved.