The Exchange for the King

The game, move by move

Queen’s Gambit Declined

1. 1. d4 Queen’s pawn
2. 1… d5 The same claim
3. 2. c4 The Queen’s Gambit
4. 2… e6 Declined
5. 3. Nc3 Developing
6. 3… Nf6 And Black
7. 4. Nf3 The second knight
8. 4… c5 c5, hitting the centre
9. 5. Bg5 The bishop to g5
10. 5… cxd4 Taken
11. 6. Qxd4 The queen recaptures Unusual, and Pillsbury’s idea: the queen comes to the middle and then swings to h4, where she stares at the kingside for twenty moves.
12. 6… Nc6 Developing with tempo
13. 7. Qh4 The queen to h4
14. 7… Be7 Breaking the pin
15. 8. O-O-O White castles long Both attacks are now decided: White will play on the kingside, Black on the queenside, and it is a question of one move.
16. 8… Qa5 The queen to a5 Onto the file and the diagonal the white king lives on. She stays there for twelve moves.

Both kings committed

1. 9. e3 e3, solid
2. 9… Bd7 Developing
3. 10. Kb1 Kb1 — off the file
4. 10… h6 h6, asking about the bishop
5. 11. cxd5 The centre traded
6. 11… exd5 Recaptured
7. 12. Nd4 The knight to d4
8. 12… O-O Black castles at last
9. 13. Bxf6 The bishops come off
10. 13… Bxf6 Recaptured with the bishop And that bishop, on f6, is the piece that gives mate thirty-eight half-moves from now.
11. 14. Qh5 The queen to h5
12. 14… Nxd4 The knights come off
13. 15. exd4 Recaptured towards the centre
14. 15… Be6 The bishop to e6

The exchange, on c3

1. 16. f4 f4 — White’s attack starts
2. 16… Rac8 The rook to c8 Onto the file White’s king is standing on, with a knight in between them.
3. 17. f5 f5, hitting the bishop
4. 17… Rxc3 The rook takes the knight A rook for a knight, and no material comes back for four moves. What it buys is two open files at a castled king, and Black has a queen, a rook and a bishop to put on them.
5. 18. fxe6 The bishop taken
6. 18… Ra3 The rook to a3 It refuses to be taken back cheaply — the a-file and the b-file are both open now, and the pawn that takes it opens the other one.
7. 19. exf7+ The pawn takes f7, with check
8. 19… Rxf7 Recaptured
9. 20. bxa3 The rook, taken at last bxa3 opens the b-file in front of White’s own king, which is the only way to take it.
10. 20… Qb6+ Check, from b6
11. 21. Bb5 Blocked with the bishop
12. 21… Qxb5+ Taken, with check

The king walked to a5

1. 22. Ka1 Ka1 — the corner
2. 22… Rc7 The rook comes back
3. 23. Rd2 The rook to d2
4. 23… Rc4 The rook to c4
5. 24. Rhd1 The second rook to d1
6. 24… Rc3 And back to c3 Black has a rook on the third rank in front of a king who has nothing to answer it with. White’s two rooks are both defending d4.
7. 25. Qf5 The queen to f5
8. 25… Qc4 The queen to c4
9. 26. Kb2 Kb2, attacking the rook
10. 26… Rxa3 The rook takes the a-pawn Offered again, on the same square it was taken on eight moves ago, and taking it again walks the king onto the a-file.
11. 27. Qe6+ A check from the other side
12. 27… Kh7 Kh7
13. 28. Kxa3 The rook, taken The king takes it himself, which is what the last twelve moves were for: from a3 he is walked to a5 in five.
14. 28… Qc3+ Check, from c3
15. 29. Ka4 Ka4
16. 29… b5+ A pawn, with check
17. 30. Kxb5 Taken
18. 30… Qc4+ Check, from c4
19. 31. Ka5 Ka5 — the last square
20. 31… Bd8+ The bishop comes back, with check From f6, where it has been standing since move thirteen, to d8 — the one diagonal that reaches a5.
21. 32. Qb6 The queen interposes The only way to answer it, and she is standing on a square her own pawn on a7 covers.
22. 32… Bxb6# Checkmate The bishop takes the queen on b6. The black queen on c4 covers b5, a6, a4 and b4; the pawn on a7 covers b6, so the king cannot take her back.