The Polish Immortal

The game, move by move

A Dutch, both sides castled

1. 1. d4 Queen’s pawn
2. 1… f5 f5 — the Dutch
3. 2. c4 The second pawn
4. 2… Nf6 The knight out
5. 3. Nc3 Developing
6. 3… e6 e6, the Stonewall shape
7. 4. Nf3 The second knight
8. 4… d5 d5, building the wall
9. 5. e3 e3, solid
10. 5… c6 c6, solid
11. 6. Bd3 The bishop to d3
12. 6… Bd6 And Black’s to d6 Both bishops on the b1–h7 diagonal. Black’s gets there first and it is the piece that starts everything.
13. 7. O-O White castles
14. 7… O-O And Black
15. 8. Ne2 The knight to e2
16. 8… Nbd7 The second knight out

The first bishop, on h2

1. 9. Ng5 The knight to g5 White goes for the kingside first — and this knight then sits on g5 for the rest of the game and never touches anything.
2. 9… Bxh2+ The first bishop, on h2 A bishop for a pawn on move nine. The king has to take it or step aside, and stepping aside is what he does.
3. 10. Kh1 Kh1 — declining
4. 10… Ng4 The knight to g4 Ignoring the bishop hanging on h2 and adding a second piece to the attack.
5. 11. f4 f4, shutting the diagonal
6. 11… Qe8 The queen comes out
7. 12. g3 g3, to trap the bishop
8. 12… Qh5 The queen to h5 Threatening mate on h2. White’s king has to walk out and meet it.
9. 13. Kg2 Kg2, attacking the bishop
10. 13… Bg1 The bishop to g1 — offered again It steps out of the corner onto a square where the knight can take it. That is the point: taking it pulls the knight off e2 and off the defence.

Both knights

1. 14. Nxg1 Taken
2. 14… Qh2+ Check, from h2
3. 15. Kf3 Kf3 — into the open The king is on the third rank on move fifteen. Everything that follows is check.
4. 15… e5 e5 — the file opens
5. 16. dxe5 Taken
6. 16… Ndxe5+ The first knight, on e5 With check, and it has to be taken.
7. 17. fxe5 Taken
8. 17… Nxe5+ And the second knight, on the same square Also with check, also taken. Black has now given away two bishops and is offering both knights.
9. 18. Kf4 Kf4 — forwards again
10. 18… Ng6+ The knight steps back, with check

The king dragged to g4

1. 19. Kf3 Kf3
2. 19… f4 f4 — the pawn joins in It takes e3 and g3 away from the king and opens the diagonal from c8 to g4.
3. 20. exf4 Taken
4. 20… Bg4+ The last bishop, on g4 The fourth piece given away, and the king has to take it: f3 and f2 are covered and there is nothing to interpose.
5. 21. Kxg4 Taken — the king on g4
6. 21… Ne5+ The knight, back to e5, with check And offered for the third time on the same square.
7. 22. fxe5 Taken
8. 22… h5# Checkmate, by the h-pawn h7 to h5 — the pawn’s first move of the game, and the last move of the game. The queen on h2 covers h4, h5 and h3; the rook on f8 covers f4, f3 and f5; and g5 and g3 are White’s own knight and pawn.