The Bishop to e8

The game, move by move

A hypermodern opening

1. 1. Nf3 Nf3 — a knight before a pawn The move the hypermoderns are named for. White declines to put a pawn in the middle and waits to see what Black does with his.
2. 1… d5 d5, taking the centre
3. 2. c4 c4, at it from the side
4. 2… e6 e6
5. 3. g3 g3, for the bishop
6. 3… Nf6 The knight out
7. 4. Bg2 Bg2 — the long diagonal The bishop that decides the game. It goes g2, then f3, then h5, then f7, then e8 — five squares, and the last of them ends it.
8. 4… Bd6 Bd6
9. 5. O-O White castles
10. 5… O-O And Black
11. 6. b3 b3
12. 6… Re8 The rook to e8
13. 7. Bb2 The bishop to b2
14. 7… Nbd7 The knight out
15. 8. d4 d4 at last
16. 8… c6 c6, propping up d5

The centre changes hands

1. 9. Nbd2 The second knight
2. 9… Ne4 The knight to e4
3. 10. Nxe4 The knights come off
4. 10… dxe4 Recaptured with the pawn A black pawn on e4, which looks like space and is a target. Three moves later White plays f3 and it is gone.
5. 11. Ne5 The knight to e5
6. 11… f5 f5, holding it
7. 12. f3 f3 — at the base of the chain
8. 12… exf3 Taken
9. 13. Bxf3 The bishop recaptures on f3 And now the long diagonal is clear again, aimed at c6 and the corner behind it.
10. 13… Qc7 The queen to c7
11. 14. Nxd7 The knight takes d7
12. 14… Bxd7 The bishop recaptures
13. 15. e4 e4 — the centre at last White has spent twelve moves not occupying the middle. He occupies it on move fifteen, when it costs Black something to answer.
14. 15… e5 e5, blocking
15. 16. c5 c5, at the bishop
16. 16… Bf8 Bf8
17. 17. Qc2 The queen to c2
18. 17… exd4 The pawn taken on d4

Everything traded on f5

1. 18. exf5 The pawn takes f5
2. 18… Rad8 The second rook to d8
3. 19. Bh5 The bishop to h5, coming round From f3 to h5, off the diagonal and onto the one that ends at e8. Four half-moves later it is standing there.
4. 19… Re5 The rook to e5
5. 20. Bxd4 The bishop takes d4
6. 20… Rxf5 The rook takes f5
7. 21. Rxf5 And the rooks come off
8. 21… Bxf5 The bishop takes back
9. 22. Qxf5 The queen takes f5
10. 22… Rxd4 The rook takes the bishop on d4 Material is level and Black has a rook on d4 and a rook on d8. Neither of them is doing anything about the light squares.

The bishop to e8

1. 23. Rf1 The rook to f1 Onto the file the queen mates down. It is the piece that stops the black king taking her on f8, and it never moves again.
2. 23… Rd8 The rook back to d8, defending Guarding f8 along the eighth rank, which is the right idea and the thing the bishop takes away three half-moves later.
3. 24. Bf7+ The bishop to f7, with check It gives itself no protection and it does not need any: the king has one square, and going there is what makes the next move work.
4. 24… Kh8 Kh8 — forced
5. 25. Be8 Be8 — and Black resigned The bishop steps onto the one square between Black’s rook on d8 and his bishop on f8, and it is a bishop offered to the rook. What it takes away is the rook’s guard of f8 along the back rank — so Qxf8 is mate, held by the rook on f1, and the king cannot take her. Eleven of Black’s thirty-four moves stop that mate and every one of them loses a piece.