The Bishop That Walked to g6

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 e6, declining
5. 3. Nc3 Developing
6. 3… Nf6 The knight out
7. 4. Bg5 The bishop to g5
8. 4… Be7 Facing it
9. 5. e3 e3, solid
10. 5… O-O Black castles
11. 6. Nf3 The second knight
12. 6… Nbd7 And Black’s
13. 7. Rc1 The rook to c1
14. 7… b6 b6, for the diagonal
15. 8. cxd5 The centre traded
16. 8… exd5 Recaptured
17. 9. Bb5 The bishop to b5
18. 9… Bb7 The bishop to b7
19. 10. O-O White castles
20. 10… a6 a6, asking
21. 11. Ba4 The bishop steps back
22. 11… b5 b5, again
23. 12. Bb3 And back to b3 Twice chased, twice retreating, and it ends on the diagonal that runs to f7 and g8. It does not move again for sixteen moves, and then it wins the game.
24. 12… Rc8 The rook to c8

The centre traded off

1. 13. Ne5 The knight to e5
2. 13… c5 c5, hitting the centre
3. 14. Nxd7 The knights come off
4. 14… Qxd7 Recaptured with the queen
5. 15. dxc5 Taken
6. 15… Rxc5 The rook recaptures
7. 16. Qd4 The queen to d4
8. 16… Rfc8 Both rooks on the c-file It is the wrong file. Everything that happens for the rest of the game happens on the other side of the board.
9. 17. e4 e4, breaking
10. 17… Qg4 The queen to g4
11. 18. Be3 The bishop steps back
12. 18… dxe4 The pawn taken
13. 19. Rcd1 The rook to d1
14. 19… h6 h6, a hole
15. 20. h3 h3, asking about the queen
16. 20… Qg6 The queen to g6

A knight for the h-file

1. 21. Ne2 The knight re-routes
2. 21… a5 a5, on the queenside
3. 22. Nf4 The knight to f4
4. 22… Qf5 The queen to f5
5. 23. g4 g4 — pushing her again White plays a pawn to g4 in front of his own king, because the alternative is letting the queen sit on f5 forever.
6. 23… Nxg4 The knight, given on g4 A piece for a pawn, to blow the front of White’s king open. Yates is now a piece down with a queen on the fourth rank, and for six moves he is winning.
7. 24. hxg4 Taken
8. 24… Qxg4+ And the queen takes back, with check
9. 25. Ng2 The knight comes to g2, blocking The only move, and it holds. Everything Black has is on the h-file and the g-file, and none of it can get past a knight.
10. 25… Qf3 The queen to f3

The bishop takes f7

1. 26. Qd7 The queen to d7 — the counter Réti stops defending and goes for the seventh rank. From d7 the queen hits e7 and f7, and both of them are loose.
2. 26… Rh5 The rook to h5
3. 27. Qxe7 The bishop, taken
4. 27… Rc6 The rook comes back to c6
5. 28. Bxf7+ The bishop takes f7, with check From b3, where it has been since move twelve, and the king cannot take it: the rook on h5 is the only piece near it and it is on the wrong square.
6. 28… Kh7 Kh7 — the only square
7. 29. Qe8 The queen to e8 Not a check. She covers g8, h8 and g6, and there is exactly one thing Black can do about the threat, which is nothing.
8. 29… Rc8 The rook comes back — too late
9. 30. Bg6# Checkmate, on g6 The bishop steps quietly from f7 to g6, defended by the queen on e8. She covers h8 and g8 as well; g7 and h6 are Black’s own pawns. Réti is a piece down at the end of it.