A Pawn Promotes With Mate

The game, move by move

The Dutch, and a bishop traded

1. 1. d4 Queen’s pawn
2. 1… d5 The same claim
3. 2. Nf3 Developing
4. 2… c6 c6, solid
5. 3. c4 The Queen’s Gambit
6. 3… e6 e6, declining
7. 4. e3 e3, quietly
8. 4… Bd6 The bishop to d6
9. 5. Nc3 Developing
10. 5… f5 f5 — the Dutch Black stakes out the kingside. It also leaves e5 to White for good, and White puts a knight there on the next move.
11. 6. Ne5 The knight to e5
12. 6… Bxe5 Traded off
13. 7. dxe5 Recaptured with the pawn A white pawn on e5 that nothing can dislodge, six squares from promoting. It gets there.
14. 7… Nh6 The knight to the rim
15. 8. f4 f4, holding the pawn
16. 8… O-O Black castles

Both bishops on the long diagonals

1. 9. Be2 The bishop to e2
2. 9… b6 b6, for the diagonal
3. 10. O-O And White castles
4. 10… Bb7 The bishop to b7
5. 11. b3 b3, preparing
6. 11… Na6 The knight to a6
7. 12. Ba3 The bishop to a3 Onto the diagonal that ends at f8, which is where the game ends.
8. 12… Rf7 The rook to f7
9. 13. Bd6 The bishop to d6
10. 13… Rd7 The rook to d7

The queenside opened

1. 14. b4 b4, on the queenside
2. 14… Nf7 The knight back to f7
3. 15. cxd5 The centre traded
4. 15… exd5 Recaptured
5. 16. b5 b5, breaking through
6. 16… Nc7 The knight to c7
7. 17. bxc6 Taken
8. 17… Bxc6 Recaptured with the bishop
9. 18. Bxc7 The bishop takes the knight
10. 18… Rxc7 Recaptured
11. 19. Bf3 The bishop swings to f3 Two bishops on two long diagonals, both of them aimed past the black king into the corner behind him.
12. 19… Kh8 Kh8 The king steps into the corner to get off the diagonal, which puts him on the one the other bishop is on.

The pawn walks to f8

1. 20. Nxd5 The knight takes d5
2. 20… Rd7 The rook comes back
3. 21. e6 e6 — the pawn moves at last It has been standing on e5 since move seven. Two squares from home and one from the eighth rank.
4. 21… Rd6 The rook to d6
5. 22. exf7 The pawn takes f7 On the seventh rank, one square from queening, and covered by nothing. Black spends the next three moves winning pieces instead of stopping it.
6. 22… Bxd5 The bishop takes the knight
7. 23. Bxd5 Recaptured
8. 23… Qd7 The queen defends
9. 24. Bxa8 The rook in the corner, taken
10. 24… Rxd1 And Black takes the queen Rxd1 wins the white queen and is, in the position, the best move on the board. It is also the last move Black makes.
11. 25. f8=Q# Checkmate, by promotion The pawn steps to f8 and becomes a queen, and the king on h8 has nowhere: she covers g8 herself, and g7 and h7 are Black’s own pawns. A new queen, one move after the old one was taken.