The Rook on h7

The game, move by move

A quiet Scandinavian

1. 1. e4 King’s pawn
2. 1… d5 The Scandinavian
3. 2. exd5 Taken
4. 2… Qxd5 Recaptured with the queen
5. 3. Nc3 Developing with tempo
6. 3… Qd8 The queen goes home All the way back to d8 on move three. Black has moved one piece twice and given White two free developing moves.
7. 4. d4 The centre
8. 4… e6 e6, solid
9. 5. Nf3 The knight out
10. 5… Nf6 And Black’s
11. 6. Bd3 The bishop to d3 Aimed at h7, which is where the game ends up.
12. 6… Be7 Facing it
13. 7. O-O White castles
14. 7… O-O And Black
15. 8. Be3 The last minor piece
16. 8… b6 Preparing the long diagonal

The rook lift

1. 9. Ne5 The knight to e5 The outpost, and it takes four more moves before anything can challenge it.
2. 9… Bb7 The bishop on b7
3. 10. f4 f4, holding the knight
4. 10… Nbd7 The second knight comes out
5. 11. Qe2 The queen to e2
6. 11… Nd5 The knight to d5
7. 12. Nxd5 Traded off
8. 12… exd5 Recaptured — and the file closes exd5 blocks the bishop on b7 with Black’s own pawn, and it is that bishop that would otherwise have something to say about the kingside.
9. 13. Rf3 The rook lifts to f3
10. 13… f5 f5, shutting the diagonal Black stops Bxh7 by putting a pawn on f5. It also takes the f-file away from himself and leaves g6 and h7 to be attacked by everything else.
11. 14. Rh3 The rook swings to h3 A rook on the h-file, aimed at a pawn defended only by a king.
12. 14… g6 g6, propping up h7

The rook on h7

1. 15. g4 g4 — the pawn lever White breaks the pawn chain open with the pawn in front of his own king, which is what you can afford when every one of your pieces is already on the other side of the board.
2. 15… fxg4 Taken
3. 16. Rxh7 The rook, on h7 A rook for a pawn, and it is not a check — the king does not have to take it, and does not take it for two more moves.
4. 16… Nxe5 The knights come off first
5. 17. fxe5 Recaptured
6. 17… Kxh7 Now he takes it The king takes the rook and steps onto the file the rest of White’s pieces are pointed at. There was no better move.

The king walked home

1. 18. Qxg4 The queen recovers the pawn
2. 18… Rg8 The rook comes across
3. 19. Qh5+ Check, from h5
4. 19… Kg7 Kg7
5. 20. Qh6+ Check, from h6
6. 20… Kf7 Kf7
7. 21. Qh7+ Check, from h7
8. 21… Ke6 Ke6 — into the middle The king walks forward because everything behind him is covered. He is on the sixth rank on move twenty-one with both rooks still at home.
9. 22. Qh3+ Check, from h3
10. 22… Kf7 Back to f7
11. 23. Rf1+ The second rook, with check Rf1+ is the first move in nine that is not made by the queen, and it is the one that ends the game: the f-file is where the king is standing.
12. 23… Ke8 Ke8
13. 24. Qe6 The queen to e6 She stops in front of the king rather than checking him, and there is no way to get anything between them that does not lose it.
14. 24… Rg7 The rook comes back to guard
15. 25. Bg5 The bishop to g5
16. 25… Qd7 The queen defends e8
17. 26. Bxg6+ The bishop, given on g6 It takes the pawn and offers itself to the rook, so that the rook is dragged off the seventh rank.
18. 26… Rxg6 Taken
19. 27. Qxg6+ The queen takes the rook, with check
20. 27… Kd8 Kd8
21. 28. Rf8+ The rook to f8, with check And the only way to answer it is with the queen, on the square White’s queen is coming to.
22. 28… Qe8 The queen interposes
23. 29. Qxe8# Checkmate She takes the queen on e8 held by the rook on f8, so the king cannot take her back. c8 and d7 are hers; e7 is Black’s own bishop and c7 his own pawn.