A Rook Left on f1

The game, move by move

A quiet Giuoco Piano

1. 1. e4 King’s pawn
2. 1… e5 The same claim
3. 2. Nf3 The knight out
4. 2… Nc6 And Black’s
5. 3. Bc4 The bishop at f7
6. 3… Nf6 The second knight
7. 4. d3 d3 — the quiet line No gambit and no break. Tarrasch builds the position and waits, which is what he wrote a book to recommend.
8. 4… Bc5 The bishop out
9. 5. c3 c3
10. 5… d6 d6
11. 6. Be3 The bishop to e3
12. 6… Bb6 Bb6, offering nothing
13. 7. Nbd2 The second knight out
14. 7… Be6 The bishop to e6
15. 8. Bb5 The bishop to b5
16. 8… O-O Black castles
17. 9. Qe2 The queen to e2
18. 9… Ne7 The knight to e7, regrouping

The bishop takes h3

1. 10. d4 d4 at last
2. 10… Ng6 The knight to g6
3. 11. O-O White castles
4. 11… Nh5 The knight to h5 Onto the rim, and it is the piece Tarrasch gives a rook to remove.
5. 12. g3 g3, taking f4 away
6. 12… Bg4 The bishop to g4, at h3
7. 13. h3 h3, offering the pawn
8. 13… Bxh3 The bishop takes it A pawn, and the bishop is now on h3 with a rook behind it on f1. Black has good reason to think he is winning something.

The rook left to go

1. 14. Ng5 The knight to g5, ignoring both Tarrasch does not recapture. The rook on f1 is left where it stands and the knight goes for f7 instead — the move the whole game turns on.
2. 14… Bxf1 The rook, taken
3. 15. Qxh5 The queen takes the knight on h5 A rook for a knight and a pawn, and what White has instead is a queen on h5 and the file in front of Black’s king with nothing on it.
4. 15… h6 h6, at the knight
5. 16. Nxf1 The other knight takes on f1
6. 16… hxg5 The knight on g5, taken
7. 17. Bxg5 Recaptured with the bishop Which puts the bishop on g5 — one square from f6, where it gives mate twelve half-moves later.
8. 17… Ne7 The knight back to e7

Mated on h8

1. 18. Ne3 The knight to e3, heading for d5
2. 18… exd4 The pawn taken on d4
3. 19. Nd5 The knight to d5 Where nothing can take it, and it is pointing at f6 with the bishop already there.
4. 19… f6 f6, trying to shut the diagonal
5. 20. Bc4 The bishop to c4, at f7
6. 20… Rf7 The rook to f7, defending
7. 21. Nxf6+ The knight takes f6, with check Given for a pawn, so that the pawn recapturing has to leave g7 and open the diagonal to h8.
8. 21… gxf6 Taken — and g7 is empty
9. 22. Qxf7+ The queen takes the rook, with check She lands on f7, held by the bishop on c4, and there is exactly one square.
10. 22… Kh8 Kh8 — the corner
11. 23. Bxf6# Checkmate, on f6 The bishop takes the pawn and the diagonal from f6 to h8 has nothing on it. The queen on f7 covers g8 and h7; and g7 is covered twice over, by the bishop on f6 and the queen beside it.