The Knight That Would Not Stop

The game, move by move

The Petrov

1. 1. e4 King’s pawn
2. 1… e5
3. 2. Nf3
4. 2… Nf6 Nf6 — the Petrov
5. 3. Nxe5 The knight takes e5
6. 3… d6
7. 4. Nf3
8. 4… Nxe4
9. 5. Nc3
10. 5… Nf6
11. 6. d4
12. 6… Be7
13. 7. Bd3
14. 7… O-O
15. 8. h3
16. 8… Re8
17. 9. O-O
18. 9… h6
19. 10. Re1
20. 10… Bf8
21. 11. Rxe8 The rooks come off
22. 11… Qxe8

Up the king’s side

1. 12. Bf4
2. 12… Nc6
3. 13. Qd2
4. 13… Ne7
5. 14. Re1
6. 14… Be6
7. 15. Ne2
8. 15… Bd5
9. 16. Nh2
10. 16… Qd7
11. 17. c4
12. 17… Be6
13. 18. g4 g4, up the king’s side
14. 18… d5
15. 19. c5 c5, on the other wing
16. 19… Ne4
17. 20. Qc1
18. 20… Nc6
19. 21. f3
20. 21… Nf6
21. 22. Be3
22. 22… Re8
23. 23. f4
24. 23… Qd8
25. 24. Nf3
26. 24… Ne4
27. 25. f5 f5, at the bishop
28. 25… Bc8
29. 26. Nf4
30. 26… Nb8
31. 27. b4
32. 27… c6
33. 28. Ne5
34. 28… Nf6
35. 29. Bf2
36. 29… Nbd7
37. 30. Kg2
38. 30… Re7
39. 31. Bh4
40. 31… Qc7 Qc7 Nb8 was the defence. Now the knight on e5 can go into f7.

Nxf7, and the windmill

1. 32. Nxf7 Nxf7 — the sacrifice A knight for a pawn, to clear e5 and f4 for the knight and the bishop that follow.
2. 32… Rxf7 The rook takes it
3. 33. Ne6 Ne6, at the queen
4. 33… Qb8 Qb8
5. 34. Bg3 Bg3 — at the queen again The diagonal from g3 to b8 is empty. The queen has one square, a8.
6. 34… Qa8 Qa8, the only square
7. 35. Nc7 Nc7, at a8 The knight attacks the queen and stands on the diagonal, so the queen can go back to b8. It will not stay there long.
8. 35… Qb8 Back to b8
9. 36. Ne6 Ne6 — the windmill The knight steps off the diagonal and the bishop attacks the queen again. Every knight move from here attacks the queen or uncovers an attack on it, and the queen can only shuttle between a8 and b8.
10. 36… Qa8 Qa8
11. 37. Nc7 Nc7 again
12. 37… Qb8 Qb8 again
13. 38. Nxd5 Nxd5 — a pawn on the way past The same uncovering, and this time the knight takes the d5 pawn as it goes.
14. 38… Qa8
15. 39. Nc7 Back to c7
16. 39… Qb8
17. 40. Ne6 Ne6
18. 40… Qa8
19. 41. Nc7 Nc7, past move forty The time control is made. The queen is still shuttling, and White has all the time in the world to find the finish.
20. 41… Qb8

The pinned rook

1. 42. Bc4 Bc4, at the pinned rook The rook on f7 stands between the bishop and the black king on g8.
2. 42… b5
3. 43. Bxf7+ The bishop takes the rook, with check
4. 43… Kxf7 The king takes back
5. 44. Qe3
6. 44… Kg8
7. 45. Qb3+
8. 45… Kh8
9. 46. Qf7 Qf7, beside the king
10. 46… Bb7
11. 47. Ne8 Ne8 — the knight at last lets go of c7
12. 47… Qd8
13. 48. Bc7 Bc7 — and Indjic resigned The bishop attacks the queen, and the white queen and knight stand next to the black king. China won the match 3–1.