A Knight Check and the Queen Behind It

The game, move by move

A Queen’s Gambit, slowly

1. 1. d4 Queen’s pawn
2. 1… e6
3. 2. c4
4. 2… a6 a6 — an unusual second move
5. 3. Nc3
6. 3… d5
7. 4. cxd5
8. 4… exd5
9. 5. Nf3
10. 5… Nc6
11. 6. Bf4
12. 6… Nf6
13. 7. e3
14. 7… Nh5
15. 8. Bg5
16. 8… Be7
17. 9. Bxe7
18. 9… Nxe7
19. 10. Bd3
20. 10… Nf6
21. 11. Qc2
22. 11… O-O Black castles
23. 12. O-O
24. 12… g6
25. 13. Qb3
26. 13… Ra7
27. 14. Rfc1
28. 14… Bf5
29. 15. Bf1
30. 15… c6
31. 16. a4
32. 16… Nc8
33. 17. a5
34. 17… Re8

Pawns on both wings

1. 18. Ne5 The knight to e5
2. 18… Ng4
3. 19. Nxg4
4. 19… Bxg4
5. 20. Re1
6. 20… Bf5
7. 21. f3
8. 21… h5
9. 22. Qb4
10. 22… Nd6
11. 23. Na4
12. 23… Ra8
13. 24. Nc5
14. 24… Qc7
15. 25. Qd2
16. 25… Re7
17. 26. Qf2
18. 26… Rae8
19. 27. b4
20. 27… Kg7
21. 28. Ra2
22. 28… f6
23. 29. Rae2
24. 29… g5
25. 30. h4 h4, at the black king
26. 30… Bg6
27. 31. hxg5
28. 31… fxg5
29. 32. Qg3
30. 32… Kh6
31. 33. e4
32. 33… h4
33. 34. Qh2
34. 34… dxe4 The pawn takes on e4 Black is slightly better here, and far ahead on the clock: Yakubboev has three and a half minutes for his next five moves, Nihal nearly half an hour.

Ne6, and the queen is lost

1. 35. f4 f4, short of time fxe4 was the move. This leaves the e-pawn free to run to e3.
2. 35… e3 e3 — the pawn runs on
3. 36. fxg5+
4. 36… Kxg5 The king takes on g5 Kg7 kept Black’s advantage. On g5 the king stands a knight’s jump from e6, and the white knight on c5 is one jump from e6 too.
5. 37. g3
6. 37… Nf5 Nf5 — and d6 is empty Kf6 kept the game level. With the knight gone from d6, the diagonal from the queen on h2 to the black queen on c7 is empty but for White’s own pawn on g3.
7. 38. Ne6+ Ne6+ — the move of the Olympiad Check, and the knight also attacks the queen on c7. If the king steps away the knight takes the queen. If the rook takes the knight, the pawn on g3 takes h4 with check and uncovers the queen on h2 against c7.
8. 38… Rxe6 The rook takes it
9. 39. gxh4+ gxh4+ — the diagonal opens
10. 39… Nxh4 The knight takes back
11. 40. Qxc7 And the queen takes the queen White has a queen, two rooks and a bishop against two rooks, a bishop and a knight, and a passed e-pawn to deal with. The engine has White more than three pawns ahead.
12. 40… Nf3+ Nf3+, with a fork of its own

Queen against pieces

1. 41. Kg2
2. 41… Nxe1+ The knight takes the rook
3. 42. Rxe1
4. 42… e2 e2 — one square from queening
5. 43. Rxe2 The rook takes it
6. 43… Rxe2+
7. 44. Bxe2
8. 44… Rxe2+
9. 45. Kg3 The king walks up
10. 45… Bd3
11. 46. Qg7+
12. 46… Kh5
13. 47. Kf4
14. 47… Re4+
15. 48. Kf3
16. 48… Rh4
17. 49. Kg3
18. 49… Re4
19. 50. b5 b5, a second front
20. 50… axb5
21. 51. Qh7+
22. 51… Kg5
23. 52. Qxb7
24. 52… b4
25. 53. a6 a6 — the last pawn goes on
26. 53… Bxa6 Bxa6 Rg4+ was the move. Taking the pawn leaves the black pieces loose.
27. 54. Qg7+ Qg7+ — and Nihal resigned A queen against a rook and a bishop, with the black king in the open. Uzbekistan won the match 2½–1½ and led the Olympiad on their own.