The Queen on g5

The game, move by move

A quiet Lopez

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. Bb5 The Ruy Lopez
6. 3… Nge7 The knight to e7 A passive square, and it takes the defence of f7 away from a piece that was covering it.
7. 4. c3 c3, preparing the centre
8. 4… d6 d6, solid
9. 5. d4 The centre
10. 5… Bd7 Developing
11. 6. O-O White castles
12. 6… Ng6 The knight to g6 Both black knights are now on the kingside and neither of them is looking at f7.

The knight on f7

1. 7. Ng5 The knight to g5 The classic square, aimed at f7, and there is no ...Nf6 available to answer it.
2. 7… h6 h6, asking it to move The move that loses. It attacks the knight and it opens the h-file — and at the end it is this pawn that has to take the queen.
3. 8. Nxf7 The knight, on f7 Given away for a pawn, to pull the king onto a square where the bishop can check him.
4. 8… Kxf7 Taken
5. 9. Bc4+ Check, from c4 The bishop steps across and the king cannot go back: e8 is covered by nothing of White’s, but f7 and e6 are, and going back to e8 would leave the king on the same file as his own rook and no better off.
6. 9… Ke7 Ke7

The queen on g5

1. 10. Qh5 The queen to h5 Threatening the knight on g6 and, more to the point, standing on the diagonal that ends at e8.
2. 10… Qe8 The queen defends Qe8 holds g6 and covers the back rank. It also puts a fourth black piece next to Black’s own king.
3. 11. Qg5+ The queen, on g5 Given to a pawn. It is check, so it cannot be ignored, and there is nothing that can block it and nothing else that can take her.
4. 11… hxg5 Taken — the only move
5. 12. Bxg5# Checkmate The bishop on c1 makes its first move of the game onto the square the queen was taken on. It covers f6 and d8; the bishop on c4 covers f7 and e6; and d7, e8, f8 and d6 are all Black’s own men. Twelve moves.