Neither Winning, Nor Losing

My young students this week are seeing this position from an online game played a couple of days ago.

White to move

White has many ways to win this game with overwhelming material superiority, but Black's last move, 40...Rf8, presents White with a problem. A student's immediate suggestion of 41.Nf7+ is good enough to move towards checkmate. 41.Ng4 or 41.Rf7 leads to a shorter forced checkmate sequence.

In the game, White played 41.d6?? oblivious to the purpose behind Black's last move. The game was soon drawn by repetition: 41...Rf1+ 42.Kg2 Rf2+ 43.Kg3 Rf3+ 44.Kg2 Rf2+ 45.Kh3 Rf3+ 46.Kg4 Rf4+ 47.Kg3 Rf3+ 48.Kg2 Rf2+

Taking the rook at any point leaves Black in stalemate.

The second position arose in the Spokane Chess Club's Fall Championship 20 years ago. 

White to move

Again, White has an overwhelming advantage. The simple 54.Rc6 would end things quickly.

My opponent played 54.h7??

After 54...Rxb7 55.Rd6 Rg7+ 56.Kh6 Rxh7+ 57.Kg6 Rg7+ we agreed to a draw.

Beginner's Club: This Week

Many of the young students in my after school club have only begun playing chess when they joined the club. Others have more experience and more skill, but very few have played in tournaments and with limited success. My focus in these sessions is teaching elementary skills and cultivating enjoyment of the game. Most sessions begin with a short lesson that consists of a small number of problems on the demo board, or a short game. Sometimes, I show a simple technique and ask them to practice, such as building a shrinking box to force checkmate with heavy pieces.

This week, I pulled two checkmate exercises from the Facebook group Chess Teachers & Learners.

The first was presented as a difficult checkmate in one.

White to move

Obviously White has overwhelming force, but the stipulation is that there is a mate in one.

There are many possible checks, including some that would be illegal. One young student immediately suggested Bb3+, so I pointed out that the bishop was pinned by the queen. Beginners need to learn that pieces pinned to their king cannot move off the rank, file, or diagonal along which the pin occurs. Although this bishop cannot move, it still defends the h7 knight from capture. But, as we will see with the solution, the immobility of a pinned piece reduces its power.

The correct answer took me half a minute when I saw this position on Facebook because I subconsciously rejected moving the pinned queen. Then, I saw that the rook attacking the queen is also pinned.

With the young students, we looked at every possible check except the correct one and saw why it does not achieve checkmate. Then, a student saw the correct answer, 1.Qb3#.

We moved on to the second problem--a mate in two.

White to move

This one proved difficult. The students tried several ideas. I stressed the importance of the pin on Black's pawn by the queen to help. After we had spent fifteen minutes on the lesson without finding the answer to this problem, I had the get chess sets and play chess, leaving the position on the board.

They played for 30-40 minutes and started to seem a little restless, so I brought them back to the demo board and showed them the solution (it turns out that there is a second solution that I missed).

1.Qd4 is an elegant move that forces Black to move a rook, the capture of which delivers checkmate.

1.Rd7 is the alternate solution that I missed.

Then I set up a position from William Lewis, Elements of the Game of Chess (1822) that I use with some frequency (see "Teaching Elementary Checkmates"). It is mate in five.

White to move

Students were directed to work in teams solving this. If they found the correct solution, each member of the team would earn a chess pencil. Several came close.

After they struggled a bit with simple forcing moves that were not forcing enough, I offered some hints: find a move that leaves Black only one legal move, force the defending king to remain in the quadrant of the board in which it begins (of course, I had to explain the word quadrant).

A Pattern

The relationship between two puzzles on chess.com surprised me Wednesday morning and I made it that afternoon's lesson for my beginning students. Sometimes I use this feature of the website and iOS app regularly. During the first fifteen years that I was a member of chess.com, I only did puzzles occasionally, completing fewer than 5000. That changed in December 2022 and I've completed nearly 17,000 in the past three years.

Wednesday, I completed 41, failing 13. One that came up early in the session took me five seconds. This mating sequence crops up most days, as it did again this morning. It also appeared in the last puzzle Wednesday morning, but with a twist that took me nearly a minute to recognize that it was essentially the same.

Because the website only shows me the past 30, I was not able to put the early position in front of my students. Instead, I found a game played by Adolf Anderssen in 1861 that finished with the same idea.

White to move

The first student to offer a solution suggested 21.Bxg7, but after 21...Nxf2+ 22.Rxf2 Kxg7, it was clear that White was worse. We did not look at 22.Kg1 Nh3+ 23.Kh1, but Black has two good choices that neutralize the attack.

The students then saw the correct 21.Rxg7+, but I had to show them the key idea after 21...Kh8 22.Rg8+! and mate follows when the other rook comes to the g-file.

This morning's version took me six seconds.

Black to move

20...Rxg2+ 21.Kh1 Rg1+ 22.Kxg1 Rg8+ 23.Bg5

Sometimes, in the puzzles that chess.com feeds me, there are several pieces that can step into the line of fire and increase the move count.

23...Rxg5#

Seeing the same pattern in this next exercise took longer and brought a pleasant surprise. My young students did not see it until I showed it to them.

Black to move

30...Rxg2+ was obvious, but I did not play it until I saw the follow up after 50 seconds. 31.Kh1 Rg1+ 32.Kxg1 (32.Kh2 also leads to mate on the move) 32...Qxg3#.

Chess patterns are familiar ideas in slightly different positions. Good puzzle books and sometimes chess websites help aspiring players learn and train recognition of these ideas. The first two volumes of The Manual of Chess Combinations by Sergey Ivashchenko are particularly good in this respect.

The Soul of Chess

After dropping a couple of pieces in a ten-minute game, my position was near hopeless. My only chance was the difficulty my opponent faced in finding the correct defense.

White to move

34.Rg1!

The only move to preserve the win.

34.Re1, which looks reasonable on the surface, fails. 34...d2! 35.Rfxe2 Rc1 36.Kg1 Rxe1+ 37.Kf2 d1Q 38.Rxe1 Qd4+ picks up the knight and leaves queen vs. rook with pawns on both sides.

34...Rc1

A desperate gamble.

35.Rxc1 d2 36.Rff1

Black to move

Black can take either rook, but not both. White wins.

In the game, White, with 4 1/2 minutes remaining, spent half a minute and did not find the critical Rg1. He took my rook and then resigned after 34...e1Q+.

One of my students who also did not find 34.Rg1, did find 36.Rff1 after my 34...Rc1?? 34...d2! would have won for Black.

My pawns rolling down the center of the board were inspired by many historic games. My students are seeing the well-known game McDonnell,A. De Labourdonnais, L. 1834

White to move

After 31...Bd8

32.Qc4 Qe1 33.Rc1 d2 34.Qc5 Rg8 35.Rd1 e3 36.Qc3

Black to move

36...Qxd1 37.Rxd1 e2 0-1

I am also showing students the end of  Petrosian,T. -- Fischer,R. 1958

Black to move

63...Kd2 64.Rxc2+ Kxc2 65.Kg5 c4 66.f6 c3 67.f7

Here Fischer offered a draw and Petrosian agreed, but with my students, we carry the game further to assure than they understand why the resulting queen vs. c-pawn endgame is a draw.

Of course, François-André Danican Philidor's analysis in Analyse du jeu des Échecs (1849) also inspired my play. It was in this book that Philidor offered his famous line, "pawns are the soul of chess."

White to move

38.f7 Rf8 39.Nf4+ Kg7 40.Bh5 and White's pawns cannot be stopped.

Bishop vs. Knight

This week is Inland Chess Academy's annual August Youth Chess Camp and I'm teaching three sessions each of the three days.

My first session on Tuesday covered a few situations where a bishop or knight was a poor piece, such as a bishop's ineptitude when it does not control the promotion square of an a- or h-pawn. We also looked at some games where a good minor piece was able to dominate its rival.

The first position was from a game I played on Lichess seven years ago. 

White to move

White knew that Black's h-pawn had no future and quickly reached a textbook draw with 53.Nf7 Ke4 54.Nxd6+ Bxd6 55.Kg1 Kxd5 and there were thirty moves of shuffling as Black tried to run White's remaining 48 seconds down to zero. It was futile. Black had less time and White knew how to hold the draw. The game was drawn by repetition after move 86.

Another somewhat more difficult position comes from a game that I annotated in "Excelling at Technical Chess" 14 years ago, a game that is memorable both because I played reasonably well and because it was my revenge after I lost to my opponent in 20 moves a few months earlier.

White to move

I had plenty of time, but perhaps was rushing things because my opponent was short of time.

56.Be2 traps the knight and I should have won quickly. Instead, 

56.g4?? Nf3 57.Kf4 Nd4 58.Kg3 Ne6 59.Bf5 Ng7 60.Bc8

Black to move

My opponent erred in this position, returning the advantage I had squandered earlier. Twenty moves later, he resigned.

What would you play if you had Black here?

Stockfish's Curve Ball

During chess camp last week in a session ambitiously called "advanced rook endgames", I had the students choose a position from a stack of cards that were face down. These cards have 24 endgame diagrams, some of which specify the side to move. One of those they chose, I had regarded as reasonably simple. I set it up in the Fritz GUI with Stockfish 16 loaded as the main engine, and we (the students with my guidance) played it against Stockfish.

The engine defied Dvoretsky, who wrote, "Black's rook must remain passive, staying on the eighth rank" (Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual. 5th ed. [2020], 161). I explained to the students what I recalled of Dvoretsky's explanation, and drew the arrows visible in the diagram.

White to move

From my lead, the students chose the first move well.

1.Rb7 Rd8 2.Rh7

Only after struggling against the engine's surprising response did we come to understand that 2.Rg7+ is better.

2...Rd6!

3.f7 is not possible. We tried 3.Rg7+ Kf8 4.Rh7 Kg8 and realized something else was needed.
3.Re7 Kf8 confused us, although it should not have.
After 3.Rb7 Rd8, we felt that our progress was still missing something.

After several trials and error, we found the correct idea.

3.Rg7+ Kf8 4.Ra7 Rd8 5.Rh7

Black to move

Now Black must allow either the skewer or f7+ followed by the skewer.

Playing several Lucena positions against Stockfish over the past few years, I've learned that the engine often diverges from the line given in the textbook. Often this complicates the solution and the human must solve a problem.

These curve balls are why computer training is valuable.

Remarkable King Pursuit

While exploring with a student some variations in a game with a dynamic imbalance yesterday, we came upon this position with Black to move.

At first it was surprising that the engine found the position equal. Then, we saw 34...Qa1+ 35.Kg2 f3+ 36.exf3 and Black forces stalemate with 36...Qg1+ (or h1).

Two lines needed more examination:

a) 35.Kh2 fxg3+ 36.Kxg3

Black to move

36...Qg1+ 37.Kf4 Qxf2+ 38.Ke5 and Black's queen should be able to continue checks until there is a repetition or the queen is captured by the king without blocking the bishop's control of h7 nor the rook's control of the g-file.

b) 36.Kxf3 Qh1+ 37.Kf4

Black to move

Here, Stockfish 16 favors 37...Qc1+, but I like the simple aesthetics of 37...Qf3+, which is easier to calculate. Two moves result in stalemate--capturing the queen with pawn or king. 38.Ke5 drops the rook and shifts the advantage to Black. That leaves 38.Kg5 and Black has a mate in two: stalemate, that is.

Lessons from the Dragonslayer

The Dragonslayer is Spokane's oldest youth chess tournament, dating back to the late-1990s. I have been coaching at the host school since 2011. The prior coach was my opponent in the game featured in the inaugural post for Chess Skills in November 2007.

The 2025 Dragonslayer was held yesterday. There were 36 players representing 17 teams.

Some observations:

New players made a difference. A newcomer playing his first tournament led four 4.0 finishers to take home the second place trophy. Two of the second place team's top scorers were playing their first event as well.

Time management made a difference. One player won on time with only two pawns against two queens, a rook, and at least another pawn.

Basic checkmate skills mattered. One game ended in stalemate when the player with the queen did not see the mate in one and moved the queen to the wrong square. Another player in time pressure missed a mate in one. One player who drew a difficult game where both players in time pressure missed chances, did not see a forced mate in two with Nf6+ followed by Rg8# (Arabian mate).

Endgame skills made a difference. There were dozens of pawn promotions, many preventable by the opponent. There were as many as three queens in the possession of one side in games that I witnessed.

Many of my students this next week will see some positions that I recall or was able to capture with my phone.

White to move

Here or a few moves later, White brought the knight to g5. Also over several moves Black's rook on f8 went back to its starting square, Black's queen went to c8, and an exchange of bishops left White's queen on e7 with a mate in one. Black won the game.

I was called to the board by a player who was offered a draw and wanted to know whether acceptance was obligatory. I said it was not, and with the material on the board, the offer could be considered rude. This was the position.

Black to move

Black played Qc7?? instead of Qh6#.

In the last game of the tournament to finish, one of my students missed an opportunity here (creating the position from memory, I reversed the colors).

White to move

Earlier is this game, they had this position (reconstructed from a photograph, hence the colors are correct).

Black to move

Readers, especially young chess players, are encouraged to consider how they would play these positions. Any comments left with suggestions will receive a response.

Lesson of the Week

Last week and this, most of my students are seeing a number of positions where correct play leads to a draw. Some are composed; several are from recent games. This one may be the most difficult. It was composed by Herman Mattison and published in Wiener Neueste Nachrichten (1931).*

White to move

The next one is of a different character. After the first move, variations are not forcing. Nonetheless, Black should be able to hold. It arose in a game that I played last week. To confirm that it is indeed drawn, I played the position against Stockfish 16 this morning. The position arose at move 47 and the game against Stockfish ended with a repetition at move 128. In the actual game, we repeated at move 113. My opponent, who had White, was critically short of time.

Black to move

I also used this one, which is derived from a composition by Gioachino Greco that appears in the Orsini (1620) and Lorraine (1621) manuscripts. I’ve reversed colors.

White to move

Several basic pawn endings and rook endings were among those my students were presented to solve. This important position appeared in Gligoric,S.--Fischer,R., Candidates Tournament 1959. It is the first endgame position in Thomas Engqvist, 300 Most Important Chess Positions (2018).

Black to move

As always, if you post answers in the comments, I will respond.

Clicking on the tag "Problem of the Week" takes you to posts about what I've been teaching in after school chess clubs over several years.

*I did not check the original source, but both Yochanan Afek, Anthology of Miniature Endgame Studies (2022) and Harold van der Heijden Endgame Study Database VI (2020) list the source and date.

Copying

Working with very young chess players, I often hear one of them complaining that their opponent is copying their moves. It sounds as though there is some ethical problem with such behavior. When I'm drawn into the discussion, I point out that such imitation is completely within the rules and that it generally favors the first player.

Jose Capablanca offers a comment on symmetry in Chess Fundamentals (1921).

After the moves 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5 Bb4 5.O-O O-O 6.d3 d6 7.Bg5, we reach the following position.

Black to move

Capablanca asserts. "there is long analysis showing that Black should lose if he also plays 7...Bg4" (27). The reader is left wondering where to find this analysis, but Capablanca offers no clues. ChessBase Mega 2024 contains fifteen games with the resulting position prior to publication of Chess Fundamentals. One is a sixteen move miniature that Capablanca won in a simul in 1918. Another, Alekhine--Marshall, St. Petersburg 1914 was drawn after 45 moves and annotated by Siegbert Tarrasch. Capablanca participated in the tournament where this game was played. Perhaps he and others spent some time analyzing the game.

After 8.Nd5 Nd4, Alekhine played 9.Kh1 and Tarrasch recommends 9.Nxb4 Nxb5 10.Nd5 Nd4.

Tarrasch's recommendation was the continuation in Capablanca's miniature.

The game continued: 11.Qd2 Qd7

White to move

Black carried the imitation too far and will now suffer punishment.

12.Bxf6

12.Nxf6+ may be slightly better. 12...gxf6 13.Bxf6 and now 13...Nxf3+ walks into checkmate in four.

12...Bxf3 13.Ne7+

Checks usually end all chance of further copying.

13...Kh8

13...Qxe7 14.Bxe7 is the only way to avoid immediate checkmate.

White to move

White has forced mate in three.

14.Bxg7+ Kxg7 15.Qg5+ Kh8 16.Qf6#

Yesterday, I found myself in a symmetrical position.

White to move

Ten moves have been played.

11.Ne5

After 11...Qb3 12.Nxb3, the symmetry ends and both players have equal chances.

My opponent, inexplicably, played 11...Nxe5?? 12.Qxb6+-

Black found a way to keep the game interesting, but the win was simply a matter of avoiding a few transparent traps after that.

Capablanca's game and my position from yesterday are today's lesson plan for the beginning students who I meet this afternoon. Do not fear copying as it does not harm you.

Three Positions

My beginning students—young players in grades kindergarten through second grade—saw three positions in chess club this afternoon. These all occurred in my online play this morning.

White to move

White played 50.Bd7 and the students were asked how they would play as Black. Oblivious to the dangers, they made the same error as my opponent in the blitz game: capturing the bishop with 50…Bxd7 ends the game with stalemate. 50…Kxd7, on the other hand, leads to victory for Black.

Black to move

The students found 53…Re1+ 54.Kd6 Rd1+. It was unclear whether all of them would exchange rooks, however. We then pushed the pawn to promotion and worked on the elementary checkmate of queen and king against a lone king.

White to move

The third position was rather advanced for these students. I discussed my thought process during the game, looking for ways to restrict the knight’s mobility. I played 34.Kf1. Black’s reply 34…Nd4 did not seem to me the best choice. Some of my students indicated that they would exchange bishop for knight. We then discussed the resulting weakness of the Black pawn on d4. After 35.Bxd4 exd4 36.Ke2, Black resigned.

While looking at the position, I discussed the imbalances of bishop vs. knight and differences in the pawn structure. This concept takes time for students to grasp. Several have heard it in the past and they will hear it again.

Applied Study: Lesson from a Youth Tournament

After spending parts of several days last week on a particular endgame offered in Thomas Engqvist, 300 Most Important Chess Positions (2018), it arose in a game that I was watching during a youth tournament yesterday. I attempted to take a photo of the position, but the student on the move made his move before I snapped the image.

Black to move

The image on my phone combined with my memory allowed me to set up the game on my iPad last night and play it out against Stockfish. I hope some students can learn something from this analysis. An exclamation  mark after a move indicates that the move played is best, or equal best, as measured by the shortest distance to checkmate.

As usual, the moves in bold are from my game against Stockfish. Other moves are suggested improvements.

1...Kg5!

1...Kf5 was played by the child 2.Rc5+ wins, but was not played. Eventually, Black was able to promote the g-pawn, forcing White's rook off the board.

2.Kg2 h4

I remembered this idea from Engqvist, but it is not the engine's top choice as it extends the distance to mate by three moves.

2...Rb4 is best.

3.Rd3 Rf5

3...Ra4

4.Rb3 Rc5

4...Rd5 is slightly more accurate.

5.Rb2

Black to move

5...Rc4

I considered but did not fully calculate 5...h3+ 6.Kg3 Rc3+ 7.Kh2 Kh4 8.Rb4 Rc2+ 9.Kh1.

6.Ra2 Kf4! 7.Rf2+ Ke3! 8.Rb2

Black to move

Rd4!

I'm hoping to exchange into an easy pawn ending.

9.Rb1 Rd2+! 10.Kg1 g3! 11.Rb3+ Rd3!

Six consecutive best moves are the result of book study and practice against the computer.

12.Rb8

Black to move

12...h3

My move is based on an idea in the book: threaten back-rank checkmate, but there was a faster way to accomplish this goal.

12...Kf3 13.Rf8+ Kg4 14.Rg8+ Kh3 15.Rf8 Rd1+ 16.Rf1 Rxf1+ 17.Kxf1 Kh2.

13.Re8+ Kd4! 14.Rd8+ Kc3

14...Ke4 15.Re8+ Kf5

15.Rc8+ Kd2 16.Kf1

Black to move

16...Rf3+! 17.Kg1 Re3

17...h2+ 18.Kg2 Rf2+ 19.Kxg3 h1Q

18.Rd8+ Ke2! 19.Ra8 Rd3! 20.Re8+ Kf3!

The king marches toward the rook until it runs out of checks.

21.Rf8+ Kg4! 22.Rg8+ Kf5! 23.Kf1

Black to move

23...Ra3

23...h2

24.Rf8+ Kg6! 25.Rb8 g2+ 26.Kf2 Ra2+! 27.Kf3

Black to move

27...Kg7

27...g1Q?? 28.Rg8+ and a draw.
27...h2!

28.Rb7+ Kf8! 29.Rb8+ Ke7! 30.Rb7+ Kf6

30...Kd6

31.Rb6+ Ke5 32.Rb5+ Kd4! 33.Rb4+ Kc3! 34.Rb1

Black to move

34...h2! 35.Rc1+ Kd4

35...Kd2

36.Rd1+ Ke5!

Finding shelter behind White's king

37.Re1+ Kf5! 38.Re8 h1Q!

The rest should be easy.

39.Rf8+ Ke6! 40.Re8+ Kd7! 41.Kf4 Qh4+! 42.Kf3 Rf2+

42...Kxe8

43.Ke3 Qf4+

43...Kxe8 44.Kd3 g1Q

44.Kd3 Rd2+ 45.Kc3 Qd4+ 46.Kb3 Rb2+ 47.Ka3 Qb4#

Finishing with the queen and rook roll from Pandolfini's Endgame Course (1988), and excellent endgame resource by chess coach Bruce Pandolfini for young players.

Building Pattern Understanding

My intention with my after school club on Thursday was to reinforce some opening principles by showing the students some short games where king safety or piece mobility was horribly neglected by one player. Nonetheless, most of the miniatures that I shared from memory concerned a weakened e1-h4 diagonal--an important pattern.

The first two were exceptions, but both involved quick knockouts of the Caro-Kann Defense, which should be solid. The first game was played over-the-board in 2011 when I arrived twenty minutes late for round two. 

Stripes,J. -- Opponent
Eastern Washington Open, 1 October 2011

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.Nf3 h6

6...e6 or 6...Nf6 would be normal.

7.Ne5 Bh7 8.Bc4 e6 9.Qh5 Qe7

This unfortunate blocking in of the bishop is the computer's top recommendation to my surprise.

10.O-O Nf6 11.Qe2 Nbd7 12.Bf4

I wanted to maintain a piece on e5.

12...O-O-O??

12...Nxe5 13.Bxe5 and White is slightly better.

White to move

I asked the students to find my move.

13.Nxc6 and Black resigned facing checkmate or the loss of his queen.

The second game was played online. A catastrophic blunder spoiled a difficult but playable position that I have done well against.

Stripes,J. -- Internet Opponent

Chess.com 3 April 2024

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.h4 h6?!

4...h5 and 4...c5 both get played against me regularly.

5.g4!? Be4 6.f3 Bh7 7.e6! fxe6

7...Qd6 might be best here. I've seen it once.

8.Bd3 Bxd3 9.Qxd3

Black to move

9...Nd7??

9...e5 or 9...Qd6 are playable.

10.Qg6#

Then, I showed the students the first game in Irving Chernev, The 1000 Best Short Games of Chess (1955).

Gibauld -- Lazard

Paris 1924

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nd2 e5 3.dxe5 Ng4 4.h3??

Black to move

4...Ne3 and White resigned.

After showing this game to some online students one morning in 2021, I played the following game that afternoon. Pulling the game from my database reminded me that I played an identical game again in 2023.

Stripes,J.--Internet Opponent
Chess.com 7 October 2021

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nd2 e5 3.dxe5 Ng4 4.Ngf3 d6

Watch what develops as it will appear in another game, too.

5.exd6 Bxd6 6.h3??

Black to move

6...Ne3 7.fxe3 Bg3#

The next game was presented to the students as one that I saw at the Mead High School Chess Club about 2006, but others have played it, too. It seems that I even played it on chess.com once in 2009.

A Visitor -- A Mead Team Member
Mead High School c.2006

1.f4 e5 2.fxe5 d6 3.exd6 Bxd6 

White to move

4.Nc3??

When I've had the diagram position against Michael Cambareri, he has played 4.Nf3 or 4.d5. I usually end up losing after a battle.

My students found the conclusion quickly.

4...Qh4+ 5.g3 Qxg3+

5...Bxg3+ 6.hxg3 Qxg3# is more common.

6.hxg3 Bxg3#

This next game is the source for the banner at the top of the page. It was played online in less than a minute during my lunch break while teaching chess in elementary school classrooms.

Internet Opponent -- Stripes,J.
Chess.com 18 January 2012

1.e4 e6 2.f4 c5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nf6!? 6.e5 Ne4 7.Bd3 Qh4+ 8.g3 Nxg3 9.Nf3

Black to move

9...Qg4??

9...Qh3 was best.

10.hxg3

10.Rg1 was slightly better.

10...Qxg3+ 11.Ke2??

11.Kf1 and White is much better.

11...Qg2+

White to move

12.Ke3?

Moves into checkmate. 12.Ke1 loses the rook, but holds out longer.

12...Bc5+ 13.Ke4 f5+ 

With students, I always ask them to find the only move to get out of check. En passant is difficult for young chess players.

14.exf6 d5#

The last game appears in Emanuel Lasker, Common Sense in Chess (1917), has been played by Eric Rosen more than once, and appears in his video and Lichess Study on the Stafford Gambit. I have played the entire game nine times on chess.com.

Several Players -- Stripes,J.
chess.com November 2022 - October 2024

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Nc6 4.Nxc6 dxc6 5.d3 Bc5 6.Bg5??

Black to move

6...Nxe4

I played 6...O-O the first time that I found myself in this position and won after a long battle.

7.Bxd8?

White still loses with 7.Be3, the best option. Eric Rosen's study offers the variations and I showed the main ones to my students.

7...Bxf2+ 8.Ke2 Bg4#

I hope my students will guard the diagonal leading to their king and also will exploit the vulnerability when their opponent fails to do so.