May 2024
Issue 6
Newsletter
Editors: FM Davis Zong & FM Arthur Xu
Chess for Unity
Blitzkrieg Chess: Miniatures of the Past
By Davis Zong
Can You Checkmate with Only a Knight and a Bishop on an NxN Board?
By Arthur Xu
Blitzkrieg Chess: Miniatures of the Past
By Davis Zong
Picture this: it is 5:55 PM, and you just had an appetizing dinner of instant ramen, a nap where you felt half-asleep, and a quick last-minute opening preparation. Now you’re anxiously waiting for the elevator to the playing hall, helplessly glancing at your watch and hoping to catch the 6 PM round – you would take the stairs but 11 floors is just a tad too harsh on the knees. After passing on the first two crowded elevators, you finally manage to squeeze into the third one, and after an arduous journey with local stops every floor, you sprint to your board and settle in just as the tournament director is finishing up his opening announcements. Peace at last, and time to enjoy a long, calm game of chess, or so you think.
Most ordinary games of chess follow the same lifecycle. You develop your pieces in the opening, castle your king to safety, shuffle around some pieces in the middlegame, and magically emerge in some endgame after the time control is reached. You spend the majority of your time playing and thinking positionally: gaining space with a certain pawn push, rerouting your knight to a central outpost, preparing to trade off a bad bishop. The game would then climax in a few moves of fiery tactics before settling down into a winning (or losing) position, depending on which side of the tactic you ended up.
However, there are also the so-called “miniatures,” short exciting games that finish in the middlegame or even the opening. In miniatures, one or both of the players sets caution and rationalism in the back seat and lets intuition and creativity take the wheel, rejecting the idea of playing a long five- hour battle into the endgame. The supernovae of chess, miniatures harness our inner belligerent self and fulfills our juvenile desire to view every position as a tactic from puzzle rush. Today, we will focus on some beautiful miniatures made by past greats. So, grab your popcorn, put on your tactical goggles, and enjoy the ride.
Starting off the show is Blackburne – Blanchard (London 1891). Blackburne was one of top chess players of his time and known for his aggressive style of play. In fact, the checkmate named after him, Blackburne’s mate, often comes after a queen sacrifice and involves a nasty combination of a bishop pair and a knight.
- e4 e5
- f4 Bc5
- Nc3 Nc6
- Nf3 exf4
- d4 Bb4?
- Bxf4 d5
- e5 Bxc3+
- bxc3 Be6
Already from the second move, Blackburne shows that he is here for a fight. The combative King’s Gambit, while weakening the king, directly challenges the e5 pawn and opens up the f-file. Black’s 5th move technically was already a mistake, as it cedes the bishop pair and yields the center to white. Stronger but way sharper was 5…Nxd4! 6. Nxd4 Qh4+ 7. Ke2 d5, which the machine reads equal but is far from clear.
9.Bd3 h6
10.0-0 Nge7
11.Rb1 b6
12.Qd2 0-0??
Kids are often taught that castling is a top priority in the opening, but not when it is directly into the wrath of five enemy attackers! Black’s king may seem safe at first sight, but it will be checkmated in six moves. Can you find the crushing move for white here?
13. Bxh6! gxh6
A more timid move such as 13. Bg3?? would lose almost all advantage after Bf5! Notice how the pawn chain on c3-d4-e5 and the open f-file helps facilitate white’s crushing attack.
14.Qxh6 Ng6; 15.Ng5 Re8; 16.Rxf7! Bxf7
A second devastating sacrifice which finishes the game. The second player has no pawns left in front of the king, and it can only wait to be checkmated.
17.Qh7+ Kf8; 18. Qxf7#
1-0. White wins.
For our next game, Ruger – Gebhard (Dresden 1915), we will see an example of how not to play the Italian game as black. We will also witness a star play by Harry the h-pawn and the timeless fishing pole technique that has tricked players young and old alike.
- e4 e5
- Nf3 Nc6
- Bc4 Bc5
- c3 Nf6
- d4 exd4
- cxd4 Bb4+
- Nc3 0-0?!
White’s fifth move already signals aggression. Instead of the modest d3, aiming for a slow maneuvering game, white weakens his pawns in exchange for a massive center. Black’s best response was to accept the challenge by capturing 7…Nxe4, and after 8. 0-0 Bxc3 9. d5 Bf6, the second player ultimately reaches equality by giving the piece back. Again, castling, despite being principled, turns out to be a mistake as it gives white’s pawns free reign to roll forward.
8.d5! Ne7?!
9.e5 Ne4?
10.Qc2 Nxc3
11.bxc3 Bc5
12.Ng5 Ng6
13.h4 h6
8…Nxe4 was still the best move, as Black will gain enough pawns in compensation for losing two minors to a rook. 9…Ne8! though unnatural, was the superior alternative to Ne4, as the latter gave up multiple tempi and compromised the second player’s kingside. Thanks to the aggressive central pawns driving away all pieces in their way, white is now poised to launch a deadly attack with 12. Ng5 and 13. h4!, introducing the knight and rook into the attack. Black’s last h6? was actually a mistake, with b5! being the strongest defense, deflecting the offensive light-squared bishop. Can you find the knockout blow for white now?
Here, instead of retreating the endangered horse, the first player uncorked the spectacular d6! The queen’s pawn continues its journey with valor, restricting Black’s queenside pieces and opening up the light squared bishop and menacing threats including Qxg6. There were many ways to win, with the natural h5 also getting the job done, but d6 wins the clearest.
14. d6! hxg5; 15. hxg5! Re8
Cold-blooded chess. White calmly recaptures the pawn, claiming that even with multiple spare tempi, Black can’t prevent the inevitable Qxg6 followed by checkmate. 16. Qxg6 Rxe5+; 17. Kf1, and black resigned. 1-0.
A few possible continuations are:
17…Qe8 18. Qh7+ Kf8 19. Qh8#
17…Re1+ 18. Kxe1 Qe8+ 19. Be3 Bxd6 20. Bxf7+ Qxf7 21. Rh8+ +-
It’s improper to write an article about miniatures without including Paul Morphy’s game against Duke Karl and Count Isouard. An exemplary display of principled development and timely attacks, Morphy’s final queen sacrifice echoes in eternity and is a favorite of young chess enthusiasts all around the world. I present to you the infamous opera game!
The Opera Game (1858)
- e4 e5
- Nf3 d6
- d4 Bg4?!
The third move is already an error by black. exd4 was preferable, after which we have a normal Pirc defense. After 4. dxe5, if black recaptures dxe5, 5. Qxd8+! breaks the pin with tempo and wins the e5 pawn. In the game, black chose to trade on f3, but this accelerates white’s development and gives Morphy the bishop pair.
4.dxe5 Bxf3
5.Qxf3 dxe5
6.Bc4 Nf6
Can you find a double attack for Morphy? If you said Qb3, that is absolutely correct! You’re not supposed to move a piece twice in the opening, but such a strong double-attack calls for some rule-breaking.
7.Qb3! Qe7
8. Nc3 c6
Morphy could also have cashed in his advantage with 8. Qxb7 Qb4+ 9. Qxb4 Bxb4+ 10. Bd2, but the game continuation is just as strong objectively and much more fun.
9.Bg5 b5
10. Nxb5! cxb5
What a strike! While white is poised to connect rooks in just one more turn, Black is miles away from finishing development, and his pieces are poorly placed to aid his exposed center king. If white had slowed down with the natural 10. Bd3 Nbd7!, suddenly the position would have been equal again!
11.Bxb5+ Nbd7
12.0-0-0 Rd8
13. Rxd7! Rxd7
An ingenious motif by Morphy to bring the last rook into battle. Wasting no time doubling the rooks, Morphy simply sacrifices on d7, utilizing the pin on the f6 knight.
14. Rd1 Qe6
15. Bxd7+ Nxd7
After a seemingly paradoxical last move of releasing the tension, we finally arrive at the signature position of the Opera game. Slower moves such as Qe3 and Qxe6+ hand the advantage to black, who is ready to consolidate in just one or two more moves. However, there is a reason this game survived the test of time. Even if you have seen it before, it is always a treat to revisit.
16.Qb8+!! Nxb8
17. Rd8#
A checkmate in which every white piece was either traded, sacrificed, or utilized in the participation of the final picturesque image. We hope you enjoyed our adventure back in time, and wish you fireworks in your future chess games!
Can You Checkmate with Only a Knight and a Bishop on an N x N Board?
By Arthur Xu
At some point in their chess career, every chess player has probably learned to checkmate with only a knight and a bishop. It is a daunting task at first, as a checkmate with just two minor pieces seems challenging and exacting. It is well-known that a checkmate with two knights is impossible. However, once the player has learned the technique, the checkmate becomes trivial and systematic. The key is to force the opponent’s king to the edge of the chess board and then to the corner that matches the bishop’s color using the W-maneuver. The only concern for a player is the 50-move rule, though even with the least optimal position, a player needs to play only 33 moves to mate. (Figure 1)
Please feel free to check out this video of GM Daniel Naroditsky checkmating his opponent with a bishop and knight in just 10 seconds.
An interesting question arises when one considers expanding the chess board to, say, a 9×9 board. Is it still possible to force checkmate?
First, we must discard the 50-move rule. As the board gets bigger, so does the number of moves required to checkmate. It would inevitably require more than 50 moves to do so.
With that rule out of the way, the pressing question becomes whether or not we can force the king to the corner of the board and mate it. Assume that both sides play optimally. On a 9×9 board, the corners are all white or all dark. So, when we have the wrong-colored bishop, a checkmate is impossible. The following is a doable checkmate with the king in the wrong corner, but it may never arise if Black can play optimally by avoiding moving to the corner when the bishop checks it on an adjacent square.
All other possibilities suffer a similar fate: the black king simply chooses to move away from the corner when checked by the bishop to avoid the checkmate.
But suppose we have the correct colored bishop. We first force it to the edge of the board, which is trivial for any N x N board because we can easily take squares away from the king. The simplest method is to form L’s like this:
Then the white king simply shoulders the black king back, before repeating the process until the king reaches an edge.
1. Kd4 Kf6 2. Kc5 Ke7 3. Kd5 Kf6 4. Kd6 Kg5 5. Ke5 Kg4 6. Kf6 Kg3 7. Kg5 Kh3
Once the king is forced into an edge, the king is at maximum four squares away from the nearest corner (simply half of 9-1). Since we can press the king into a corner on an 8×8 board, where the king can be seven squares away from a corner, it is certainly possible. It can also be done in less than 50 moves (if you ever need to mate on a 9×9 board in a real game!)
Now, let us tackle a 10×10 board.
We may use the same strategy to force the king in the corner. Let us examine the worst-case scenario when the king is in the opposite corner of the bishop.
We can force the king out of the corner with these series of moves:
1.Kg6 Kg8 2. Ng5 Kf8 3. Kf6 Kg8 4. Nf7 Kh7 5. Bc2+ Kg8 6. Bg6 Kf8 7. Bh7 Ke8 8.Ne5 Kd8 9. Be4
Now, shift the perspective of the board two squares left to capture the 10×10 board:
1… Ke7 2. Ne4 Kd8 3. Kg5 Kc7 4. Kf4 Kb6 5. Ke5 Ka5 6. Kd4 Kb4 7. Be6 Ka3 8.Kc3 Ka4 9. Nd6 Ka3 10. Nb5+ Ka4 11. Kc4 Ka5 12. Kc5 Ka4 13. Bd5 Ka5 14. Bb3
Through these series of moves, White can force the black king to the opposite edge of the board, this time with the black king only 3 squares away from the corner. The finish is simple.
14… Ka6 15. Nd6 Ka5 16. Nb7+ Ka6 17. Kc6 Ka7 18. Kc7 Ka6 19. Bc4+ Ka7 20. Nd8 Ka8 21. Ba6 Ka7 22. Bc8 Ka8 23. Bb7+ Ka7 24. Nc6# 1-0
Believe it or not, we can prove that a mate is possible for any NxN board with N>= 8, as long as there is a corner with the same color as the bishop!
Our method above demonstrates that we can reduce any NxN board into a smaller board by cutting off the king’s squares and switching edges. Through this process, the king moves closer and closer to the corner as it switches from one edge of the board to an adjacent edge of the board. Eventually, we can force it into the corner, where we can no doubt checkmate it, as shown above.
So there we go! It is possible to mate with a bishop and knight on a square board with any number of squares, as long as the bishop is the same color as at least one corner.
But what about an MxN board, where M and N are not necessarily equal? Can you checkmate with a knight and a bishop on that board? Readers, I hope you can give it a try to prove it!