An Annotated Collection of
Short Chess Gems
As a project, I
have decided to convert a selected sample of short games from the book
entitled: 1000 Best Short Games of Chess,
written by Irving Chernev in 1955.
Many of the games
involve master players against amateurs, hence the brevity of the games.
However, there are many examples of mistakes made by professional players in
which one player was able to take quick advantage.
Here is a quick
reference to the abbreviations that I will be using:
N - Knight
B - Bishop
R - Rook
Q - Queen
K – King
X - capture
+ - check
# - checkmate
O-O – Castle
kingside
O-O-O – Castle
queenside
Game 1
Paris, 1924
Gibaud-Lazard
1. d4 Nf6
2. Nd2 e5
Generally,
knights should be played to c3 and f3.
As
you will see, the N on d2 poses problems for
White.
3. dxe5 Ng4
4. h3
4. ¡¦
Ne3
White
resigns, since capturing the knight on e3 is followed by mate in two moves. Any other move results in the loss of White¡¯s queen.
The
final position of game 1.
Game 2
London, 1862
Taylor – Amateur
1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nf6 This is Petrov¡¯s Defense.
3. Bc4 Nxe4
4. Nc3 Nc5
5. Nxe5 f6 This is a
fatal mistake. Now, White announces checkmate in 8 moves. Can you find the
forced mate?
6. Qh5+ g6 7. Bf7+
Ke7 8. Nd5+ Kd6 9. Nc4+ Kc6 10. Nb4+ Kb5 11. a4+
Kxb4 12. c3+ Kb3 13. Qd1#
It¡¯s interesting
to see the Black King being chased across the board and finally ending up on
b3. The White Queen delivers checkmate by returning to its original square.
Game 3
Berlin, 1907
Amateur vs. Bruening
Before we look at
this game, I should point out that in Western chess pawns are not referred to
as pieces. So, in this game, Bruening wins the game
by only moving pawns and not a single piece.
1.
d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c5 4. Bf4 cxd4 5. Bxb8 dxc3 6. Be5 cxb2
Naturally, White
must now lose a lot of material. After 7. Bxb2, there would follow 7. ¡¦ Bb4+ and White eventually must
interpose the Queen.
Game 4
Correspondence Game, 1930
Warren – Selman
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e5 3.
dxe5 Ne4 4. a3 d6 5.
exd6 Bxd6 6. g3 Nxf2
White resigns due
to the unavoidable loss of the exchange.
If White captures
the Knight on f2, then Black will play 7. ¡¦ Bxg3+ followed by the capture of
White¡¯s Queen. If 7. Qa4+, then Bd7 is sufficient for
Black to win material.
In conclusion,
White¡¯s pawn moves were simply too passive.
Game 5
Berlin, 1950
Serpelt –
Leganki
Leganki employs the French Defense, Tarrasch Variation.
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4.
exd5 exd5 5. dxc5 Bxc5 6. Ne2 Qb6
White has
awkwardly placed the Knights on passive squares. Now, White must give up one of
the Knights in order to prevent checkmate on f7.
Game 6
Vienna, 1902
Hamlisch –
Amateur
This is another
good example of poor Knight deployment. Black arrives
at a Pirc/Modern Defense by transposition but plays
too passively.
1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nd7 3.
Bc4 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5.
Bxf7+ Kxf7 6. Ng5+
Kf6 7. Qf3#
After
6. Ng5+, Black only has
three possible moves. If the King moves to e8 or f8, then White will play 7. Ne6 winning the Queen. Perhaps, getting mated was less
ignominious for Black. 
Game 7
Paris, 1750
De Legal – Saint Brie
This is one of the
first recorded games employing this particular technique. Legal was a precursor
of the very famous Philidor.
1.
e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 
Black plays 2. ¡¦ d6, the Philidor Defense. It is a solid opening although
considered to be somewhat passive.
This is a very famous position: 
2. Bc4 Bg4 4. Nc3 g6 5. Nxe5
White ignores the pin on its Queen and unleashes a
brilliant attack.
The game concludes as follows:
5. ¡¦
Bxd1 6. Bxf7+ Ke7 7.
Nd5#
It¡¯s
a very elegant checkmate with two Knights and a Bishop.
Game 8
New Orleans, 1855
Meek-Amateur
New Orleans,
Louisiana was a veritable hotbed of chess activity in the 19th
century. Here is an example of brilliant chess played by one of the chess
masters active during that era.
The game begins
with the King¡¯s Gambit, once a very popular opening.
1.
e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 dxe4 5. Nxe4
Bg4 6. Qe2 Bxf3 7. Nf6#
The
conclusion is superb in many respects. It is a grand example of double check.
The only answer to double check is to move the King. However, The Black King
has no available flight squares, so it is checkmate.
Game 9
Cologne, 1912
Muhlock –
Kostics
Even though Black
violates a basic principle of opening play by moving the same piece twice
without having developed other pieces, it works out for Black in the end. The
opening is the Vienna Game.
1.
e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nd4 4. Nxe5 Qg5 5. Nxf7
Qxg2 6. Rf1 Qxe4+ 7. Be2 Nf3#
This happens to be
a nice example of a smothered mate which is typically administered by a Knight.
You might wonder
if the pawn on e5 was really taboo¡¦ Probably not.
White could have moved the Knight back to g4, then e3 in order to protect
everything.
Game 10
Munich, 1899
Imbusch –
Goring
In this Bishop¡¯s
Opening, we reach a Vienna Game by transposition. White exquisitely exploits
the weakness of the h2-g8 diagonal.
1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nxe4
Black captures the
pawn on e4 with the expectation that a recapture on e4 will allow Black to fork
the two pieces with 4. ¡¦ d5. White decides to capture
on f7 with check. This is known as a desperado maneuver. To wit, Black has a
hanging Knight, so White may freely give away the Bishop with check.
4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5. Nxe4 Nc6 6. Qf3+
Kg8 7. Ng5
Black can do
little to prevent the mate on f7 outside of giving up the Queen. As you can
see, there are no escape squares for the Black King. Black may capture the
Knight, but then White will checkmate Black with 8. Qd5#.
If Black tries to
protect the f7 square with a Queen move (Qe7 or Qf6) then White will win the
Black Queen by playing Qd5+. Black must interpose the Queen on f7 or e6, both
of which are covered by the White Knight.
Game 11
Correspondence, 1914
Kraus – Costin
Long before the
advent of global telecommunications, long distance games of chess were played
by exchanging moves with your opponent by mail. It may have been one¡¯s hobby or
a serious competition. In this game, Black spends too much time moving the
Queen and is forced to surrender this major piece in the end.
1.
d4 c5 2. dxc5 Qa5+ 3. Nc3 Qxc5 4. e4 e5
After
this move, 4. ¡¦ e5,
Black creates a glaring positional weakness on d5. That being said, if the
players didn¡¯t make egregious mistakes, then we wouldn¡¯t be able to enjoy these
miniatures.
5. Nf3 d6 6. Nd5
Ne7 7. b4 Black dutifully resigns after this move.
The hapless Black
Queen has nowhere to go except for c6.
Thereupon, White
will play Bb5. The Black Queen is pinned to the King, so the Bishop on b5 must
be captured. This allows White to play 9. Nc7+ winning the
Queen with an elegant knight fork.
Game 12
London, 1891
Blake – Hooke
Queen sacrifices
are almost always exciting and in this game it¡¯s no different. White finishes
the forced mate by retreating the Knights to f3 and
c3, respectively.
1.
e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4 f5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nc3
exd4 6. Qxd4 Bd7 7. Ng5 Nc6 8. Bf7+ Ke7
Can you see the
conclusion? There follows: 9. Qxf6+ Kxf6 10. Nd5+
Ke5 11. Nf3+ Kxe4 12. Nc3# The final position is very artistic:
Game 13
Strassburg, 1880
Amateur – Goetz
In this game, the technique of
under-promotion is demonstrated. When a pawn reaches the 8th rank,
it may be exchanged for any piece. You may not obtain a new King, of course,
but that might be an interesting new rule. In any case, most players prefer to
receive a Queen since it is the most powerful piece. In this game, Black prefers
to select a less powerful piece which provides a satisfying checkmate.
Here are the moves: 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. b3 Qh4+ 4. g3
fxg3 5. h3 g2+ 6. Ke2 Qxe4+ 7. Kf2 gxh1=N#
The Queen and Knight work wonderfully in tandem for the checkmate.
Game
14
Pasadena, 1932
Borochow – Fine
Here is an example of how the Alekhine¡¯s Defense
can go awry.
Generally speaking it is a sound defense, but Fine fails to make the
requisite prophylactic moves.
1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. c4
Nb6 4. d4 Nc6
The idea of the opening is to entice White to advance its pawns so that
Black may initiate a counterattack. However, Black develops its other knight
prematurely. White has an elegant response. Can you guess what it is?
5. d5!
Game 14 (cont.)
There are several variations, but ultimately Black will lose one of the
knights.
The game concludes as follows:
5. ¡¦ Nxe5
6. c5 Nbc4 7. f4
One of the knights will be captured, so Black graciously resigns.
It does raise an interesting point, though. When should you resign?
If your opponent is a highly rated veteran and you have lost a
significant amount of material without compensation, then you should be polite
and resign. On the other hand, if the rating difference is not disparate and
there exists the possibility of counterplay, then by
all means, play on. It is a matter of etiquette and making a proper evaluation
of the position.
Game
15
New York, 1896
Teed – Delmar
1.
d4 f5 2. Bg5 h6 3. Bf4 g5 4. Bg3 f4 5. e3 h5 6.
Bd3 Rh6 7. Qxh5+ Rxh5 8. Bg6#
White
cleverly coaxes Black into pushing pawns in order to capture a Bishop.
Unfortunately,
this leaves the Black kingside in disarray. The h5-e8 diagonal is
critical to the Black King¡¯s defense. White acutely exploits this
weakness.
The
method demonstrated is one of deflection.
White
deflects the Rook from the diagonal allowing
the Bishop to deliver checkmate.
Game
16
Leipzig, 1903
Amateur – Leonhardt
This elegant game displays the power of the Knight fork.
1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. Qxd4
Nc6 4. Qe3 Nf6 5. Bc4 Ne5 6. Bb3 Bb4+ 7. c3 Bc5
What was the critical error? 7. c3 exposed the weakness on d3.
Of course, capturing
the Bishop allows the fork on d3. 8. Qe2 appears to be viable, but I don¡¯t envy
the position. Instead, White plays Qg3, which allows 8. ¡¦ Bxf2+.
After this, White succumbs to the Knight fork.
Game 17
Rome, 1619
Greco – Amateur
Here we can see a
great game by one of the first publishers of chess games.
Greco¡¯s opponent
essays a defense which is known today as Owen¡¯s Defense.
1. e4 b6 2. d4 Bb7 3. Bd3 f5 4. exf5 Bxg2
5. Qh5+ g6 6. fxg6 Nf6 7. gxh7+ Nxh5 8. Bg6#
Here again, we see
the exploitation of the weakness along the h5-e8 diagonal.
It¡¯s an important
lesson to be learned.
Game 18
Kaprinay –
Hubner
Correspondence game
1926
1.
c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2
Before the advent
of computer chess, correspondence games were a satisfying way of playing a nice
game of chess without the constraints of time controls. Basically, one had
about three days to contemplate and make a move.
In
this game, we see a typical English Opening with a fianchetto
of White¡¯s bishop to g2.
Game 18 (cont.)
Bb4 5. Nd5 Nxd5 6. cxd5 Nd4 7. e3 Nf5 8. Qg4
Black has
developed its knight and bishop in awkward positions.
White deftly
capitalizes on this with an interesting and unusual fork with the queen. Black
must lose one of the pieces, so resignation is the proper course of action.
Here are some
links to the games in this collection. The games are in .pgn
format, so you will need a proper reader, such as Winboard
in order to view these games.
13) g13_am_goetz.pgn
17) g17_greco_am.pgn
18)