7. Edward Lasker vs.
George Thomas, London, 1910
This masterpiece, a Dutch Defense, features a famous example of the king’s walk to mate. Edward, an American distant cousin of the great world champion Emmanuel Lasker, gets his pieces activated against Black's kingside while the English champion Thomas develops (gets his pieces off the back rank and into play) too slowly. By 10. Qh5, White is already threatening an all-out blitzkrieg. His brilliant queen sacrifice 11. Qxh7 is followed by a devastating discov- ered double check, 12. Nxf6++. Then Black's king has to walk the plank, all the way across the board to g1, the normal spot for the White king! Here he breathes his last.
8. Wilhelm Steinitz vs. A. Mongredien,
London, 1862
This game starts out as a Center Counter (also called Scandinavian Defense). Black loses too much time developing his pieces, while White gets his into play aggressively. Indeed, White's army dominates the all- important center of the board as well as the king's side. This sets the stage for a mating attack. White's two-move maneuver 13. Rf3 and 14. Rh3 is called a rook lift, and is a typ- ical attacking strategy. This rook then sacri- fices itself on h7 in a way that allows Steinitz to bring his other rook quickly into the fray. White is a rook down, but all of his forces take part in the assault, while the Black queen's rook and bishop seem to be waiting for the next game. They don't have long to wait.
9. Aaron Nimzovich vs. S. Alapin, Riga, 1913
Another French Defense. In this one, the great Latvian player and writer Nimzovich (after whom the Nimzo-Indian Opening is named—see page 6) plays an opponent who wastes time stealing a pawn with 9. … Qxg2. "Nimzo" plays a punishing 12. O-O-O!, sac- rificing his knight. He finishes up with a convincing queen sacrifice that forces checkmate.
10. Jose Capablanca vs. Herman Steiner,
Los Angeles, 1933
The handsome Cuban World Champion Jose Capablanca had a deceptively simple style. Here we see him playing the old-fashioned Four Knights' game and opening up his opponent's kingside pawn protection by move 11! His first rook sacrifice, 17. Rxf6!, can't be refused and forces Black's king into a deadly crossfire. With 23. Qxb7!, Capa offers a second rook, which can't be taken immediately because of 23. … Qxf6? 24. Qb4 checkmate. But Black is forced to take the rook a move later and mate follows on the same square.
11. Mikhail Botvinnik vs. Paul Keres,
The Hague, 1948
Botvinnik won the world championship a record three times. His opponent here is pos- sibly the strongest 20th-century chess player who did not become world champion. The opening is a Nimzo-Indian. White's doubled pawns are potentially a long-term weakness, but in the short term they control a good many all-important central squares. White plays cleverly to keep a grip on the position and breaks through on the queenside with his pawn-push 17. c4-c5. This gives him a chance to bring his queenside rook into action. He swings it against the kingside, sacrificing it on g7 to win. In the final posi- tion, Black's king will be mated by the White queen, supported by the bishop on c1. Where did Black go wrong? Take a look at his "unemployed" queen and rook on a8 and b8!
12. J. Banas vs. P. Lukacs, Trnava, 1986 In a Four Knights' Game, Black gets his king into safety by castling and takes advantage of White's awkward piece placement by sac- rificing his knight with 9. … Nf3+. Then he allows White to take his bishop on c5. But by that time, White's king is surrounded. In the final position, after 13. … Ng4, White's only effective defender, his knight on e3, is forced from its square, allowing … Qg2 mate.
13. Anatoly Karpov vs.
Victor Kortchnoi, Moscow, 1974 32 Twentieth-century chess perfected defense.
It is no longer typical to see top-level players playing only for the attack. In fact, Korchnoi at the time of this game was one of the best in the world, and his forte was defense. Many fine players would attack him ingen- iously, only to break up on his rock-like for- tifications. Still, World Champion Karpov crushes him in only 27 moves with a mating attack! In a classic manner against Black's Sicilian Dragon defense (so named probably because of the "tail" of control Black's bish- op makes from g7 to a1), Karpov plays the St. George attack, castling queenside and prying open the h-file to slay the dragon.
14. Boris Spassky vs. Tigran Petrosian,
Moscow, 1969
Spassky won the world championship from Petrosian in the match that produced this game. In this English Opening that becomes a Queen's Gambit, you'll see that once again White gets a strong center and quick devel- opment of his pieces. As early as 13. Rd1, you can sense that Black is in danger. His king has no piece defenders; his forces seem passive while White's are aggressively coor- dinated. As often happens in such situations, White breaks through with a pawn push in the center, in this case 15. d4-d5!. It clears the board for White's more active forces. Petrosian, one of the best defenders of all time, tries repeatedly to trade queens, but White wisely rebuffs these offers, which would take much of the power off the board. White's d-pawn becomes a star, advancing all the way to the 7th rank. Because of this queening threat, White is able to sacrifice his queen for one of Black's defending rooks. In the final position, it's hopeless for Black because White will either promote his pawn to a queen or capture whatever Black uses to block on d8.
15. Robert Fischer vs. Reuben Fine,
New York, 1963
Nine years before winning the world cham- pionship, Bobby Fischer played this Evan's Gambit (a variation of the Giuoco Piano) against his famous elder. Bobby sacrifices two pawns in order to get his pieces out
quickly. Then he plays 14. h2-h4!, sacrific- ing another pawn to force the Black queen away from the g7-square. After that, Black's king will be stuck in the center and in danger of the h4-d8 diagonal. Bobby's final move, 17. Qg3!, forces Fine to resign, because he must move his queen from the critical black diagonal h4-d8. Even on 17. … Qxg3, White ignores the capture of his own queen and plays 18. Bf6 mate!
16. Lajos Portisch vs. Johannessen,
Havana, 1966
During the first half of this game, a Queen's Gambit Slav, the great Hungarian grand- master Lajos Portisch locks up the center with a d4-e5 structure by move 14. This gives him a "beachhead" on e5 and makes it hard for Black to counterattack in the center, which is the standard antidote for an attack on the wing. The next stage starts with 16. h4. Portisch announces his intention to attack on the kingside. He refrains from castling his own king into safety because he knows it’s safe enough in the center, at least for the time it will take him to break through with his attack. When Black tries to trade off pieces with 17. … Bxf3, Portisch sacrifices a knight for an unstoppable attack with 18. Bxh6 and then calmly moves his king to the second rank to bring his other rook into the game. His Rxh4 was another brilliant sacri- fice that crushes any hope of defense. In the final position, Black resigns because White will simply play 26. Rxh6+, winning the Black queen. If 26. … Qxh6, then White plays 27. Qxh6+ and will mate on h7.
At any time during a game when it is your move, you may change the position on the board by adding a piece or pieces, removing one or more pieces, or even changing any of the pieces—for example, from a knight to a queen. Obviously,
