[Next]
- To quote Grandmaster Chernev: "White
- makes the best move on the board."
- He places a pawn in the center and
- opens diagonals for his Queen and
- Bishop. This game is "Bruce A. Smith
- vs. John Coffey" at the Indiana
- University Chess Club during the
- summer of 1975.
[Next]
- Black counters with the same. See if
- you can guess which move each side
- will make.
[Next]
- Develops a piece and attacks e5 that
- Black might have to defend.
[Next]
- Black counters by attacking the e4
- pawn.
[Next]
- White defends the e4 square thus
- forcing Black to worry again about
- losing the e5 square. In the process
- he develops his Queen Knight.
[Next]
- Black counters with the same. We
- have transposed to the Four Knight's
- game.
[Next]
- In many openings it is good to bring
- the Queen pawn up two squares because
- it exerts more control on the center.
- But it can also make White more
- vulnerable to Bb4 that would pin the
- knight to the king. But the black
- pawn on e5 is now attacked twice and
- only defended once, so black has to
- make a decision.
[Next]
- Pretty much the only good move.
- Alternatives like d6 or Bd6 leave
- Black cramped.
[Next]
- White can make this move because the
- pawn was defended once and attacked
- twice. White has a slightly better
- control of the center because of his
- pawn on e4.
[Next]
- At first glance this looks logical
- because it develops a bishop while
- forcing white to defend his knight.
- But slightly better is Bb4 because it
- pins the knight on c3 and therefor
- forces white to defend against Nxe4.
[Next]
- This move looks innocent by defending
- the knight on d4, but it has a threat
- as we will see shortly.
[Next]
- Black says to himself that White has
- a pawn in the center, so why should
- not Black? The problem is that he is
- in danger of losing material and does
- not realize it.
[Next]
- White takes the knight on c6 and
- "uncovers" or "discovers" an attack
- onto the c5 bishop by the bishop on
- e3.
[Next]
- Black had both his Queen and his
- Bishop under attack, so there was
- very little he could do about it. He
- could have played bxc6 but then after
- Bxc5 he can't castle across the f8
- square that is attacked by the
- bishop.
[Next]
- White's e4 pawn was attack twice and
- only defended once. The chess master
- is being very precise here. He
- could have just retreated his
- endangered knight but instead he
- counter attacks by threatening the
- Queen.
[Next]
- Black simply fails to see the
- disaster that is coming. The only
- "safe" move was Qf8.
[Next]
- This bishop move pins the Queen to
- the King and as a result Black must
- lose his Queen. Instead he chose to
- resign now. White wins the game.