"Inexperienced players have a fear of this piece, which seems to them enigmatic, mysterious, and astonishing in its power. We must admit that it has remarkable characteristics which compel respect and occasionally surprise the most wary players."
- Eugene Znosko-Borowski
My wife’s pony died recently. As a child she had pestered her parents for no short period of time before they had given in and bought her and her older sister each a horse. The white pony was named, “Cream Puff” and for the last 33 years she has been a much loved companion and faithful friend.
My wife hasn’t seen so much of her trusty stead since she flew the nest but every time we have been up to visit her mother a part of the ritual of arriving at the house has been driving past the field where the horses live and shouting a loud “Hello” to them. Spending time with them during our stays was as natural a sitting down to dinner. A couple of weeks ago, when we got married, my mother-in-law presented my wife with one of Creamy’s shoes as a good luck charm so it was all the more poignant for her to loose her friend just a week later.
I’m not much of horse fan myself but I can understand that a special bond must exist between horses and their owners. Even though I can’t empathise, it doesn’t seem right to let Creamy’s passing go unmarked on this blog. The horses I know best are on the knights of the chess board so maybe the appropriate thing to do is dedicate a game to her. Of course I’ve picked a game in which a galloping knight plays the starring role. It’s not much of a way to celebrate Creamy’s long years and happy times but I’m afraid it’s all I have to offer.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | ||
| 8 | 8 | ||||||||
| 7 | 7 | ||||||||
| 6 | 6 | ||||||||
| 5 | 5 | ||||||||
| 4 | 4 | ||||||||
| 3 | 3 | ||||||||
| 2 | 2 | ||||||||
| 1 | 1 | ||||||||
 |
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H |
| Falconer, W. - Shapland, D. |
| 0-1, 07/07/1998. |
[Another surprise. I had expected 7.b4
after which I had planned to respond with 7...e5
8.Bg3
a5
9.Qd2
Qc7
and now 10.e3
Be7
11.Kf2
O-O
12.b5
when Black has good compensation for the pawn but the game is still balanced. The game choice allows me to regain the pawn immediately and also increase my control of the centre.]
7...e5
8.Bg3
Bxc5
9.Bf2
An ugly move to have to play at this early stage of the game. I was delighted to have reached a position of this nature so easily and now found that I could develop my pieces and create tactical threats at the same time. This is (according to the chess manuals) the best way to convert a development advantage into something more concrete. 9...Qb6
Although, strictly speaking, Black has only gained one tempo in this position, the nature of his development his so harmonious and White's so ungainly that the positional advantage is already huge. This position demonstrates perfectly the potential pitfalls of misplaying a Trompowsky. White will have to perform contortions to maintain material equality and this will create even more pressure on his position. 10.Qd2
e4!?
10....Be6 or 0-0 may have been more sensible moves to play but I figured I could justifiably play an attack right now as most of my pieces were in such good positions and White's position was so lamentable. This advance will allow White to develop his knight to f3 but at the cost of having his weak e-pawn fixed in position and Black's pieces stuffed down his throat. 11.h3
White obviously didn't fancy the look of 11.fxe4 Nxe4 and then Bg4 so he plays this move first but it's another ugly one! 11...Be6
12.Ne2
Choosing not to capture on e4. Instead White aims to develop his king's knight on d4. 12...Ne5
Now threatening the f3 pawn. White can meet the threat and also cover the vulnerable d3 square but in doing so he will provide Black with another knight outpost on e4. 13.Nd4
exf3
14.Nxf3
Ne4
The king's knight returns to e4 again but this time with increased menace. It won't be so easy for White to dislodge the horse this time around. 15.Qc1
Nc4
16.Bxc4
There isn't much to say about this part of the game as so many of White's moves are forced. Of his three developed pieces his knight is the only on which can be said to be on a useful square. 16...dxc4
17.Nd4
White tries to relieve the pressure by blocking the lines of attack through the centre and threatening to exchange off pieces. Unfortunately this move encourages Black to place his bishop on an even better square than the one it currently occupies. 17...Bd5
18.O-O
Qg6
Black's last move has also enabled his queen to switch flanks. Suddenly Black is playing for a direct attack on the king with all four of his developed pieces well positioned for the purpose and the knight on e4 leading the line. 19.b4
Ng5!
Realising that my opponent was trying to confuse matters I made a concerted effort to focus on my objectives and not get distracted. The superiority Black has in development means that the best approach is still to create threats for White to deal with and wait for his position to get stretched. In this instance it isn't hard to spot that 19....Nxh3+ is a substantial threat which White must parry immediately. 20.Bg3
This move encourages Black to fulfill his threat but the reality is that there wasn't really any other option for White. For example...
[20.Kh1
Qe4
21.Nf3
Nxf3
22.bxc5
Ne1!
23.Rg1
Qf5
24.e4
Bxe4
25.Kh2
Nd3
26.Qe3
Nxf2
27.Nd2
Qe5
28.Qg3
and White is getting absolutely hammered.]
20...Nxh3
21.Kh2
of course 21.gxh3?? Qxg3 is check mate. 21...Bd6
22.Nf5
White opts to try and scrap his way out of trouble. This move seems plausible but in fact a more passive approach would have been preferable although...
[22.Qe1
Ng5
23.Nb5
Bxg3
24.Qxg3
O-O
25.Nd2
Rad8
26.Nxa7
Rfe8
maintains the strangle-hold for black.]
22...Bxg3
23.Nxg3
Ng5
The knight gallops back to g5 again. Each advance of this knight in this game is followed by a retreat only for the piece to return again with renewed force. First it was f6 twice, then on e4 twice, now it is g5 for the second time and in a few moves we will see this theme recur again on h3. I must confess that I find the aesthetics of this knight's "hokey-cokey" style meanderings during this game to be one of the most appealing motifs in any of the games that I've played. These kinds of positions don't occur very often in my career so I hope readers will forgive me for wallowing a little! 24.Qd1
White tries to re-position his queen for some kind of counter attack. If Black now castles long then the queen will develop on g4 with a check while 24....Rd8 allows a check on a4. The only alternative is to move the bishop and I didn't fancy that option so I selected... 24...Rd8
I decided that the line following the queen check wasn't dangerous and that conversely the subsequent open d-file was very desirable for my rook. 25.Qa4
[A better option would have been 25.Rf5
Bxg2
26.Qh5
Nf3
27.Kxg2
Qxh5
28.Rxh5
Ne1
29.Kh2
Nc2
30.Na3
although Black is still very clearly better.]
25...Bc6
26.b5?
This turns out to be a critical error although it is what White had been hoping to play after Black chose 24....Rd8. Of course if Black now plays 26.... Bd5 then 27.b6+ looks nasty. However, the reality is that Black has a much stronger continuation. White should have changed his plans and opted for...
[26.Qa5
O-O
27.Qf5
when Black is still winning comfortably but at least White isn't getting mated.]
26...Qh6
27.Kg1
Nh3!
The knight is back again! 28.Kh2
[Not 28.gxh3
when White gets blown away by 28...Qxe3
29.Rf2
Qxg3
30.Kf1
Qxh3
31.Ke2
Qh5
32.Ke1
Qh1
]
28...Nf2
To complete its starring role the knight now dances a merry jig which quickly brings matters to a head. 29.Kg1
Ng4
Three knight moves in a row to bring the game total to 10 out of 29 for this piece on its own. A trusty stead indeed! 30.Rf4
Qh2
31.Kf1
Qxg2
32.Ke1
Qxg3
0-1 Checkmate is coming via one of the following means... a.)33.Ke2
[b.) 33.Kf1
Bg2
34.Ke2
Qxe3#
;
c.) 33.Rf2
Qxf2#
]
33...Qxe3
34.Kf1
Nh2#
and the knight giving checkmate would have been the most fitting and poetic way for the game to conclude.
[0-1] Some useful points from this game:
- In the opening it's important to find a strategic plan and stick to it. In this game White first committed himself to holding the centre by playing 2.c3 and 5.f3, then switched to another plan by capturing a pawn with 6.dxc5!? This in itself wasn't so bad but then he compounded his problems by changing tack again and opting not to try and hang on to the extra pawn. This inconsistency led him to a terrible position after only 10 moves!
- When you have a development advantage the classical way to exploit it is to create tactical threats in order to over stretch your opponents defence. In this way an advantage in development can be converted into a spacial, positional or material advantage. In this game it was all three.
- When you've got your opponent in a tight spot he may try and distract you by creating complications. Keep focused on your plan and keep an eye out for clever ways to maintain the initiative. In this game after 19.b4 there was a way to improve my position without retreating my attacked bishop immediately. Later after 26.b5 there was another opportunity to play an intermezo rather than retreat the attacked piece.
- Knights are most effective at close quarters. The old proverbs about keeping your knights in the centre of the board and trying to find outposts for them in your opponent's position are there to remind us of this fact. Up close and personal knights can be devastating but sometimes (as in this game) you have to be persistant and play actively to get them into the heart of the action.
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