white can focus on the f7 square, the black Bishop is a little cramped

ideas

0-0 which lines up the R+Q with f7 - except that black's knight is blocking

- and the black Bishop is defending

Queenside castling for white seems more suitable, except for the missing a-pawn

Queenside castling would free our Kingside pawns from defending the King

to bulkl a Kingside pawnstorm

black's setup is quite defensive - waiting to see what white will do, and taking

advantage of any errors. Of course if there are no errors then white will

certainly do better

most efficient is mate-on-the-move

Re8 checkmate

note that white's Bishop is pinned, the Knight covers an escape-square -

as well as protecting the Rook on e8

the pawn on e4 is very important too, this is an example

of peces working together

Qxe5 checkmate - note the mate doesn't work without the Queen; Bishop

and one of the Knights. The other Knight (the one on f7) was important

to allow the Queen in - since in the game the king was on d6, and even

though moving the King back to e7 was not the best,

the mate was not forced

much of the game is instructive : it follows on the next page

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Bc4 Nc6 5.d3 0-0 6.0-0 Re8

7.Nd5 Ng4 8.Ng5 f6 ?? 9.Nxf6+ Kf8 10.Nfxh7+ Ke7

.Na5 12.Qh5 Kd6 13.Nf7+ Ke7 14.Qxe5# 1-0

Notes to page 1

continued

3(cont)

black should have looked where the threats were

White's last move most importantly exposed an

attack onto the Knight on g4

black's last move may look like a counterattack

but really exposes great danger

look, for example at the discovered check when

the Knight on d5 moves

the strongest choice

…Kh8 met by Nf7 mate

not the best of moves

too late to run

…Nxc4 or Nc3 were needed

bringing another piece into the action - also if the

checkmate disappears, then capture the Queen

Notes to page 1

continued

3(cont)

the final mistake - alternatives were extremely painful

eg :

13...Kc6 14.Nxd8+ Rxd8 15.Qxe5 Nxc4 16.dxc4 d5

17.exd5+ Kb6 18.Qe3+ Ka6 19.Qb3 b6 20.Qxb4

4 & 5

are almost identical - just differing in the position of the a & b pawns

the secret being white pushing the b-pawn, which frees the a-pawn

to race up for a Queen

In #4 white wins the race - in 5 black wins the race

6 & 7

#'s 6 & 7 are identical in terms of

white's race for a Queen

Notes to page 1

continued

when white and black are racing for a Queen, it is often important to note if one

or the other will Queen-with-check

you can take note of this at a much earlier stage -

not just when the race is nearly over

whoever moves 1st, white will win, since white Queens with check and

wins black's pawn/queen via a skewer

note that rather than nuisance checks by white, white's best place for the

Queen is h1 therefore blocking black's chances of promoting the pawn and

then moving the King over; black will have to retreat; white

scoops the pawn up and is left with a basic mate with King and Queen