SAVVY  CHESS

Paul Morphy (playing White here) was a bit of a prodigy, and rose to chess fame while waiting to turn 18 so that he could practice law in his native New Orleans. Morphy is widely regarded as an early chess World Champion due to his unprecedented extreme accuracy and global victories. However, the first official World Championship title was only granted in 1886 to Wilhelm Steinitz from Kingdom of Bohemia (later, Austria), who strangely enough never got a chance to play Morphy despite his best efforts. James McConnell (playing Black), was a friend and punching bag of Morphy’s–a New Orleans lawyer and Tulane donor. In this position, one should look for a win.

 

It is natural to examine all checks and captures here, which will point out important features of the position. For instance, almost any check (except double check, which forces the king to move), gives Black a moment to capture the rook on g5 with the pawn, escaping check. Even the double check options–Bb4+ and Bb6+--are thwarted by Kxb4 and Kxb6 respectively. But the spirit of the attacks on the king is right. The king is in an unusual and unfavorable position (if you see the full game, it is instructive to see how Morphy drove the king there), and simple means of winning by brute force, like taking the rook on h8 with the knight, only simplify the position after …hxg5, the same as before. A different way of looking at the position helps to efficiently find the answer.

 

Examining the squares around the king, one can see a “mating net” or killbox, a set of squares that are already under control and restrict the king. To checkmate, you don’t just need to surround the king–it is necessary to attack the king, such that they cannot capture, block, or run away. Taking stock, a6 and b5 are controlled by the light bishop, and b6 and b4 are controlled by the dark bishop. The only squares we need to control to win the game are a5 and a4. Therefore, it helps to imagine… if you could pick up a piece and put it anywhere, what move would you play? Are any moves like that actually realistic? If you want a rook on a3, look and see how that can be achieved before reading the answer.

 

The rook on g5 can reach a3 via 1.Rg3! There is no move for Black that can prevent the move to follow or create space to run. McConnell tried 1…b5 but it’s no use, 2.Ra3# comes next. It’s a mate in two position, but chess is tricky and it can still take quite some effort to spot it. This thinking technique, imagining what is needed to finish the checkmate pattern, applies in many positions, and is a general skill. There is a chess proverb: “Chess is a sea in which a gnat may drink and an elephant may bathe”. The paradox of chess is what makes it fun and endless.