Excalibur electronic 404-2 - Manuel (Page 11)

ter of the board, an unhealthy spot
for a monarch when so many
pieces are still on the board,
where he is mated. It's important to
understand that such sacrifices
don't just happen illogically.
White's pieces again had a domi-
nating command of the board, and
Black allowed White's pressure on
f7, Black's most sensitive defen-
sive square when he hasn't cas-
tled, to build into an explosion.
6. Gaudersen vs. Paul
Melbourne, 1928
This "miniature" of only 15 moves
starts off as a French Defense in
which White plays the Advance
Variation, placing his pawns on d4
and e5. Black's 8th move, castling,
was in this case a blunder because
his kingside is attacked by many
pieces and not effectively defend-
ed. White's sparkling 9. Bxh7+ is
an example of a bishop sacrifice
that's happened so often it has a
name—the "Greek Gift." White's
14. Nxe6+ is an example of a dis-
covered check, the diver bomber
of the chessboard. White's amus-
ing 15th move is a very rare exam-
ple of checkmate with the en pas-
sant capture.
7. Edward Lasker vs. George Thomas,
London, 1910
This masterpiece, a Dutch
Defense, features a famous exam-
ple 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 games starts out as a Center
Counter (also called Scandinavian
Defense). Black loses too much
time developing his pieces, while
White gets his into play aggressive-
ly. 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 typical attacking strategy.
This rook then sacrifices 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.
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