I know what you are all thinking. What is that crazy swine greenpawn up to now.
Is this cover the prelude to a creepy beast being released on the chess board.
It could be. Good idea. I do have a game where a Black Knight goes on the prowl.
Quirine - satyaprakash RHP 2006
[FEN "rn2kbr1/pp3ppp/2p1p3/P7/2N1b3/2B5/1P3PPP/R3KB1R w KQq - 0 16"]
16. O-O-O {Now Black slides back the Crypt lid and releases The Beast.} 16... Nd7 {The Beast crawls out it's lair looking for things to scare.} 17. a6 Nc5 {The Beast has the scent of King's blood.} 18. axb7 Nb3 {The Beast devours the King. }
No, it's not the prelude to that game. There is a story in the above
book written by Lord Dunsany. (1891-1943) called 'Two Bottles of Relish.'
it's a crime mystery thriller and one of the characters in the story thinks
solving chess problems is actually 10 times harder than solving murders.
Needless to say this problem solver solves the murder that has baffled
Scotland Yard. The horror bit is how the murderer disposed of the body.
Reveal Hidden ContentThey ate it.
I was going to nick this character and turn him into a Super Hero
Rook Man. The Chess Problem Solving Crime Buster.
“Is it a Knight?.......Is it a Bishop?....No....It's Rook Man!”
PBSAndreas - Marko Krale RHP 2014
Rook Man solving the case of the b4 square.
[FEN "8/7p/1k4p1/1Ppr4/P3RPK1/8/8/8 w - - 0 49"]
49.Re6+ Ka5 {Rook Man spots that if only the square b4 was not available to Black King Man then he could now play Ra6 Mate. So...} 50. Re4 {Rook Man waits and sets the Black villain a trap.} 50... Rd7 51. Rc4 Rc7 52. Kg5 Kb6 53. Kg4 Rf7 54. Kg5 Rf5+ 55. Kg4 Rd5 {The Black villain has seen it and heads for the trap.} 56. Kf3 Rd3+ 57. Kg4 Rb3 58. Re4 {Rook Man's cunning waiting move.} 58... Rb4 {Ha! thinks the Black Villain if you take on b4 then cxb4 and b-pawn cannot be caught.} 59. Re6+ Ka5 60. Ra6 {Rook Man triumphs over evil.}
But no that is to corny even for me. What I am going to do is write
you a horror type detective story (how hard can it be?) with a hero.
My hero is a Native American Indian called Green Elk who is last of the Pawnee
(My imagination runs riot – Green Elf, Pawnee – greenpawn geddit? Paw-nee}
Green Elk is sitting in his office when the phone rings (you do the sound effects.)
A school janitor has been murdered and the only two suspects are
the Head Master and a pupil at the school. Before he died the janitor
set up a position on the chessboard to give a clue as to who killed him.
Green Elk asks if there is a White Queen on h5?
The answer is yes. Green Elk states the schoolboy is guilty and should be arrested.
Brilliant. The Janitor set up someone going for Scholars Mate so it must be the schoolboy.
A Red Hot Pawn example of Scholars Mate,
GAPAC - BlackBear32 RHP 2012
1.e4 e5 2. Qh5 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Qxf7
But No.! (the twist in the tale.......The Colombo moment) When
Green Elk gets to the school this is the position the janitor set up.
“Let the boy go.” says Green Elk arrest the Head Master.
Green Elk then explains to a room full of policemen that the
White King is in check so therefore it must be White to move.
[FEN "2b1r3/p5k1/1pp4p/4KnpQ/q2P4/3B1P2/PP5P/R5R1 w - - 0 2"]
2. Qxe8 {The only legal move at White's disposal.} 2... Qxd4# {And that is checkmate.}
“But how does that make the headmaster guilty?” asks one of the policemen.
“Look at the moves played on the board in algebraic notation.” replies Green Elk.
1.h5-e8 a4-d4
“The letters spell out the word 'H-E-A-D.”.
The End.
Now every Russian grandchild knows you cannot mate with two Knights.
However here at Red Hot Pawn some do not have Russian Grandparents.
ZorroTheFox - Quanto RHP 2013
[FEN "8/8/8/4n1k1/8/5n2/5N1p/7K w - - 0 58"]
58. Kg2 Kh4 59. Nh1 Ne1+ {If the White King goes to f1 or f2 then the Knight on e5 goes to d3 and White cannot stop the Black King from going to h3 and g2 taking the Knight and promoting so...} 60. Kxh2 {...White took the pawn. Two Knights cannot mate.} 60... N5f3 {Except in this position.}
This next one is a good lesson for all those (including me) who think when you
are winning, you are winning and it does not really matter what move you play.
brku - Checkov RHP 2010
Here Black played 61...Kc2? and after White replied 62. Nc4!
White either takes the pawn or after 62...c1=Q 63. Na3+ this was a draw.
If Black had thought about his 61st move there is a study like win
[FEN "8/8/8/8/6K1/1kn5/1p6/1N6 w - - 0 61"]
61. Nd2+ {Now not Kc2 as in the game but...} 61... Ka2 {and to win this Black has to get the Knight to b3 avoiding one last trick.} 62. Kf3 Na4 63. Ke3 {It does not matter where the King goes as long as it's not the first rank allowing a promotion with check. It's too far away to prevent the Knight to b3 idea.} 63... Nc5 64. Ke2 {Not Kd4 which meets Nb3+} 64... Nb3 {Now one last roll of the dice.} 65. Ne4 {If Black plays b1=Q (and it's not a check) then Nc3+ draws.} 65... Ka1 66. Nc3 Nc1+ 67. Kd2 Na2 {The White Knight is forced off c3 and the pawn promotes.}
Another on the same topic. Chucking won games. Wait till you see this one.
hanmul - EJSSS RHP 2014
[FEN "4rrk1/ppp2ppp/8/3P3R/2BP4/5P2/Pq4PP/3R2K1 w - - 0 23"]
23. Re5 Rxe5 24. dxe5 Qc2 {With a double attack on the unprotected Bishop and Rook.} 25. Bb3 {Lucky he had that move and White has more luck to come.} 25... Qc5+ 26. Kh1 Qe7 27. e6 fxe6 28. dxe6 {Black is clearly winning but there is a plausible pitfall on the board. Just get past that and it 0-1.} 28... Rd8 {Black has backed a loser. This move turns a win into a checkmate in 3. The move was Re8 answering Rd7 with Qf6 and the danger has passed} 29. Rxd8+ Qxd8 30. e7+ Kh8 31. exd8=Q {White could have under promoted to a Rook but that would have been just too unkind.}
We end not with the customary horror show (we began with that.)
But a game of Bullet Chess (from another site - don't tell Russ).
Personally I despise Bullet Chess. It's a case of the brain is willing
but the hand that moves the mouse is far too slow. I think I've won
4 games out of 30. I'm doing OK when 'ping' and the game is over.
I also think that analysing in depth a Bullet Game is bordering on
farce. It's akin to criticising the acting in a Looney Tunes Cartoon.
But this game, played by two Grandmasters does have it's instructive
moments and is being hailed as the best ever Bullet Game of all time.
Of course I disagree. (any one of my 4 wins should be considered.)
However it does contain the unsound sacrifice of a Queen so on that
fact alone it fits perfectly into these pages. Unsound Sacs is our Motto
GM. Roland Schmaltz - GM. Ronen Har-Zvi , Chessworld, 2001
Bullet 'Looney Tune' Chess
1. e4 Nc6 2. Nc3 e5 {The opening has wheeled into a Vienna.} 3. g3 {Three guess what they call this variation. The Fianchetto Variation. Another choice is 3. f4 leading to the Steinitz Gambit.} 3... Bc5 4. Bg2 Nf6 5. Nge2 {The Knight comes here so as not to block the f-pawn which has ideas of going to f4.} 5... d6 {Black is playing simple developing chess. The perfect plan for Bullet Chess.} 6. h3 {Looks like White was worried about Bg4. However after this plans involving castling and f4 should be carefully considered. because of the weak g3 square.} 6... Bb6 {A good waiting move anticipating Na4 which is a standard move in this set up.} 7. O-O O-O 8. Kh2 {White is definitely planning f4. This move unpins the f2 pawn and covers the g3 square. Not that the players in this game are seriously thinking of such things. They are on auto-pilot.} 8... Re8 {Black develops and waits for the storm to break.} 9. f4 {Here it comes.} 9... exf4 10. gxf4 {10.Nxf4 would have been better but this is just a one off Bullet Game. So no harsh critical remarks.} 10... Ng4+ {You can expect and look for such tricks if the lesser developed side has opened up the game. 9.f4 and 10.gxf4.} 11. Kg3 {11.hxg4 Qh5+ looked very bad and 11.Kh1 drops the exchange to 11...Nf2 so 11.Kg3 seems OK.} 11... Nf2 {White does not mind this. He is getting two pieces for the Rook.} 12. Rxf2 {Now we see the move that puts this game it into that extraordinary and entertaining class.} 12... Qh4+ {Apparently both sides had taken 10 seconds each to get here. Experienced Bullet players know such moves gain precious seconds and if a player has to defend it cost time because the King being hunted on an open board throw up all kinds of mates and the defender only has to miss one.} 13. Kxh4 Bxf2+ 14. Ng3 Re6 15. Kg4 {White defends by running to the f3 square hitting the f2 Bishop. It's a snap decision. 15.f5 was better.} 15... Nd4 {The golden rule for King Hunting. Cover the flight squares. (f3)} 16. f5 Rg6+ 17. Kf4 {Apparently 17.Kh5 was best but who cares. It's a Bullet Game. White is now expecting 17...Bxg3+ 18.Ke3 and the King, for now, is safe.} 17... Rxg3 {Once again the King's flight squares are the chief concern. The threat now being 18...g5 18. fxg6 Ne6+} 18. Qf1 {The bucket of cold water 'fun over' move was 18.Qg4 The move 18.Qf1 holds the g2 Bishop, threatens and pins the f2 Bishop. A typical Bullet move. Looks good, no time to think, play it.} 18... g5+ 19. fxg6 Ne6+ 20. Kf5 {There are a few nice forced mates hiding here 20....Rf3+ 21.Bxf3 fxg6+ 22.Kf6 Bh4 mate. or 22. Kg4 h5 mate. The key word being 'hiding'. Black is now in first mate he sees mode and keeps checking till White walks into one.} 20... Ng7+ {If 21. Kf4 then 21...Nh5 checkmate.} 21. Kf6 {Black now forgets the golden King Hunt rule (cover the flight squares.) 21...Kf8 and White cannot stop both 22...Rxg6 mate or 22...Nh5 mate.} 21... Rxg6+ 22. Ke7 Re6+ 23. Kd8 Bb6 {Back on track covering flight squares. The threat is simply 24...Re8 mate and it cannot be stopped. 23...Bh4+ 24.Kxc7 Ne8 mate was another option.} 24. Nd5 {Sportingly White plays his part and allows the mate without shedding tears. Often in Bullet Chess the game deteriorates into a shambles with moves like Qxf7+ to eat up a second or two.} 24... Re8 {Checkmate. A good fun game.}
Yes that would mate in two the Schmaltz - Har-Zvi game.
But it is bullet chess. I have since found out that Black took
35-37 seconds to play the entire game.
to pass them around and swap them. I still have 3 or 4 of them.
Lord Dunsany was a great lover of chess and is credited with
composing some amusing chess studies. Ill post one in the link above.