Illustrative Games
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Eckart-Tarrasch, position after 13. ... Rxd4
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Eckart-Tarrasch, position after 16.Nc3
Pawn and move This game was won by Siegbert Tarrasch, whom Assiac described as "one of the greatest experts of 'Pawn and move' theory". K. Eckart-Tarrasch, Nuremberg Chess Club Championship 1887-88 (remove Black's f-pawn) 1.e4 Nc6 2.f4 e5 3.Nf3 exf4 4.Bc4 Bc5 Planning the following unsound but tricky sacrifice. 5.d4 Nxd4?! 6.Nxd4 Qh4+ 7.Kf1 d5 Sacrificing another pawn for rapid development. 8.exd5 Bg4 9.Bb5+? Evidently overlooking Black's next move. Correct was 9.Qd3, with a satisfactory defense. c6! 10.dxc6 0-0-0! 11.cxb7+ Kxb7 12.Bc6+ Kb6 13.Qd3 Rxd4 Black has regained the sacrificed piece and, contrary to appearances, his king is quite safe. 14.Qb5+ Kc7 15.Qb7+ Kd6 16.Nc3 Allowing a pretty finish, but 16.Bf3 Rd1+! 17.Ke2 (17.Bxd1 Qf2#) Bxf3+ 18.Qxf3 Rxh1 also wins for Black. Qf2+! 17.Kxf2 Rd1+ (discovered check) 18.Be3 Bxe3# 0-1 Notes based on those by Fred Reinfeld.
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Zukertort-Epureanu, position after Black's 19th move
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Zukertort-Epureanu, final position; Black, ahead a queen, bishop, and knight, is defenseless.
Knight odds Johannes Zukertort-Epureanu, Berlin 1872 (remove White's queen knight) 1.f4 e6 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.b3 d5 4.Bb2 c5 5.e3 Nc6 6.a3 a6 7.Bd3 Bd6 8.Qe2 0-0 9.g4 Nxg4? Imprudently allowing White to attack Black's king along the g-file. 10.Qg2 Nf6 11.h4 h6 12.h5 Kh8 13.0-0-0 Ne8 14.Rdg1 Rg8 15.Bh7!! f6 (15...Kxh7 16.Qg6+!! fxg6 17.hxg6+ Kh8 18.Rxh6#) 16.Bxg8 Kxg8 17.Qg6 Kh8 18.Ng5! hxg5 19.fxg5 Ne7 20.gxf6!! Nxg6 21.hxg6+ Kg8 22.Rh8+! Kxh8 23.f7 1-0 There is no defense against mate. If 23...Qh4 (stopping the threatened 24.Rh1+), 24.fxe8(Q)+ Bf8 25.Qxf8#. Francis J. Wellmuth calls this "the finest odds-game ever played". Irving Chernev and Fred Reinfeld call the conclusion "the finest finish in this type of contest." Notes by Chernev and Reinfeld, Wellmuth, and Napier.
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Kashdan-Horneman, position after Black's 13th move
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Kashdan-Horneman, position after 16.Ng7#
Rook odds Isaac Kashdan-Buster Horneman, Manhattan Chess Club 1930 (remove White's queen rook) 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.Qg4 cxd4 5.Nf3 Nh6 6.Qh3 Be7 7.Bd3 b6 8.Qg3 Nf5 9.Bxf5 exf5 10.Qxg7 Rf8 11.Nxd4 Ba6? 12.Nxf5 Nd7 13.Bg5 f6? 14.e6! fxg5 15.Qg6+!! hxg6 16.Ng7# 1-0
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Morphy-Maurian, position after White's 9th move
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Morphy-Maurian, final position
It would be a mistake to suppose that the odds-giver always wins. Even the strongest players sometimes meet with disaster: Paul Morphy-Charles Maurian, Springhill 1855 (remove White’s queen rook) 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 Qh4+ 4.Kf1 b5 5.Bd5 Nc6 6.Nf3 Qh5 7.d4 Nf6 8.Bb3 Ba6 9.Qe2 Nxd4! 10.Nxd4 b4! 11.Qxa6?? Qd1+ 12.Kf2 Ng4# 0-1
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Apscheneek-Amateur, position after Black's 21st move
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Apscheneek-Amateur, position after 25.Nh6#
Queen odds Apscheneek-Amateur, Riga 1934 (remove White's queen) 1.b3 e5 2.Bb2 d6 3.Nc3 Be7 4.0-0-0 Nf6 5.f3 0-0 6.e3 c6 7.g4 h6 8.Nge2 Be6 9.Ng3 Nbd7 10.h4 Nh7 11.g5 hxg5 12.hxg5 Bxg5 13.Bd3 Bh6 14.Rdg1 d5 15.Nf5 Bxf5 16.Bxf5 Qf6 17.Bxd7 d4 18.exd4 exd4 19.Ne2 Qe7 20.Nxd4 Qxd7 21.Rxh6 Rad8 22.Rxg7+! Kxg7 23.Nf5+ (double check) Kg8 24.Rg6+! fxg6 25.Nh6#
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Lange-von Schierstedt, position after White's 14th move
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Lange-von Schierstedt, final position: the ringed knight mates
Ringed piece Max Lange- Jenny von Schierstedt, Halle 1856 (White's queen knight is the ringed piece with which he must checkmate) 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 exf4 4.Nf3 g5 5.Bc4 g4 6.0-0 gxf3 7.d4 fxg2 8.Bxf7+ Kxf7 9.Qh5+ Kg7 10.Rxf4 Nh6 11.Be3 d6 12.Ne2 Qe7 13.Kxg2 Be6 14.Raf1 Bf7? Black could have won with 14...Qg5+!!, when 15.Qxg5 would checkmate Black, but violate the stipulation that the queen knight must checkmate. 15.Qxh6+!! Kxh6 16.Rg4+ Kh5 17.Ng3+ Kxg4 18.Rf5 h6 19.h3+ Kh4 20.Rh5+ Bxh5 21.Nf5#
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Staunton-Taverner, position after White's 3rd move; White guards the capped pawn against frontal attack
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Staunton-Taverner, final position; the capped pawn gives mate
Pion coiffé Howard Staunton-Taverner?, date unknown (White's pawn on g2 is the capped pawn, with which he must give checkmate) 1.Nc3 e5 2.Ne4 d5 3.Ng3 Covering the pawn to make it less assailable by Black's pieces. f5 4.e3 Bd6 5.c4 h5 6.Nxh5 Qg5 7.Ng3 f4 8.exf4 Not 8.Nf3??, when 8...Bh3! would win the g-pawn and the game. exf4 9.d4 Qg6 10.Bd3 Qh6 Now Black threatens 11...Qh3! and wins. 11.Qh5+ Qxh5 12.Nxh5 Rxh5 13.Bg6+ Ke7 14.Bxh5 Nf6 15.Bf3 g5 16.c5 g4 17.cxd6+ cxd6 18.Bxg4 Bxg4 19.Bxf4 Nh5 20.Bg3 Nc6 21.h3 21.f3? Be6 22.Ne2 Rg8 23.Kf2 Bh3! 24.gxh3 Nxg3 followed by 25...Rh8 would win the capped pawn. Be6 22.Ne2 Rg8 23.Rc1 Bf5 24.Rc3 Be4 25.Re3 Nb4 26.Kd2 Nxa2 27.Ra1 Nb4 28.Rxa7 Nc6 29.Rxb7+ Ke6 30.Rh7 Rg5 31.Rxe4+ dxe4 32.Rxh5 Rxh5 33.Nf4+ Ke7 34.Nxh5 Nxd4 35.Ke3 Nc2+ 36.Kxe4 Ne1 Attacking the "game pawn". 37.Bh4+ Kd7 38.g4 Kc6 39.f4 Nc2 40.f5 d5+ 41.Kf4 d4 42.Bf2 d3 43.Be3 Nd4 44.Ke4 d2 45.Bxd2 Nb3 46.Be3 Kd6 47.Nf6 Kc6 48.h4 Na5 49.h5 Nc4 50.Bf4 Nxb2 51.h6 Na4 52.h7 Nc5+ 53.Ke3 Kb5 54.Ne4 Na6 55.h8(Q) Ka5 56.Qc3+ Kb5 57.Qb3+ Ka5 58.Nc3 Nc5 59.Bc7+ Ka6 60.Qb5+ Ka7 61.Qxc5+ Ka6 Deliberately allowing checkmate. 62.Qa5+ Kb7 63.Ke4 Kc8 64.Qa7 Kd7 65.Qb7 Ke7 66.Qc8 Kf6 67.Bd8+ Kg7 68.Qe6 Kf8 69.Qe7+ Kg8 70.Nd5 Kh8 71.g5 Kg8 72.g6 Kh8 73.Ke5 Kg8 74.Nf6+ Kh8 75.g7# Notes by Staunton, who wrote that he and his opponent played many games at these odds, of which this was "perhaps the weakest, but ... also the shortest".
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Paris-Marseilles, position after 67.Kb1
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Paris-Marseilles, final position; Black, having forced White to give checkmate, wins
Odds of queen in return for requiring Black to force White to checkmate Paris-Marseilles, correspondence 1878 (Remove White's queen; in response for receiving the queen, Black undertakes to force White to checkmate Black) 1.d4 d5 2.Nc3 c6 3.Nf3 g6 4.e4 e6 5.e5 Bb4 6.Bd2 Bxc3 7.Bxc3 b5 8.h4 h5 9.0-0-0 a6 10.Ng5 f5 11.g3 Nh6 12.Bd3 Nf7 13.Bxf5? gxf5 14.Nxf7 Kxf7 15.Bd2 Nd7 16.Rhe1 c5 17.dxc5 Nxc5 18.Bg5 Qg8 19.Re3 Bb7 20.Rc3 Rc8 21.Be3 Nd7 22.Bd4 Rxc3 23.bxc3 a5 24.Kd2 a4 25.Rb1 Ba6 26.Rg1 Qg4 27.Rb1 Rc8 28.Rb4 Rc4 29.Rxc4 dxc4 30.a3 f4 31.Kc1 fxg3 32.fxg3 Qxg3 33.Kb2 Qxh4 34.Kc1 Qe1+ 35.Kb2 Qd1 36.Ba7 Nxe5 37.Bc5 h4 38.Bd4 Nc6 39.Be3 e5 40.Bf2 h3 41.Bg3 e4 42.Bf4 Ke6 43.Bg3 e3 44.Bf4 e2 45.Bg3 Kd7 46.Bh2 e1(Q) 47.Bf4 Qee2 48.Bg3 Qdxc2+ 49.Ka1 Qf1+ 50.Be1 Qd2 Now White is reduced to shuffling the king back and forth while Black sets up self-mate. 51.Kb1 h2 52.Ka1 h1(Q) 53.Kb1 Qf8 54.Ka1 Qxa3+ 55.Kb1 Qad6 56.Ka1 Qf6 57.Kb1 Kc7 58.Ka1 b4 59.Kb1 b3 60.Ka1 Kb6 61.Kb1 Ka5 62.Ka1 Ne7! 63.Kb1 Nc8 64.Ka1 Bb5 65.Kb1 Qa6! 66.Ka1 Nb6 67.Kb1 Qh7+ 68.Ka1 Qxc3+! 69.Bxc3# The only legal move. 0-1 Black, having forced White to checkmate, wins.