The Immortal Game (27 page)

After Kingside castling

Before Queenside castling

After Queenside castling

En Passant

This French phrase means “in passing,” and refers to a special type of Pawn capture that occurs when one player moves a Pawn two squares forward as if to avoid capture by the opponent’s Pawn. The capture is made exactly as if the player had moved the Pawn only one square forward.

Before en passant capture

After en passant capture

In the diagram above, if the Black Pawn moves up two squares, the White Pawn has the option of capturing the Black Pawn en passant. Such capture must take place immediately after the Black Pawn’s two-square move.

About Check and Checkmate

The one and only true goal in a game of chess is to checkmate your opponent’s King. If the King is attacked (“put in check”), it must get out of check immediately. If there is no way to get out of check, the position is a “checkmate,” and the side that is checkmated loses.

A player may not put his own King into check. When a King is put into check, there are three possible ways of escape:

1. Capturing the attacking piece.

2. Moving a piece between the attacker and the threatened King (impossible if the attacker is a Knight).

3. Moving the King away from the attack.

If a checked player can do none of these, he is checkmated and loses the game.

If a King is not in check, but that player can make no legal move with any of his remaining pieces, the position is called a stalemate and the game is scored as a draw, or tie.

(Adapted from “Let’s Play Chess” with permission from the U.S. Chess Federation.)

Appendix II

THE IMMORTAL GAME (Recap)

AND FIVE OTHER GREAT GAMES FROM HISTORY

T
HE
I
MMORTAL
G
AME
A
DOLF
A
NDERSSEN VS.
L
IONEL
K
IESERITZKY
J
UNE
21, 1851
L
ONDON