Three short games, explained move by move
Published
Rules and principles make more sense when you watch them decide a game. The three games below are short enough to play through in a few minutes, and each one turns on a single idea that appears in ordinary games at every level. Set them up on a real board or follow the diagrams. Every move was run through a rules checker before publication, so the notation will play out exactly as written.
1. The Opera Game (Paris, 1858)
Paul Morphy, the American player who dominated chess in the late 1850s, played this game in Paris in 1858 against two amateurs consulting together, the Duke of Brunswick and Count Isouard. It is famous because it is a near-perfect demonstration of development: Morphy brings every piece into play while his opponents shuffle, and the attack that follows is almost automatic.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Bg4
Black's third move pins the knight to the queen in a sense, but after 4.dxe5 the bishop has to decide what it is doing. If Black recaptures on e5 straight away with 4...dxe5, White trades queens with 5.Qxd8+ Kxd8 and Black can no longer castle. So Black gives up the bishop for the knight.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Bg4 4.dxe5 Bxf3 5.Qxf3 dxe5 6.Bc4 Nf6 7.Qb3 Qe7
Look at the diagram and count pieces in play. White has the queen and a bishop out and is ready to castle. Black has a knight and a queen out, and the queen is only there as a defender. Black's bishop is gone and the queen's-side pieces have not moved. Morphy keeps developing instead of grabbing material: 8.Nc3, and then 9.Bg5, pinning the knight on f6 to the queen.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Bg4 4.dxe5 Bxf3 5.Qxf3 dxe5 6.Bc4 Nf6 7.Qb3 Qe7 8.Nc3 c6 9.Bg5 b5
Here Morphy does what made the game famous. Instead of retreating the bishop, he plays 10.Nxb5, giving up the knight for two pawns to open lines toward the black king. After 10...cxb5 11.Bxb5+ Nbd7 the black king is still in the centre, and its knight on d7 is pinned. White castles queen-side, which brings the rook straight to the open d-file.
The finish is a sequence of sacrifices, each forced. 13.Rxd7 Rxd7 removes one defender; 14.Rd1 piles up on the pin again. Black's 14...Qe6 unpins the knight on f6 by offering a queen trade, but 15.Bxd7+ Nxd7 and then the queen sacrifice 16.Qb8+ forces 16...Nxb8, clearing d8. 17.Rd8 is checkmate: the rook is protected by the bishop on g5, which also covers e7, and the black king's own bishop blocks f8.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Bg4 4.dxe5 Bxf3 5.Qxf3 dxe5 6.Bc4 Nf6 7.Qb3 Qe7 8.Nc3 c6 9.Bg5 b5 10.Nxb5 cxb5 11.Bxb5+ Nbd7 12.O-O-O Rd8 13.Rxd7 Rxd7 14.Rd1 Qe6 15.Bxd7+ Nxd7 16.Qb8+ Nxb8 17.Rd8#
What to take from it. Morphy gave up a knight, a rook and the queen, and still won, because at the moment of the attack he had more pieces near the black king than Black had defending it. Material counts only for pieces that can take part.
2. Légal's mate
This pattern is named after the French player Légal, who was among the strongest players in Paris in the eighteenth century. It catches anyone who pins a knight against a queen and assumes the pin is absolute. It is not: a pinned piece can still move if what is behind it is less important than what it gains.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 Bg4 4.Nc3 g6
Black's last move wasted a tempo and did nothing about the pressure on f7. White now breaks the pin anyway: 5.Nxe5. If Black takes the knight with 5...dxe5, White plays 6.Qxg4 and is simply a pawn up with the better position. Black, seeing a free queen, takes it instead.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 Bg4 4.Nc3 g6 5.Nxe5 Bxd1 6.Bxf7+ Ke7 7.Nd5#
After 6.Bxf7+ the king has only one square, e7, and 7.Nd5 is mate. Three minor pieces have beaten a queen. The lesson for both sides: before you rely on a pin, ask what happens if the pinned piece moves anyway. And before you take a queen, look for checks your opponent gets in return.
3. The Blackburne Shilling trap
This is a trap for White, not for Black. It is named after the English master Joseph Henry Blackburne, who by tradition played it in casual games for small stakes. It shows how greed in the opening is punished.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4
Objectively 3...Nd4 is not a good move. It breaks the rule against moving the same piece twice, and White can play 4.Nxd4 exd4 5.O-O or 5.c3 and stand better. But the pawn on e5 looks free, and many players grab it.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Nxe5 Qg5
Now White should give back the material calmly, for example with 5.Bxf7+ Ke7 6.O-O, defending g2 by castling. Instead, the greedy 5.Nxf7 attacks the queen and the rook on h8, which looks crushing. Black ignores it.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Nxe5 Qg5 5.Nxf7 Qxg2 6.Rf1 Qxe4+ 7.Be2 Nf3#
After 5...Qxg2 the rook is attacked and goes to f1. Then 6...Qxe4+ forces 7.Be2, and 7...Nf3 is checkmate. The king cannot move because its own pieces fill d1, d2, f1 and f2, and the bishop on e2 is pinned and cannot take the knight.
What to take from it. Two lessons in one trap. For White: when you have taken something and your opponent's response looks too calm, look for checks against your king first. For Black: tricks like this only work against careless play. Against a careful opponent 3...Nd4 just loses time, which is why it is a trap rather than an opening.
Playing through games yourself
The fastest way to improve at reading the board is to play through short games like these, covering the next move with a card and guessing it. You will find many more classic games in published collections. On this site, try reaching the same positions against the computer: you will notice it does not fall for Légal's mate, which is the point. Traps are worth knowing so they cannot be used on you, not because they win against good defence. For the tactics behind these finishes, read two attacks from one move. For the opening habits Morphy's opponents ignored, read opening principles.