One of the first lessons that every chess novice receives concerns the security of the king. Well, the king is unquestionably the most important chess piece, but His Majesty is terribly fragile and he, like any king in real life, should be given the best of care. In other words, he should castle as soon as possible to avoid the attack of the enemy pieces, all precautions should be made to keep him out of danger during the opening and the middlegame. True, with the progress of the novice he is gradulally inculcated with the idea that with most of the chess pieces gone off the board, the king becomes more powerful, and his potential is definitely soaring up.

The natural question arises in the mind of the inquisitive student whether the king can throw off his discretion to the wind and set on a daring journey to attack his counterpart. Can he, like all other pieces, spin a mating net to the enemy king? Well, it happens, may be not as often as we wish, but it does happen. And since such instances are more the exception than the rule, they merit attention and certainly admiration.

In 1902 Richard Teichmann, the great German chess player was visiting Glasgow playing with local chess fans. One of the games, or rather the finale of the game played by the venerable weltmeister can be today found in many chess anthologies.

Teichmann was playing with White. It is difficult to imagine that Black’s King is in danger. It is even more difficult to perceive that the danger is coming from White’s King! Moreover, it seems that precautions should be made to insure the security of White’s King. The pressure of Black’s Queen and bishop on diagonal h1-a8 is more than conspicuous. Nevertheless, White’s King is destined to commit an act of breathtaking heroism and soon he comes on top of all of Black’s pieces.

28.Kh2! b5 29.Kg3! a5 30.Kh4! White is about to move his king to g6 creating the threat of the imminent mate. The harmony of White’s pieces strikes the eye. Especially, White’s knight is strong controlling the key squares e8 and f7.

30…g6. Forced, since it thwarts the advance of White’s King. 31.Re3! Qxg2 32.Rg3 Qf2. Or 32...g5+ 33.Kh5 Qxg3 34.Kg6! which is probably as beautiful as the text. 33.fxg6 Qf4+ 34.Rg4 Qf2+ 35.Kh5! Black resigned.

This game was played a long time ago, but here is an example from a relatively recent past, the game between Nigel Short and Jan Timman in Tilburg in 1991.

[Replay game]

N.Short - J.Timman (Tilburg, 1991): 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.Nf3 g6 5.Bc4 Nb6 6.Bb3 Bg7 7.Qe2 Nc6 8.0-0 0-0 9.h3 a5 10.a4 dxe5 11.dxe5 Nd4 12.Nxd4 Qxd4 13.Re1 e6 14.Nd2 Nd5 15.Nf3 Qc5 16.Qe4 Qb4 17.Bc4 Nb6 18.b3 Nxc4 19.bxc4 Re8 20.Rd1 Qc5 21.Qh4 b6 22.Be3 Qc6 23.Bh6 Bh8 24.Rd8 Bb7 25.Rad1 Bg7 26.R8d7 Rf8 27.Bxg7 Kxg7 28.R1d4 Rae8 29.Qf6+ Kg8 30.h4 h5.

Short played here 31.Kh2!, following in the footsteps of Richard Teichmann. I can bet that Timman, a versatile tactician, did not even notice this unpretentious move. Possibly, he thought that the Englishman was just gaining time or he had not found a good plan trying to figure out what he was going to do in a couple of moves, etc. As a matter of fact, Short’s move initiates the maneuvre which we have just seen in Teichmann’s game. The Odyssey of White’s King commences!

31…Rc8. If Timman could see what idea was up Short’s sleeve he would have played here 31...Bc8, but then the end of the game would have been no less spectacular: 32.g4!! Bxd7 33.gxh5 gxh5 34.Qg5+ or 32...hxg4 33.Ng5 g3+ 34.Kxg3 Bxd7 35.Kh2!! Qxa4 36.h5 gxh5 37.Qh6 Qxc2 38.Ne4!! (found by Jon Speelman).

32.Kg3! Rce8 33.Kf4! Bc8 34.Kg5! Here Timman resigned. Black is absolutely helpless if 34…Kh7, 35.Qxg6+ Kh8 36.Qh6+ Kg8 37.Kf6! The diagram is a must here!

No one knows whether Short was inspired by Teichmann’s masterpiece but he seems to have a liking for royal escapades. In 1987 in London he defeated the great Gary Kasparov by sending his king against the enemy fire.

[Replay game]

G. Kasparov - N. Short (London, 1987): 1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Bg4 3.Ne5 Bf5 4.c4 f6 5.Nf3 c6 6.Nc3 e6 7.g3 Bb4 8.Bg2 Ne7 9.0-0 0-0 10.Qb3 a5 11.a3 Bxc3 12.bxc3 Nd7 13.Nd2 a4 14.Qa2 Bg6 15.e4 Bf7 16.Rb1 Rb8 17.Qc2 b5 18.cxd5 cxd5 19.Qd3 Qa5 20.Re1 Rfc8 21.Rb4 Nc6 22.Rb2 Ne7 23.Rc2 Nb6 24.h4 Rb7 25.Bh3 Rc6 26.Rb2 Nc4 27.Rb4 Qc7 28.Nxc4 Rxc4 29.Bd2 Qc6 30.e5 f5 31.Bf1 Bh5 32.Qe3 h6 33.Reb1 Kf7 34.R1b2 Kg8 35.f3 Qa6 36.Rb1 Nc6 37.Bxc4 dxc4 38.R4b2 Ne7 39.d5 Nxd5 40.Qc5 Bxf3 41.Rxb5 Rc7 42.Rb8+ Kh7 43.Qf8 Qa7+ 44.Kf1 Re7.

Without the slightest suspicion Kasparov played here 45.R1b2. Black’s King went out of his hiding without delay. 45… Kg6! 46.Bc1 Kh5! In a few seconds Black’s King will be on g3. So Kasparov is desperately trying to disrupt Black’s defense. 47.Ra8 Qc5 48.Rc8 Qxa3 49.g4+ Bxg4 50.Rxc4 Qa1. White resigned.

[Replay game]

Returning again to the good old times, let us consider another striking example, the finale of the game between Bernhard Horwitz and Howard Staunton played in London in 1846. At that time there were not yet official competitions for the World Title, but judging by the swashbuckling attack in this game, we can deduce that today’s title-holders would not have fared better.

30...Kg6! Is it possible that Short playing against Kasparov remembered this long-forgotten game of his brilliant predecessor and compatriot? 31.Rc8 Qe6 32.Rd8 Bg4 33.Qf4 Nf3+ 34.Kg2 Qe1 35.Rg8+ Kh5!! Fantastic! White resigned foreseeing the following line: 36.Rxg4 Re2+ 37.Kxf3 Qf2#.

[Replay game]

For some unfathomable reason all the above-cited examples have been drawn from the games played by the English champions. Even Teichmann, who lived in London for more than ten years, can be considered almost as an English gentleman. During the First World War, suspected of pro-English sympathies, he left Berlin and lived in Switzerland. Maybe, the hair-raising onslaught of the King is what we might call ‘murder English style’?

Well, it would be naïve, however, to presume, that Caissa, the capricious Goddess of Chess, gives such rare moments of Heavenly Beauty and Valor only to the proud islanders of foggy Albion. One of the most spectacular wins by Alexander Alekhine occurred in his demonstration game in Odessa in 1919 when the Civil War was raging in Russia.

A. Alekhine - I. Kaufman (Odessa, 1919): 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 c5 3.dxc5 Nf6 4.c4 e6 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Be3 Na6 7.g3 Bxc5 8.Bxc5 Nxc5 9.Bg2 0-0 10.0-0 Bf5 11.Nc3 Re8 12.Nd4 Bg6 13.Bh3 Nce4 14.Rc1 Nxc3 15.Rxc3 Ne4 16.Rb3 Rb8 17.f4 f6 18.Rb5 Bf7 19.Rf3 a6 20.Rb4 Qa5 21.Rfb3 Qc7 22.e3 b5 23.a4 bxa4 24.Ne6 Rxb4 25.Nxc7 Rxb3 26.Nxe8 Rxb2 27.Qc1 a3 28.Qc8 Rb1+ 29.Bf1 g6 30.Nxf6+ Kg7 31.Nxe4 a2 32.Qc3+ Kh6 33.Nd6 a1Q 34.Nxf7+ Kh5.

Here, however, it it White’s King who is raging the board! 35.Kg2! Rxf1 36.Kh3! g5 37.g4+ Kg6 38.Ne5+. Black resigned.

[Replay game]

Yes, the more you consider the games played by the great Russian champions, the more you understand that the British cannot claim monopoly on royal adventures. Here are three more games played by the famous Russians.They serve to prove that the King cannot be easily straight-jacketed when he is all out for the enemy’s blood.

A.Karpov - A.Zaitsev ( Kuibyshev, 1970): 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Nf3 Ngf6 6.Nxf6+ Nxf6 7.Ne5 Bf5 8.c3 e6 9.g4 Bg6 10.h4 Bd6 11.Qe2 c5 12.h5 Be4 13.f3 cxd4 14.Qb5+ Nd7 15.Nxf7 Bg3+ 16.Ke2 d3+ 17.Ke3 Qf6 18.Kxe4.

18...Qxf7 19.Rh3 a6 20.Qg5 h6 21.Qe3 e5 22.Kxd3 Bf4 23.Qg1 0-0-0 24.Kc2 Bxc1 25.Rxc1 Qxa2 26.Rh2 Rhf8 27.Rd2 Qa4+ 28.Kb1 Qc6 29.Bd3 Kc7 30.Be4 Qb6 31.Qh2 Rde8 32.Rcd1 Nf6 33.Bg6 Re7 34.Re1 Qb5 35.Rde2 Nd7 36.Bf5 Rxf5 37.gxf5 Qd3+ 38.Ka1 Qxf5 39.Qh4 Nf6 40.Qc4+ Kd8 41.Qc5 Nd7 42.Qd5 Kc8 43.Re4 b5 44.Qa8+ Kc7 45.Qa7+ Kd8 46.Qxa6 Qxh5 47.f4 Qf5 48.Qa8+ Kc7 49.Qa5+ Kc6 50.c4 b4 51.Qxb4 Re6 52.fxe5 Kc7 53.Qa5+ Kb7 54.Qb5+ Rb6 55.Qd5+ Kc7 56.Kb1 Qf2 57.R4e2 Qf5+ 58.Qe4 Qxe4+ 59.Rxe4 Nc5 60.R4e3 Ne6 61.Kc2 g5 62.Kc3 h5 63.b4 Ra6 64.c5 Ra3+ 65.Kc4 Rxe3 66.Rxe3 h4 67.b5 Kd8 68.b6 Kd7 69.Rd3+ Kc8 70.Rd6 h3 71.Rxe6 g4 72.Rh6 1-0.

[Replay game]

M.Chigorin - H.Caro ( Vienna, 1898) 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.f4 d5 4.d3 Bb4 5.fxe5 Nxe4 6.dxe4 Qh4+ 7.Ke2 Bxc3 8.bxc3 Bg4+ 9.Nf3 dxe4 10.Qd4 Bh5 11.Ke3 Bxf3 12.Bb5+ c6 13.gxf3 Qh6+ 14.Kxe4 Qg6+ 15.Ke3 cxb5 16.Ba3 Nc6 17.Qd5 Qxc2 18.Rac1 Qf5 19.Rhe1 Rd8 20.Qxb5 a6 21.Qb1 Qg5+ 22.f4 Qg2 23.Bd6 Qh3+ 24.Ke4 f5+ 25.Kd5

25.Qg2+ 26.Kc4 b5+ 27.Kd3 Qf3+ 28.Kc2 Qf2+ 29.Kb3 Rc8 30.Rc2 Qxf4 31.Kb2 Na5 32.Ka1 Qc4 33.e6 Nc6 34.Qd1 h5 35.Rg1 Rh7 36.Rxg7 1-0.

[Replay game]

B.Spassky - L.Polugayevsky (Moscow, 1961): 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.Nc3 Bb7 5.Bg5 Be7 6.e3 Ne4 7.Nxe4 Bxe4 8.Bf4 0-0 9.Bd3 Bb4+ 10.Kf1 Bxd3+ 11.Qxd3 Be7 12.h4 f5 13.Ke2 d6 14.g4 Nd7 15.Rag1 fxg4 16.Rxg4 Nf6 17.Rg5 Qd7 18.h5 Ne8 19.Rg2 b5 20.c5 dxc5 21.h6 Rf5 22.Be5 c4 23.Qe4 Qd5 24.Qg4 c3 25.b3 b4 26.e4 Qb5+ 27.Ke3 Rf7 28.hxg7 Nf6 29.Bxf6 Rxf6 30.Rxh7 Rxf3+ 31.Kxf3 Qd3+ 32.Kf4 Bd6+ 33.Kg5 Kxh7.

34.Kh5?? White could have won by 34.Kf6! Qxd4 35.Kf7! 34…Qb5+ 35.Kh4 Be7+ 36.Kh3 Qg5 37.Qxg5 Bxg5 38.Rxg5 Rd8 39.f4 Kg8 40.Rc5 Rxd4 41.Rxc7 Rxe4 42.Kg4 e5 43.a3 Rxf4+ 0:1.

[Replay game]