Sam Trenholme’s blog

Sam T. vs. NN

The above is an interactive chessboard. Click on the large right arrow button to advance the move. The single left arrow goes back one move; the double left arrows return to the beginning of the game; and the double right arrows go to the end of the game

Many moons ago, I was sick and tired of my friends beating me at chess all the time, so I started going to a local chess club where chess masters mentored me and I was playing in USCF sponsored tournaments. I remember that chess club well: It was in the cafeteria where a lot of scientists and other smart people worked, and met every Friday night. I did not have a car at the time, so I would ride my bike there across town.

As the cafeteria workers were closing down the cafeteria, we all would go there and people would bring out their chessboards, along with their mechanical clock timers, and people would start playing chess. We would usually play a number of casual (skittles) games before starting up our tournament. Our games in the tournament were rated and the chess masters would teach us beginners how to play chess better. Pretty soon after going to that club pretty much every week, and listening to the chess master teach me chess, my chess got a lot better.

I have a beautiful memory from this period of my life, of me hanging out with a buddy of mine at another club, which was not a chess club. My chess was already getting a lot better because of what the people at the chess club were teaching me, and it was time to use my new skills.

It was a amazing sunny day, and this club had large windows letting us enjoy the sun inside the club. My buddy and I brought out this nice, if somewhat small, wooden chessboard and started to play a game of chess:

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 Nxe4 4. Qe2

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Position after 4. Qe2

Modern Chess Openings, back when we would use a huge thick book to go over openings, points out Black’s best course of action at this point is 4...Qe7 5. Qxe4 d6 6. d4, but even here White is up a pawn.

My opponent could see his knight was in trouble, so he responded with a counter threat, 4. f6?, giving us this:

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Position after 4... f6?

Black’s kingside is now weak enough that we can ignore the threat against the knight on e5.

5. Qh5+! g6 6. Nxg6 hxg6

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Position after 6... hxg6

When I showed the people at the chess club later on that week this game, my brother suggested that I take the rook with 7. Qxh8. A chess master, a mentor for us, looked at him and said “you don’t go for the rook in chess. You go for the king!”.

Going for the king with a check is exactly how I continued the game:

7. Qxg6+ Ke7 8. Qxe4+ Kd6? 9. Qd4+? (better was 9. d4!) Kc6?

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Position after 9... Kc6. White to move and force mate.

Checkmate is now unavoidable. The actual continuation was longer, but this is roughly how the game ended, with a few more moves in between:

10. Qc4+ Kb6 11. Qb5#

I was getting results from going to the local chess club: I was now winning, instead of losing, games.

Today, the club where I played my buddy this game is long gone, and that cafeteria no longer has a weekly Chess club meeting, but these happy memories are ones I will carry with me for the rest of my life.