White comes
out a pawn ahead, as Black will regain the Knight. Return to my Chess pages
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© Copyright 1999, Jim Loy
Note: This article originally appeared in the Montana Chess News.
I once queened a pawn on the ninth move, which may be a world record. This was in a local tournament. I don't know who my opponent was.
Loy-Anonymous
1 e4 d6 2 d4 Nf6 3 Nc3 g6 4 f4 c5 5 cxc5 Qa5? 6 cxd6
Nxe4? 7 dxe7? (7 Qd5 wins) 7... Bg7 (7...Bxe7 8 Qd5 is probably a
win for White) 8 Qd8+ Qxd8 9 exd8Q+ [diagram]
White comes
out a pawn ahead, as Black will regain the Knight.
This game would have beaten my record, if White had not resigned:
Anonymous-Bruening, 1907
1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 c5 4 Bf4 cxd4 5
Bxb8 dxc3 6 Be5 cxb2 0-1
White resigned because 7 Bxb2 Bb4+ wins the queen. Otherwise the pawn queens, on the seventh or eighth move. Here is a similar obnoxious pawn, which never actually queens:
Rusakov-Verlinsky, Moscow 1947
1 e4 e5 2 c3 Nc6 3 d4 Nf6 4 Bg5 h6
5 Bh4 g5 6 Bg3 exd4 7 e5 dxc3 8 exf6? cxb2 9 Qe2+ Qe7! 10 fxe7 Bg7! 0-1
This kind of ever-advancing pawn is sometimes called an "Excelsior Pawn."