Showing posts with label en passant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label en passant. Show all posts

Sunday, June 20, 2010

En passant mate

It's very rare to checkmate by capturing a pawn en passant. Chess historian Edward Winter observed in Chess Facts and Fables (p. 99), "As far as we are aware, there is still only one game in chess literature that ended in an en passant capture which administered mate: Gunnar Gundersen v A.H. Faul (Melbourne Christmas Tourney, 1928-29)." A few years ago, a second such game, played on the Free Internet Chess Server, was published in Chess Life. (Coincidentally, I was on FICS that night and saw the game shortly after it was played.) Last month, I played a third such game. My 37.h5! threatened Rh8#, which Black could only stop by moving the g-pawn, leading to the historic denouement. (Thank goodness he didn't play 37...g6!)