Réti's eleven-move win

Richard Réti vs Savielly Tartakower

Vienna, casual game · 1910 · 1-0

Preparing your chess set…

Click or drag to move · Arrow keys + Enter to play

0 / 21 half-moves

Playback speed

Continuous playback · extra time at key moments

Following the game

The story behind the moves

A masterpiece, move by move

A Caro-Kann that lasts eleven moves. White castles queenside with a queen sacrifice already in mind, and the double check that follows decides at once.

Scroll through every key moment at your own pace. Turn on Follow game to return to the current lesson as playback continues.

Themes to watch

queen sacrificedouble checkcaro-kann

Coming up

8. O-O-O

Align the queen and rook

The idea

Castling queenside brings the rook to d1 behind the queen on d3. Black’s king remains on e8, and the open upper part of the d-file gives the queen a direct route to d8.

Follow the continuation

Black plays ...Nxe4, taking a knight. Réti answers Qd8+, offering his queen so that the black king can be drawn onto the rook’s file.

Remember

Castling can be an attacking move. Check the lines created by the rook’s new square, not only the king’s safety.

Coming up

8... Nxe4

A capture overlooks the king

The idea

...Nxe4 wins White’s central knight, but it does not address the queen-and-rook alignment on the d-file. White can now use checks to make material counting irrelevant.

Follow the continuation

The reply is 9. Qd8+ Kxd8 10. Bg5+. Moving the bishop from d2 uncovers the rook and checks the king a second way at the same time.

Remember

Before collecting a piece, scan all of your opponent’s checks. An exposed king can make a seemingly free capture too expensive.

Coming up

9. Qd8+

Put the king on the target file

The idea

Qd8+ offers the queen directly beside Black’s king. The bishop on d2 still blocks White’s rook on d1, so the point is to draw the king onto d8 before uncovering the rook.

Follow the continuation

After ...Kxd8, Bg5+ vacates d2 and creates double check. The king must move, and in the recorded game ...Kc7 is met by Bd8#.

Remember

Decoy sacrifices move the king to a vulnerable square. Identify the follow-up before sacrificing the queen.

Coming up

10. Bg5+

Uncover the rook with check

The idea

Bg5+ attacks the king on d8 along the diagonal and clears the d-file for the rook. Black cannot solve both checks by capturing or blocking a single attacker.

Follow the continuation

Tartakower chooses ...Kc7. White returns the bishop to d8, where it is protected by the rook and checks the king on c7.

Remember

Double check forces a king move. Use that restriction to calculate a short, concrete continuation.

Coming up

11. Bd8#

A protected bishop delivers mate

The idea

The bishop on d8 checks c7 and is protected by the rook on d1. That rook controls d6 and d7, and the bishop controls b6 along the d8–c7–b6 diagonal.

Follow the continuation

Black’s pieces occupy b7, b8, c8 and c6. With those exits blocked and the remaining escapes covered, the king cannot evade the check.

Remember

A king’s own pieces can form the walls of a mating net. Check every adjacent square before declaring mate.

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Réti's eleven-move win

Richard Réti vs Savielly Tartakower

Vienna, casual game · 1910 · 1-0

Preparing your chess set…

Click or drag to move · Arrow keys + Enter to play

0 / 21 half-moves

Playback speed

Continuous playback · extra time at key moments

Following the game

The story behind the moves

A masterpiece, move by move

A Caro-Kann that lasts eleven moves. White castles queenside with a queen sacrifice already in mind, and the double check that follows decides at once.

Scroll through every key moment at your own pace. Turn on Follow game to return to the current lesson as playback continues.

Themes to watch

queen sacrificedouble checkcaro-kann

Coming up

8. O-O-O

Align the queen and rook

The idea

Castling queenside brings the rook to d1 behind the queen on d3. Black’s king remains on e8, and the open upper part of the d-file gives the queen a direct route to d8.

Follow the continuation

Black plays ...Nxe4, taking a knight. Réti answers Qd8+, offering his queen so that the black king can be drawn onto the rook’s file.

Remember

Castling can be an attacking move. Check the lines created by the rook’s new square, not only the king’s safety.

Coming up

8... Nxe4

A capture overlooks the king

The idea

...Nxe4 wins White’s central knight, but it does not address the queen-and-rook alignment on the d-file. White can now use checks to make material counting irrelevant.

Follow the continuation

The reply is 9. Qd8+ Kxd8 10. Bg5+. Moving the bishop from d2 uncovers the rook and checks the king a second way at the same time.

Remember

Before collecting a piece, scan all of your opponent’s checks. An exposed king can make a seemingly free capture too expensive.

Coming up

9. Qd8+

Put the king on the target file

The idea

Qd8+ offers the queen directly beside Black’s king. The bishop on d2 still blocks White’s rook on d1, so the point is to draw the king onto d8 before uncovering the rook.

Follow the continuation

After ...Kxd8, Bg5+ vacates d2 and creates double check. The king must move, and in the recorded game ...Kc7 is met by Bd8#.

Remember

Decoy sacrifices move the king to a vulnerable square. Identify the follow-up before sacrificing the queen.

Coming up

10. Bg5+

Uncover the rook with check

The idea

Bg5+ attacks the king on d8 along the diagonal and clears the d-file for the rook. Black cannot solve both checks by capturing or blocking a single attacker.

Follow the continuation

Tartakower chooses ...Kc7. White returns the bishop to d8, where it is protected by the rook and checks the king on c7.

Remember

Double check forces a king move. Use that restriction to calculate a short, concrete continuation.

Coming up

11. Bd8#

A protected bishop delivers mate

The idea

The bishop on d8 checks c7 and is protected by the rook on d1. That rook controls d6 and d7, and the bishop controls b6 along the d8–c7–b6 diagonal.

Follow the continuation

Black’s pieces occupy b7, b8, c8 and c6. With those exits blocked and the remaining escapes covered, the king cannot evade the check.

Remember

A king’s own pieces can form the walls of a mating net. Check every adjacent square before declaring mate.