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Chess diagrams appear thanks to Steve Eddins's ChessImager, available here.

Little Lesson 5: Entombed Pieces


Sometimes, one of your opponent's pieces gets locked out of play--blocked by its own pawns from taking part in the action. When those pawns are static--when there is no hope of their getting out of the way--such a piece is entombed, and you are effectively up a piece. It's surely worth a pawn to entomb one of your opponent's pieces! Such a circumstance arose in one of my own games:

27 SEP 2007
White: Roy Eikerenkoetter

1 c4
2 Nc3
3 Nf3
4 e4
5 d4
6 Be2
7 O-O
8 dxe5
9 Bg5
10 Bh4
11 Bg3
12 Nd5
13 cxd5
14 Rc1
15 Qxe2
16 Qd3
17 Qc3
18 dxc6
19 Qe3
Black: Keith Brian Johnson

Nf6
g6
Bg7
d6
O-O
Nc6
e5
dxe5
h6
g5
Qe7
Nxd5
Nd4
Nxe2+
Bg4
Rac8
c6
Rxc6


After 19 Qe3

After White's 19 Qe3, Black would like to double his rooks immediately with 19 ... Rfc8, but sees that 20 Rxc6 Rxc6 would lose a pawn to 21 Qxa7, while 20 ... bxc6 would give Black weak a- and c-pawns, the latter of which would provide a juicy target along the c-file for White to attack. (Try to avoid giving your opponents easily-attacked targets--and, conversely, try to create such targets in your opponent's position.) And yet, Black sees that the only piece defending the f3-knight is the White queen; if the queen takes the a7-pawn, Black will be able to play ... Bxf3, and White's reply gxf3 will entomb the White bishop:
19
20 Rxc6
21 Qxa7
22 gxf3
 Rfc8
Rxc6
Bxf3


After 22 gxf3

Black is now effectively a piece to the good. White's g3-bishop has no way of becoming active. Even sacrificing the f3-pawn by moving it to f4 won't work, since Black's recapture would trap the bishop. For the rest of the game, Black plays to take advantage of the situation.

Black now plays to control the c-file and to activate his own bishop--which, though a bad bishop (it will be blocked by its own e-, f-, g-, and h-pawns--and those pawns won't be going anywhere), is far, far better than White's. Black's bishop will have play on the queenside.

22
23 Kg2
24 Qa8
25 Qe8
26 Qxf7+
 Qc7
Bf8
f6
Qf7
Kxf7


After 26 ... Kxf7

Compare White's and Black's piece activity. As the club master tells us, piece activity is the most important factor in a game of chess. Black can reasonably expect to win back one of the queenside pawns, and possibly both.

By no means do I guarantee that the play to follow was best. However, it did suffice to win, and the thing to notice is that the entombment of the g3-bishop played an important role in the win. Play continued

27 Rd1
28 Rd5
29 a3
30 b4
31 h4
32 hxg5
33 Kh3
 Ke8
Bc5
Bd4
Ra6
Rxa3
hxg5


After 33 Kh3
35 ... Bc5 wins (analysis)

Black has won back his pawn and has activated his bishop. White's bishop remains entombed. However, White has the distant prospect of playing Bh2, Bg1, f4, and f3, giving up a pawn to free his bishop.

Here, the power of being effectively up a piece would have been illustrated well by 33 ... Rb3 34 Rb5 b6 (see analysis diagram). If White doesn't play 35 Rd5, 35 ... Bc5 will both win the White b-pawn and force the trade of rooks by 36 ... Rxb4, winning. If White does play 35 Rd5, Black will play 35 ... Rxb4, again winning. Both of White's queenside pawns would then have been won after Black's sacrifice of his a-pawn had permitted him to bury the g3-bishop alive.

However, I missed that maneuver.
33
34 b5
35 Kg4
36 Kf5
37 exd5
38 d6+
 Ra6
Ra8
Rd8
Rxd5
Ke7
White would like Black to take the d-pawn, so that he could reply by taking the f- and g-pawns, freeing his bishop. But Black won't oblige.
38
39 Bh2
 Kf7
Bc5


After 39 ... Bc5
After 42 Bc5 (analysis)
After 44 Ba3 (analysis)

Letting the White bishop escape, by playing 39 ... Bxf2, could cause Black problems: After 39 ... Bxf2 40 d7 Bb6 41 Bg1 Bd8 42 Bc5 (see analysis diagram), it's hard to see a win for Black. The Black king is walled off from the queenside--and from the d-pawn. 42 ...Be7 would be met by 43 Bb6, winning White a piece after 44 d8=Q Bxd8 45 Bxd8; alternatively, 42 ... b6 43 Bb4 Be7 44 Ba3 (see analysis diagram) seems to hold the draw (44 ... Bxa3?? 45 d8=Q; 44 ... Kf8?? 45 d8=Q+; 44 ... Bd8 45 Bb4, etc.). (White would probably want to avoid the complications of 42 ... b6 43 Bb4 Be7 44 Bxe7 Kxe7 45 d8=Q+ Kxd8 46 Kxf3 e4 47 fxe4 g4 48 Kf7 [otherwise, 48 ... Ke8 stops the e-pawn] g3 49 e5 g2 50 e6 g1=Q 51 e7+ Kc7 52 e8=Q, preferring 44 Ba3.) The resurrected bishop then plays a vital role in holding the draw for White.

Better to keep the bishop in its sepulchre!

White, seeing Black's ... Bd8, ... Ke7, ... Kxd7, and king walk to the queenside to devour White's b-pawn coming, soon decides to sacrifice a pawn in order to free his bishop.
40 d7
41 f4
42 f3
43 d8=Q+
 Bb6
exf4
Ke7
Kxd8



Black could, of course, have played 43 ... Bxd8; but then the White bishop would finally have risen from the dead, with 44 Bg1. 43 ... Kxd8 is preferable if it doesn't permit 44 Kxf6 (and the subsequent Kxg5); and, in fact, 44 Kxf6 really can't be played, for it is answered by 44 ... g4 45 fxg4 (if not, then 45 ... g3 wins the entombed bishop) f3 46 Bg3 f2 47 Bxf2 Bxf2, winning for Black.

Black now sacrifices his bishop, and the game is soon over.
44 Bxf4
45 Kxf4
46 Kf5
47 Ke4
48 Kd5
49 f4
White resigns 		gxf4
Kd7
Bd4
Bc3
Bb4
Be1
The advantage one has when an opponent's piece is locked out of play would have been better illustrated had I not overlooked the maneuver at move thirty-three that would have won the b-pawn, but one can still see that the bishop's entombment was well worth the pawn it cost.

The next example shows a different kind of piece entombment.
26 JUN 2008
White: Keith Brian Johnson

1 e4
2 Nc3
3 Nf3
4 Nxe4
Black: Shinan Jin

c6
d5
dxe4
Bg4
Not 4...Bf5, as in the Classical Variation, for there would follow 5 Ng3 Bg6 6 h4 h6 7 Ne5 Bh7 8 Qh5 g6 9 Bc4 e6 (not 9 ... gxh5 10 Bxf7 mate) 10 Qe2, with a big advantage for White.
5 Bc4
6 Ne5!
 Nf6?
5 ... e6 was necessary.
6
7 Bxf7+
8 Nxg4
9 Ne3
10 d3
11 Bd2
 Qd4
Kd8
Qxe4+
Nbd7
Qd4
Ne5
I didn't think she would play 11 ... Qxb2, but I later saw 12 Rb1 Qd4/e5 13 Rxb7 Nb6, with the threat of ... Kc8, trapping White's rook. Lacking Fritz, I don't know how that would turn out, but it may be that 11 Bd2 was a mistake.
12 Bc3
13 Be6
14 Qe2
 Qf4
Kc7
Ng6



With 14 Qe2, White threatened 15 Nd5+ and 16 Bxe5+, to win the Black queen; with 14 ... Ng6, Black prevents that from happening, but she also blocks her g-pawn. With White's e6-bishop blocking Black's e-pawn, her king bishop can't get out; so, short of pushing her h-pawn and developing her king rook that way, her king rook is also stuck out of play. All White has to do is play naturally, and his extra pieces in play should ensure the win.
15 g3
16 Nc4
17 O-O-O
18 f4
19 f5
 Qd6
Qc5
Nd7
Rd8
Black resigns

Black's e7-pawn, f8-bishop, and h8-rook are all stuck and are also all occupying squares the g6-knight could otherwise hop to.


(© 2008 by Keith Brian Johnson)

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