Staircase maneuver
The staircase maneuver (or staircase movementHooper & Whyld (1996), p. 387. staircase movement.) is a tactical motif that employs the idea of a series of checks, or alternation between pins and checks, to advance a queen, rook, or king along a diagonal via a series of stepped orthogonal moves.
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Examples
Staircase maneuvers tend to occur in queen and pawn endgames, where the defender has advanced pawns on the seventh {{chessgloss|rank}}. Here the attacking queen alternates between black and white squares giving pins and checks until it reaches an open file to deliver the final mate.
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|White mates in 12.
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In the diagram, if Black's pawn on b2 had already {{chessgloss|queened}} on b1, the game would be drawn. White mates in 12, however, using the staircase maneuver:
:{{pad}}1.Qc3 Kb1 2.Qd3+ Ka1 3.Qd4 Kb1 4.Qe4+ Ka1 5.Qe5 Kb1 6.Qf5+ Ka1 7.Qf6 Kb1 8.Qg6+ Ka1 9.Qg7 Kb1 10.Qh7+ Ka1 11.Qh8 Kb1 12.Qh1{{chessAN|#}}{{cite book | author = George Huczek | title = A to Z Chess Tactics| publisher = Batsford | isbn = 978-1-8499-4446-5 | pages = 1–349 | year = 2017 }}
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| {{Chess diagram small | tleft | | | | |rd| | | |kd | | | | | |rd|pd| | |ql| |bd|bd| | | | | |pd| | | |qd|pd | | | | |pd| | | | |pl| | |pl| | |pl |pl|bl| |pd| |pl|pl| |rl| | |nl| |nl|kl| |Tarrasch resigned after 34.Kh1 Bxh3 35.gxh3 Rf3 36.Ng3 h4 37.Bf6 Qxf6 38.Nxe4 Rxh3+. }} | {{Chess diagram small | tleft | | | | |rd| | | |kd | | | | | | |pd| | | | |bd| | | | | | |pd|bd| | | |pd |ql| | | | | | | | |pl| | |pl|rd| |pl |pl|bl| |pd| |pl|kl| |rl| | |nl| |nl| | |37...Rg3+ begins a staircase. }} |
In the game Tarrasch–Alekhine, Piešt'any 1922, after 33...Be6 (first diagram), if play had continued instead 34.Qc6 Rf3 35.Qxe4 Bd5 36.Qa4 Qxg2+ 37.Kxg2 (second diagram), a staircase maneuver resulting in mate is possible:
:{{pad}}37...Rg3+ 38.Kh2 Rg2+ 39.Kh1 Rh2+ 40.Kg1 Rh1#Hooper & Whyld (1996), p. 8.
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See also
References
{{Reflist}}
Bibliography
- {{cite book
|last1=Hooper
|first1=David
|authorlink1=David Vincent Hooper
|last2=Whyld
|first2=Kenneth
|authorlink2=Kenneth Whyld
|title=The Oxford Companion to Chess
|publisher=Oxford University Press
|year=1996
|edition=2nd
|orig-date=First pub. 1992
|isbn=0-19-280049-3 }}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Staircase maneuver}}