Chess School Quiz Challenge #7
Challenge
White is in check. What to do?
Solution
World Student Champion Fiona Sieber would only give up castling voluntarily if special circumstances forced her to do so. As in this game at the German Masters 2023 between Sieber and Sarah Papp. White can't move the bishop in between, that would lose a pawn: 9.Bc1-d2 Nc6xd4, and Black would have won material.
So the king must move. The king's move to e2 would be fun for friends of internet memes (a "bongcloud"), but would be bad in terms of king safety. The king should not be in the middle of the board, but as safe as possible. So 9.Ke1-f1!, a move towards the edge of the board, the move Sieber played.
But wait, can't Black also win the pawn on d4?
No, she can't, she would fall victim to a typical tactic, a discovered check: 9.Ke1-f1 Nc6xd4? 10.Nf3xd4 Qb6xd4 11.Bb5+ (discovered check) and White wins. Black has to parry the check, and on the next move the white queen captures the black queen, game over.
