Featured Game

Here's the sixth entry in my Featured Game series. You will find on this page:

• A double board puzzle, using a position taken from the game. Try to find a way for Firefly and Thufir to force mate.

• A downloadable annotated version of the game in .bpgn format

If you don't have the BPGN viewer on your machine, then head over to my first Featured Game, which has links that can be used to download the viewer.

Featured Game #6:

Pawn Power

On to another tense, competitive battle where the outcome is in doubt until the last move -- oh, wait, sorry, that's not descriptive of this month's game in the least. The truth is, this one is a blow-out. After some less than exemplary opening play by his opponent, Firefly gains a big advantage and wins so much stuff the other side never has a chance.

Still, I find this game very interesting. What's impressive about the game, I think, is that Firefly obtains this crushing advantage by skillful use of those most humble of pieces, the pawns. In the course of this game, Firefly drops eight pawns on the sixth or seventh rank, and every one of these drops carries a nasty sting. (Hmm, didn't know fireflies had a stinger, heh heh.) By the end of the game, the contest has become so one-sided the checkmate seems like a mercy killing.

Now, if you were to ask me which piece is the most interesting in bughouse, I think I'd pick the pawn. Without doubt, there are times when the lowly pawn isn't so lowly. Paradoxically, the pawn's weakness is one of its strengths, as it gives the pawn the ability to force stronger pieces into retreat. Plus, there is that especially insidious rule which allows pawns reaching the eighth rank to become queens. (Well, my last statement isn't totally accurate, I think. Actually, promoted pawns are better than queens, since they revert back to pawns when they are captured.) All in all, this makes a pawn a very curious and complex piece. Generally, it is the weakest piece on the board, but there are times when it is strongest piece on the board.

So, this month I offer a game that serves as a fine testimonial to the power of the pawn. Give pawns the respect they deserve, and they will serve you well. Here's the game.

letsgetiton 01:36	stinker 01:34
Firefly 01:54*	Thufir 01:50*
* indicates player to move next