Figure 6.2.3.10[White to move]

This is a sequence from Pillsbury-Lee (1899). Black has just used his queen to take White’s g2 pawn and threaten his rook. What should White do? The g-file is open (no pawns), and Black’s king sits at the end of it: an important opportunity. True, White’s bishop isn't on the long diagonal, but this can be arranged (as we shall see). First White creates an open file for his rook by playing 1. Qf3. This is a fork of Black’s queen and rook; if Black retreats his queen to g6, White takes the rook on b7 and wins easily enough from there. But of course White is inviting 1. …QxQ, a sacrifice of his queen—and for what? For 2. Rg1+, which forces Black’s king to h8. Now for a nifty sequence that moves White’s bishop onto the long diagonal: 3. Bg7+, Kg8; 4. Bxf6—discovering mate. (Black can interpose his queen on the g-file, but White takes it with his rook.)

This position, like an earlier illustrative position we considered, was made legendary by the dramatic sacrifice of the queen to obtain mate. Less startling but very instructive is the finale, which shows how a bishop can be moved from h6 to f6 while giving the enemy no time to regroup. This maneuver sometimes is referred to as Pillsbury’s mate for Harry Pillsbury, the winner of the game. Alas, “Pillsbury’s mate” also is sometimes used to refer to the idea shown earlier of sacrificing material on g8 to get the king onto that square—another case of slippery mating jargon.