Carissa Yip Wrecks Warmerdam's King Shelter With a Knight Check

Photo: Vysotsky / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The white knight has jumped to f6 with check. The pawn on g7 can take it, and Black has only one other legal move, Kh8. Why give up a knight like this?

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Position after 22.Nf6+, with Black to move. Black can take the knight with the g-pawn or move the king to h8.

Analyze this position in the full game

Because the knight was stuck. If it moved anywhere without check, the black rook on e8 would take the white queen on e2, winning the queen for a rook. So White made the knight's last move count: it gave check, and it wrecked the pawns in front of the black king.

Carissa Yip 1-0 Max Warmerdam Tata Steel Chess Challengers 2026, Wijk aan Zee · Round 2 White: Carissa Yip (2466) · Black: Max Warmerdam (2576)

The opening

The game began as a Sicilian Defence, with White playing 2.c3, the Alapin Variation.

1.e4 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.Nf3 d6 5.d4 cxd4 6.cxd4 e6 7.Bc4 Be7 8.O-O O-O 9.Qe2 a6 10.Nc3 dxe5 11.Nxe5 Nc6 12.Nxc6 bxc6 13.Rd1 a5 14.Na4 Bd6 15.Nc5 Re8 16.Ne4 Bf8 17.Bg5 Qb6 18.Rac1 a4 19.Qh5

Our own Stockfish 16 run, at depth 18, called this roughly level.

A trick that went wrong

19...Ba6

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Position after 19...Ba6, with White to move. Black's bishop on a6 faces White's bishop on c4.

Analyze this position in the full game

Black lined up the bishop against White's bishop on c4. Our engine rated White about one pawn better after this move, and preferred 19...Qxb2.

20.Bxd5 Be2 21.Qxe2 exd5

White's bishop took the knight on d5. Black's bishop jumped to e2, attacking White's queen and rook. White's queen took it. Then Black took back on d5. After these trades, White was a whole piece ahead. But the white knight on e4 was now attacked by the pawn on d5, and it was pinned: behind it on the e-file stood the white queen, facing the black rook on e8. If the knight stepped away without giving check, 22...Rxe2 would win the queen for a rook.

Giving the knight back, with interest

22.Nf6+ gxf6

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Position after 22...gxf6, with White to move. Material is level again, but the black king has lost the g-pawn in front of it, and Black's pawns on f7, f6 and h7 are split.

Analyze this position in the full game

Material was level again. But look at the black king. The g-pawn is gone, and the pawns around the king are broken up. A king without its pawns in front of it is much easier to attack. Our engine rated White almost a pawn better.

23.Be3 f5 24.Qh5 Qxb2 25.Rxc6 Bg7 26.Rc7 Rf8 27.Qxf5 Qxa2 28.h4

Black grabbed pawns on b2 and a2 with the queen, which took the queen far away from the king. Our engine called the position level after 28.h4, because Black's extra activity on the queenside balanced White's attack.

Two small pawn moves near the king

28...Rab8 29.h5 h6

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Position after 29...h6, with White to move. Black's h-pawn has moved to h6, where White's bishop on e3 attacks it.

Analyze this position in the full game

Our engine marked 28...Rab8 and 29...h6 as the two moves that lost the balance. After 29...h6 it rated White more than three pawns better. The pawn on h6 became a target for White's bishop, and the squares around the black king opened up even more.

30.Rc6 Qb3 31.Ra1 Qb5 32.Rxh6

White's rook took the h-pawn. Now White's queen, rook, bishop and h-pawn were all aimed at the black king, and Black's queen was on b5.

32...Rfd8 33.Rh7 Qd7 34.Rxg7+ Kxg7 35.h6+ Kf8 36.Qf6 Qe6 37.Qh8+ Ke7 38.Bg5+ Kd7 39.Bxd8

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Final position, after 39.Bxd8. White has taken the rook on d8. The white h-pawn is two squares from promoting. Warmerdam resigned.

Analyze this position in the full game

The rook gave itself up on g7 to drag the king forward, and the queen and bishop chased it across the board. After 39.Bxd8 White was ahead in material, the h-pawn was ready to run, and Warmerdam resigned.

What this game teaches

1. Check what your trick leaves behind. 19...Ba6 and 20...Be2 led to trades that left Black a piece down for a moment and the black king without cover.

2. If you must give material back, take something with it. 22.Nf6+ returned the extra knight but broke up Black's kingside pawns.

3. A queen far from home cannot defend. Black's queen went to b2 and a2 to win pawns. When White attacked, it was too far away.

4. Pawn moves near your king are permanent. 29...h6 gave White a target on h6. Pawns cannot move backwards.