Troitsky's trap [Season 10 Intro]

In an undisclosed location, 1896,

A man scowled as he stared at the board. The situation was as follows, white pawns on a4, b5, e4, f2, and h2, black pawns on a5, b7, c7, e5, f7, and g7, a white knight on g3, a white bishop on e1, black bishops on b6 and d7, white rooks on c1 and h1, black rooks on d8 and g6, the white queen on c2, the black queen on f3, the white king on g1, and the black king on c8. It was White's move, yet things looked completely hopeless. The man's opponent was already crossing his arms and smirking, expecting a resignation handshake any second. However, the man playing as White was not one to give up so easily, especially in his element, the endgame.

With a smirk, he moved his rook to d1. His opponent, known simply as Vogt, chuckled and moved his bishop to h3. "It seems you have lost."

The man across from him began to smile. "No, it's you who will be going home bitter. Check," he grinned as he captured the rook at d8 with his rook.

Vogt shrugged and captured the rook with his king. "Alright, give some petty checks to make yourself feel better. A win's a win."

"No, it's not a win. Check," the man declared as he moved his queen to d1.

Vogt once again shrugged and captured the queen at d1 with his queen without giving a second thought.

"And that is the game," the man smiled as he extended his hand.

"Finally resigning," Vogt chuckled.

"'Resigning'? No, it's stalemate, don't you see?"

Vogt slowly retracted his hand, a scowl beginning to form on his face as he stared at the board. "No, there's so many pieces here. It can't be a stalemate!"

"But it is. My pawns can't advance or capture, my rook is trapped behind my king and pawn, you bishop prevents my king from moving, your rook has my knight pinned to my king, and now your queen has my bishop pinned to my king. Stalemate, though you almost had me."

Vogt was left dumbfounded as he stormed away without saying anything more. As for the man that won, this was famed Russian chess theoretician, Alexy Troitsky. He was regarded as one of the best endgame composers even to this very day. However, he tragically met his end during the Siege of Leningrad in 1944, succumbing to starvation. More tragically, most of his notes containing games and endgame compositions were lost or destroyed. That included the full annotation for this very game against the mysterious Vogt.

Though the finale of this game featuring the amazing stalemate would become a staple in the world of chess, the moves leading up to it remain lost to time...

...

December 5th, 2024, Kawaguchi, Japan,

Mimoko yawned as she came downstairs for breakfast.

"Someone sounds sleepy. Wanna go back to bed?" Daria giggled.

"Last time that happened, one of your evil sisters kidnapped us. I'll just go to school normally," Mimoko mumbled.

"Have any interesting dreams?"

"No, did you?"

"No."

"I did," Ichimitsu stated.

"What was it about, darling?"

"Chess."

Mimoko raised an eyebrow. "Tell me more."

"You'll need to hand me the pieces first."

Mimoko wearily complied as her father began setting up the board. White pawns on a4, b5, e4, f2, and h2, black pawns on a5, b7, c7, e5, f7, and g7, a white knight on g3, a white bishop on e1, black bishops on b6 and d7, white rooks on c1 and h1, black rooks on d8 and g6, the white queen on c2, the black queen on f3, the white king on g1, and the black king on c8.

Mimoko's eyes widened as she recognized the position. "Troitsky-Vogt, 1896!"

"You know what this is?"

"Why wouldn't I!? It's one of the most famous stalemates in history! White to move, yes? Rook d1!"

"Yeah, think that's what I saw. Then the guy over here does this," Ichimitsu mumbled as he moved the bishop to h3.

"Mm, mm, then rook captures d8, check, forcing the king to take. Then queen d1, check, and Black's only viable move is to capture the queen, but that... is stalemate! The pawns and rook can't move, the king has no available squares that don't put it in check, and the knight and bishop are pinned to the king. Troitsky was genius for thinking this up and trapping Vogt with it!"

"A shame his notes were destroyed. I'd have loved to see what led to this moment in the game," Daria frowned.

"Couldn't you reverse engineer a theory?"

Daria began to laugh. If only it were that easy, but it's hard enough to think of where to move the pieces to achieve a winning endgame. How hard do you think it would be to start from mate on move 50 and work your way back trying to figure out how the mate came to be? Even for the best of the best, that's practically impossible."

Mimoko frowned and slowly nodded as she nibbled on her rice.

"Well, bring it up at club today, and maybe someone there will know something."

Mimoko nodded and finished her breakfast in silence.

Once she was out the door, Daria plopped down on the couch and turned on the TV. "Troitsky-Vogt, we still have no idea how that could have gone. Wonder if Mimoko will finally give us the answer," she thought to herself.

The incomplete game:

White: Alexy Troitsky Black: Vogt

28. Rd1 Bh3

29. Rxd8+ Kxd8

30. Qd1+ Qxd1

(game drawn due to stalemate)