Grasshoppers are Magical
Introduction
What? Why can’t the knight go to the red square?
Let’s zoom out and see if it makes more sense.
Aha! There’s a Grasshopper on e3, though the first picture may seem like there’s an invisible Black piece on e7! Welcome back to Grasshopper Antics! Today, we talk about invisible barriers, zooming out, and Grasshopper checkmates.
That’s a lot!
In the pictures above, you probably know why the knight can’t go to e7, because if it did, the Grasshopper could jump over the knight and eat the king! (The term is check/capture.) Moving on, would you like to see what a Grasshopper checkmate looks like? It’s hard to imagine, because pieces can just move out of the way to stop a Grasshopper’s check. Well, here’s the checkmate:
Here White has just played Nd6, checking the Black King. If he takes with the Bishop, he’ll be fine, but taking with the Pawn is a blunder!
Why? Because the King has no where to go, and any White e3 Bishop move will be discovered Grasshopper checkmate! Of course, you’re not here to see a Bishop checkmate. Well, Ge4 is checkmate!
The f8 Knight is pinned, so it can’t move. The d5 White Bishop is covering the f7 escape square. The White Queen on a4 is pinning the Black Bishop on d7 to the King! And lastly, the Black Bishop on e7 is the piece that’s being hopped over, and it can’t move due to the pawns on d6 and f6. This is a splendid example of pieces working together to eliminate opposing defenders.
Goodbye
Thanks for viewing Part 5 of Grasshopper Antics! See you next time!
