The Greek Gift Part 1

Dear Students,

Have you heard of the Trojan Horse story?  A super long time ago, the Trojans and the Greeks were at war.  The Greeks knocked on the castle door, "Um, excuse us," they said politely.  "Can we come in and defeat you now?"

Well, of course the Trojans said, "No."  It was pretty much a stalemate because no one could win...until...

The Sneaky King Odysseus came up with this plan to make a giant horse. The soldiers could fit inside the horse and pretend like it was a gift for the Trojans!

The Greeks pretended to sail away, but actually they were inside the giant horse! The Trojans opened the castle saying, "What is this giant horse?  The Greeks are gone...maybe they left us a victory present!"  So they brought the big horsey into their castle. 

At night all the Greek soldiers jumped out of the horse and completely destroyed everything.  Brutal!

Here is the Greek Gift in action:

Black has different ways of responding to this horrifying sacrifice.  What would you do if s/he played Kh8?

That was pretty straightforward.   So now what if the king runs back to g8?  Can you make a checkmate threat? 

Follow through.  Let's say black tries desperately to hold on.  "I'll move my rook over and make an escape square!" Black says, unconvincingly.  Now destroy the castle wall on f7!  

Every move is forced.  Every move is check.

Did you get all that?  Fantastic!  Now there are many ways of responding to the knight check on g5.  But after Kh8 or Kg8, you know what to do!  (Crush and destroy!)  We'll look at what happens if Kh6 or Kg6 next.  Try it on your own and double check your answers next week.  Until then!  Adios, Ms Martin                                                                                                                             

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