Luft

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This article uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves.
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a8 b8 c8 d8 e8 f8 g8 h8
a7 b7 c7 d7 e7 f7 g7 h7
a6 b6 c6 d6 e6 f6 g6 h6
a5 b5 c5 d5 e5 f5 g5 h5
a4 b4 c4 d4 e4 f4 g4 h4
a3 b3 c3 d3 e3 f3 g3 h3
a2 b2 c2 d2 e2 f2 g2 h2
a1 b1 c1 d1 e1 f1 g1 h1
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White needs to give his king luft to avoid a back rank mate.

Luft, the German word for "air" (sometimes also "space" or "breath"), is used by some chess writers and commentators to denote a space left by a pawn move into which a castled king may move, especially such a space made with the intention of avoiding a back-rank mate. A move leaving such a space is often said to "give the king some luft".

An example is seen to the right. White has two active rooks on the seventh rank which should easily win the game for him in time. For now, however, Black is threatening the simple 1...Re1# and White must deal with this threat. One way is to play 1.Rd1, but this leaves the rook relatively inactive. Another defence is 1.Re7, but after 1...Rxe7 2.Rxe7 Rb8 (or 2...b6), it is not clear whether White can win. The right thing to do is to give the king some luft by moving the g or h pawn: 1.g3, 1.g4, 1.h3 and 1.h4 should all be good enough to win. After each, 1...Re1+ can be simply met with 1.Kg2 or 1.Kh2.

It is usually better to move the h-pawn (or the a-pawn if the king is on the queenside) because moving the f-pawn can weaken the king's position and moving the g-pawn creates holes at f3 and h3 (or f6 and h6) (Evans 1967:52-53).

[edit] References

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