King walk

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

The final position of Short–Timman. Having marched his white king from g1, Short is poised to breach the black king's pawn defence, and checkmate cannot be prevented.

In chess, a king walk, also known as a steel king (Dutch: wandelkoning, literally "wanderking") or fighting king, refers to occasions where the king travels up the board, often actively involved in the mating attack against the opposing king.^[1] This is a highly unusual occurrence since the safety of the king is considered paramount, and players are recommended to keep them out of harm's way, at least until the endgame.^[2][3] Nevertheless, in contrast Wilhelm Steinitz, often known as the father of modern chess, was renowned for his maxim that "the king is a fighting piece".^[4][5] Dutch chess historian and author Tim Krabbé has documented over one hundred such games.^[1]

Because of the rarity of such tactics, those which reap rewards for the attacking player often have brilliancy prizes bestowed upon them.^[6][7] Perhaps the most famous in recent history,^[8] where Nigel Short defeated Jan Timman in Tilburg in 1991, was voted as one of the hundred greatest chess games in a list compiled by FM Graham Burgess, and GMs John Nunn and John Emms.^[9]

Sample games

• Short–Timman, Tilburg 1991. Alekhine Defense: Modern. Alburt Variation (B04) Short ties up Timman's pieces and his King can advance.
• Alekhine-Yates, London 1922, Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense. Main Line (D64) 1-0 Alekhine conjures up an attack in the endgame, and his King joins the fray.

References

External links

• "His Majesty steps out", capanegra, chessgames.com