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King Hunt Examples
Compiled by ChessCoachClark
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The King Hunt is an almost humorous process of pushing the enemy King far away from its position in the Array. Of course, the most dramatic cases are when the King has been chased to the opposite edge of the board. Mate usually follows quickly, if not concurrently with the final step of the King Hunt itself.

So, the King Hunt could be a tactic, a mating process or just chess trivia. I leave any classification decision up to you.

A game that demonstrates a King Hunt is an excellent way to show the fun and mystery in chess to a young, beginning player-- as a surprise that becomes a memorable experience. It becomes a motivation for learning longer sequences, also. Watching for that glint of a smile that flowers quickly is satisfying for the coach as well. Every time. Oh, yes.

THE KING-HUNT (Holt, 1996) -- referenced as KHNC-- is an entire book by GM John Nunn and William Cozens with 55 games. See the game collection for this book by <riws76> at Game Collection: The King Hunt in Chess by Cozens, Nunn., which has 49 of those 55 games. Note that Gusev vs Zhuravliov Gusev vs V Zhuravliov, 1976 was not given in that game collection, but the game is included here.

Also, <MorphyMatt> has an excellent game collection on the King Hunt at Game Collection: King hunts with 63 games.

1001 DEADLY CHECKMATES (Gambit, 2011)-- referenced as Nunn-- by GM John Nunn has has 19 relevant games-- a demonstrative game on page 217, then games #733 to #750. These games are in the last part of that book, namely Chapter 14: HUNTING THE KING and all of those games are included in this game collection.

ChessCoachClark (CCC) originated this game collection and he updates it on occasion. This project is a work in progress, culling games from various sources, including several chess training books and personal research. The games are ordered by date (oldest first), not by importance.

Be well.
Be safe.

King Hunt to left flank, then checkmate
Greco vs NN, 1620 
(C37) King's Gambit Accepted, 23 moves, 1-0

Pawn captures Knight for mate after King Hunt
Steinitz vs Rock, 1863 
(000) Chess variants, 18 moves, 1-0

King Hunt but a Draw
K Hamppe vs P Meitner, 1872 
(C25) Vienna, 18 moves, 1/2-1/2

Full King Hunt then checkmate (could be Castle Mate, also)
Ed Lasker vs G Thomas, 1912 
(A40) Queen's Pawn Game, 18 moves, 1-0

Full King Hunt
A Nimzowitsch vs Tarrasch, 1914  
(D30) Queen's Gambit Declined, 32 moves, 0-1

Full King Hunt then Castle Mate
L Prins vs L Day, 1968 
(B28) Sicilian, O'Kelly Variation, 28 moves, 0-1

KHNC Game #44; Discovery Check at EOG wins Queen!
A Lukin vs V Vorotnikov, 1973
(C72) Ruy Lopez, Modern Steinitz Defense, 5.O-O, 39 moves, 1-0

KHNC #47
Gusev vs V Zhuravliov, 1976
(B99) Sicilian, Najdorf, 7...Be7 Main line, 38 moves, 1-0

KHNC #48
Smagin vs V Bukhtin, 1982
(B90) Sicilian, Najdorf, 34 moves, 1-0

King is brought to the middle of the board
V Cmilyte vs M Gutad Iversen, 1994 
(D02) Queen's Pawn Game, 30 moves, 1-0

N Azarova vs E Decka, 1994
(D30) Queen's Gambit Declined, 94 moves, 1-0

Nunn #739; both players are deaf.
V Varezhkin vs N Glushenko, 1994
(E62) King's Indian, Fianchetto, 31 moves, 1-0

Nunn #742
H Restifa vs J L Rodriguez, 1994 
(E44) Nimzo-Indian, Fischer Variation, 5.Ne2, 42 moves, 1-0

A Jedinger vs M Gerhold, 1995
(B45) Sicilian, Taimanov, 79 moves, 1-0

L Knazovcik vs D Gross, 1997
(C68) Ruy Lopez, Exchange, 91 moves, 0-1

Johannes Hedwig vs Jan Hendrik Schigiol, 1998
(B02) Alekhine's Defense, 104 moves, 0-1

SF 17 M14 or M15 line: White King travels to top of board.
H Reefschlaeger vs V Yandemirov, 1998
(C46) Three Knights, 80 moves, 0-1

Full King Hunt causes Topalov to resign
Kasparov vs Topalov, 1999 
(B07) Pirc, 44 moves, 1-0

Black King goes on a journey.
H Erdogan vs W Elliott, 2000
(A57) Benko Gambit, 73 moves, 1-0

At EOG, King is forced into h7 for an In-His-Face Mate next.
V Vojtek vs S Vesselovsky, 2000 
(B53) Sicilian, 60 moves, 0-1

Nunn #749; continuation for King Hunt and mate
Z Gofshtein vs I Boim, 2000
(D31) Queen's Gambit Declined, 39 moves, 0-1

Nunn #746; Black won; mate by a Pawn.
E Peralta vs B Roselli Mailhe, 2001
(E97) King's Indian, 24 moves, 0-1

Nunn #745; continuation for King Hunt and mate
Sutovsky vs Smirin, 2002 
(B25) Sicilian, Closed, 24 moves, 1-0

M Socko vs J Shahade, 2002 
(E46) Nimzo-Indian, 97 moves, 1-0

C Schaetz vs F Kordts, 2003
(A30) English, Symmetrical, 63 moves, 1-0

Vujcic Toni vs A Anarkulov, 2004
(B33) Sicilian, 73 moves, 0-1

Nunn #747; Pawn brings the mate.
Z Tasic vs B Lukic, 2005
(A00) Uncommon Opening, 37 moves, 1-0

The White Regent goes running to the Dark Side
D Howell vs J Levitt, 2005 
(C07) French, Tarrasch, 47 moves, 0-1

Nunn #735
M Tazbir vs P Karhanek, 2006
(B03) Alekhine's Defense, 43 moves, 1-0

Nunn #734; Black won; mate by Queen and Pawns.
V Varadi vs G Emodi, 2006
(C75) Ruy Lopez, Modern Steinitz Defense, 41 moves, 0-1

Nunn #738; two continuations for mate.
S Mulligan vs D Foord, 2007 
(A96) Dutch, Classical Variation, 28 moves, 0-1

Nunn #750
S Reutsky vs M Gvilava, 2008
(B23) Sicilian, Closed, 17 moves, 1-0

Nunn #743; continuation-- Kg5 then Qe5#.
I S Padurariu vs C Foisor, 2008 
(B10) Caro-Kann, 34 moves, 0-1

Nunn #744; Black won.
E Ubiennykh vs A Kirillov, 2008
(B31) Sicilian, Rossolimo Variation, 36 moves, 0-1

Nunn #741; circuitous King Hunt; EOG is Anastasia's Mate var..
E Lenart vs S Seres, 2008
(B21) Sicilian, 2.f4 and 2.d4, 34 moves, 1-0

D Pilarski vs L Karski, 2008
(C01) French, Exchange, 85 moves, 1-0

M Sanchez Ibern vs M Llamazares Lopez, 2008
(B07) Pirc, 94 moves, 1-0

Nunn, p. 217; Pawn brings mate.
L Vajda vs S Geirnaert, 2008
(C69) Ruy Lopez, Exchange, Gligoric Variation, 39 moves, 1-0

Nunn #748
M Ulybin vs J Cabrera Trujillo, 2008
(B52) Sicilian, Canal-Sokolsky (Rossolimo) Attack, 22 moves, 1-0

Nunn #733; both players are women.
N Mohota vs A G Nimmy, 2008
(D10) Queen's Gambit Declined Slav, 38 moves, 1-0

Nunn #736
J Konnyu vs H Nguyen, 2009
(B67) Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer Attack, 7...a6 Defense, 8...Bd7, 44 moves, 1-0

Nunn #740; two lines lead to King Hunt and mate
Kotronias vs J Bellon Lopez, 2009 
(B48) Sicilian, Taimanov Variation, 49 moves, 1-0

King is pushed to fifth rank, then mated by a Pawn!
N Kosintseva vs W Ju, 2009 
(B04) Alekhine's Defense, Modern, 44 moves, 1-0

Nunn #737
V Beliaev vs A Chernozemov, 2009
(B32) Sicilian, 25 moves, 1-0

Full King Hunt, but still loses this game
V Gashimov vs Grischuk, 2010 
(B97) Sicilian, Najdorf, 41 moves, 0-1

Kramnik is the victim this time.
Nakamura vs Kramnik, 2012 
(A05) Reti Opening, 80 moves, 1-0

King is chased into the middle of the board for a pending mate.
Navara vs Wojtaszek, 2015 
(B90) Sicilian, Najdorf, 48 moves, 1-0

M Nubairshah Shaikh vs V Antonio, 2016
(A20) English, 105 moves, 0-1

Yusuf Donmez vs A Tuna, 2016
(A43) Old Benoni, 75 moves, 1-0

I Ortin Blanco vs S Trigo Urquijo, 2017
(A42) Modern Defense, Averbakh System, 80 moves, 0-1

D Brinovec vs J Barle, 2018
(B01) Scandinavian, 81 moves, 0-1

Continuation by Stockfish runs the King further then has mate
J B Bjerre vs Dubov, 2019 
(C84) Ruy Lopez, Closed, 23 moves, 0-1

M Finszter vs A Dankhazi, 2019
(A09) Reti Opening, 160 moves, 1/2-1/2

V Nebolsina vs A Krastev, 2019
(C91) Ruy Lopez, Closed, 106 moves, 0-1

S Ivanytska vs A Nurman, 2020
(B90) Sicilian, Najdorf, 82 moves, 0-1

S Schweizer vs G Kantor, 2021
(A07) King's Indian Attack, 91 moves, 1-0

The King makes (Discovered) Mate after a King Hunt
Tran Nguyen Duy Tung vs NN, 2021 
(C50) Giuoco Piano, 16 moves, 1-0

O Prokhorov vs L E Valle Maytin, 2021
(E94) King's Indian, Orthodox, 120 moves, 0-1

N Navalgund vs I Kalajzic, 2021
(B00) Uncommon King's Pawn Opening, 77 moves, 1-0

E Mirzoev vs O Yurovskykh, 2021
(D26) Queen's Gambit Accepted, 86 moves, 1-0

Game ends with a complete King Hunt
Mason vs Dr. S, 1882 
(000) Chess variants, 18 moves, 1-0

61 games

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