• But spending a turn on such a slow move can be a fatal waste of time (Movsesian)
• And the pawn which moves can be the target of a deadly attack, either as a lever (Hecht) or a sacrifice (Teichmann)
• Of course, in the games of top players, you see h3/h6 all the time. But it should be used carefully!

Click [...] to see list of games

[Event "Paignton Challengers - a grind"]
[Site "Paignton Challengers a grind"]
[Date "1996.??.??"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Regis, David"]
[Black "Springall, JH.."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C45"]
[WhiteElo "1945"]
[BlackElo "1800"]
[Annotator "back rank mate"]
[PlyCount "53"]
[EventDate "1996.??.??"]

1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 e5 3. Nf3 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Be3 Nxd4
6. Bxd4 Bxd4 7. Qxd4 Qf6 8. e5 Qb6 9. Qc3 Ne7 10. Bc4 O-O 11. O-O d5 12. exd6
Qxd6 13. Nd2 Bf5 14. Rfe1 Rae8 15. Nf3 Nc6 16. Rad1 Rxe1+ 17. Rxe1 Bg6 18. h4
Rd8 19. a3 Bh5 20. Ne5 Kf8 21. Nxc6 Qxc6 22. Qb4+ Kg8 23. Bb5 Qf6 24. Qc5 a6
25. Qxh5 axb5 26. Qxb5 {[#]} b6 $4 27. Qe8+ 1-0

[Event "Top 10 games:"]
[Site "style: Capablanca the elegant"]
[Date "1914.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Bernstein, Ossip"]
[Black "Capablanca, JR."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D63"]
[Annotator "Top 10: combinations"]
[PlyCount "58"]
[EventDate "1914.??.??"]

{.Qc2 – surely the neatest and purest trap ever sprung} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3.
Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 Be7 5. Bg5 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7 7. Rc1 b6 8. cxd5 exd5 9. Qa4 Bb7 10.
Ba6 Bxa6 11. Qxa6 c5 12. Bxf6 Nxf6 13. dxc5 bxc5 {[#] Black has the hanging
pawns and a bishop to cramp the knights.} 14. O-O Qb6 15. Qe2 c4 {<p>
Nimzovitch called this "blockaded security"} 16. Rfd1 Rfd8 17. Nd4 Bb4 18. b3
Rac8 19. bxc4 dxc4 {<p> Now a secure passed pawn} 20. Rc2 Bxc3 21. Rxc3 Nd5 22.
Rc2 c3 23. Rdc1 Rc5 24. Nb3 Rc6 25. Nd4 Rc7 $3 {[#] White snaps back at the
pushy pawn.} 26. Nb5 Rc5 27. Nxc3 Nxc3 28. Rxc3 Rxc3 29. Rxc3 Qb2 $1 {[#] A
finish that expresses Capablanca's elegance more than any other.} 0-1

[Event "Amsterdam"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1985.??.??"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Sunye, J."]
[Black "Nunn, John DM"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A25"]
[WhiteElo "2480"]
[BlackElo "2600"]
[Annotator "Lessons from John Nunn"]
[PlyCount "66"]
[EventDate "1985.??.??"]

1. c4 g6 2. Nc3 Bg7 3. g3 e5 4.
Bg2 d6 5. e3 Nc6 6. Nge2 h5 7. h4 Bg4 8. d3 Nge7 9. b4 a6 10. Rb1 Rb8 11. Qc2
O-O 12. Bd2 Qd7 13. Nd5 b5 14. a4 {"One of the most important chess skills is
being able to recognise when the position is turning against you strategically,
and to spot this early enough to counter it. Here White intends Nec3 followed
bu O-O, with a firm grip on the important central squares d5 and e4, so I
decided that quick action was necessary. Black must take advantage of the fact
that White's King is temporarily stuck in the centre. The only way to do this
is to play ...e4, clearing the way for the c6 Knight to jump into f3 via e5.
The consequences of this are not at all clear-cut, but I played the move
quickly because everything else allows White to consolidate his grip." -- NUNN}
e4 15. Nxe7+ Qxe7 16. Bxe4 Ne5 17. cxb5 axb5 18. axb5 d5 19. Bg2 Nf3+ 20. Kf1
Rxb5 21. Ng1 Nxd2+ 22. Qxd2 Rfb8 23. d4 c5 24. dxc5 Qxc5 25. Bf3 Rxb4 26. Rxb4
Rxb4 27. Qxd5 Rb1+ 28. Kg2 Qc1 {[#]} 29. Kh2 Qf1 30. Bg2 Qxf2 31. Nh3 Rxh1+ 32.
Kxh1 Bxh3 33. Bxh3 Qxg3 {0-1 (33) Sunye Neto,J (2510)-Nunn,J (2600) Amsterdam
1985} 0-1

[Event "Torquay Open"]
[Site "Torquay Open"]
[Date "2003.??.??"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Bartlett, S.."]
[Black "Regis, D.."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C00"]
[Annotator "back rank weakness"]
[PlyCount "60"]
[EventDate "2003.??.??"]

1. e4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. e5 c5 4.
b4 cxb4 5. a3 Nc6 6. axb4 Bxb4 7. c3 Be7 8. d4 f6 9. Bd3 Qc7 10. O-O fxe5 11.
dxe5 Nxe5 12. Nxe5 Qxe5 13. Bb5+ Kf8 14. Be3 d4 15. cxd4 Qxb5 16. Nc3 Qc6 17.
Rc1 Nf6 18. Qe2 Bd7 19. Rfd1 Qa6 20. Qf3 Bc6 21. d5 exd5 22. Nxd5 Bxd5 23. Rxd5
Kf7 24. g4 h6 25. h4 Kg8 (25... Qe6 26. Rf5 g6 27. Rf4 Kg7 28. g5 hxg5 29. hxg5
Nd5 30. Bd4+ Kg8 31. Bxh8 Nxf4 32. Qxf4 Kxh8) 26. Rf5 Qd6 27. Bf4 Qb4 28. Rc7
Rd8 29. Rxb7 Qe1+ 30. Kg2 Rd1 (30... Rd1 31. Kh3 h5 32. g5 (32. Rxf6 Qf1+ 33.
Kg3 Bxf6) 32... Qf1+ 33. Kg3 Rd3 34. Be3 Bd6+) 0-1

[Event "Wch Blitz (Women)"]
[Site "Warsaw"]
[Date "2021.12.30"]
[Round "13"]
[White "Movsesian, Julia"]
[Black "Da Silva, Cibele Florencio"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2300"]
[BlackElo "1405"]
[Annotator "h6 as a fatal waste of time"]
[PlyCount "15"]
[EventDate "2021.12.29"]
[EventType "swiss (blitz)"]
[EventRounds "17"]
[EventCountry "POL"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 205 Extra"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2022.01.31"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.01.31"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 h6 4. d4 f6 5. dxe5 Nxe5 6. Nxe5 fxe5 7. Qh5+ Ke7 8.
Qxe5# 1-0

[Event "Clare Benedict Cup-13"]
[Site "Brunnen"]
[Date "1966.05.15"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Hecht, HJ."]
[Black "Keene, Raymond"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B17"]
[Annotator "attack: activity"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[EventDate "1966.05.13"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "SUI"]
[WhiteTeam "Germany"]
[BlackTeam "England"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "GER"]
[BlackTeamCountry "ENG"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Bc4 Ngf6 6. Ng5 e6 7. Qe2 Nb6 8.
Bd3 h6 9. N5f3 c5 10. dxc5 Bxc5 11. Ne5 O-O 12. Ngf3 Nbd5 13. a3 a5 14. O-O b6
15. c4 Ne7 16. Rd1 Qe8 17. Bd2 a4 18. Bc3 {[#]} Nf5 19. g4 Nd6 20. g5 hxg5 21.
Nxg5 Bb7 22. Bc2 g6 23. Nd7 Qxd7 (23... Nxd7 {my poor computer couldn't figure
this out at all: neither could I! I think the right reply is} 24. Nh7 Qe7 (
24... Kxh7 25. Qh5+ Kg8 26. Qh8#) 25. Nxf8 Qg5+ 26. Kf1 Nxf8) 24. Bxf6 Qc6 25.
Rd5 exd5 26. Qh5 Bxf2+ 27. Kxf2 Ne4+ 28. Nxe4 gxh5 29. Rg1+ Kh7 30. Nc5+ 1-0

[Event "Logical Chess, Move by Move #01"]
[Site "Berlin GER"]
[Date "1907.??.??"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Scheve"]
[Black "Teichmann"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C53"]
[Annotator "h3/h6 is a target"]
[PlyCount "34"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Qe7 5. O-O d6 6. d4 Bb6 7. a4 a6 8. a5 Ba7
9. h3 Nf6 10. dxe5 Nxe5 11. Nxe5 Qxe5 12. Nd2 {[#] h3 turns out to be
weakening (as well as a waste of time)} Bxh3 13. gxh3 Qg3+ 14. Kh1 Qxh3+ 15.
Kg1 Ng4 16. Nf3 Qg3+ 17. Kh1 Bxf2 {and White resigns, seeing no defence to ...
Qh6+, although Stockfish reckons that White can grovel on with 18.Bxf7+} 0-1