Sacrificing
A player is said to SACRIFICE if he allows a certain amount of
his forces to be captured without recapturing himself an
equivalent amount of his opponent's forces. He will not, of
course, knowingly do so unless he expects to obtain some other
advantage which will at least compensate for his loss of
material.
Such compensation can only be afforded by a superiority
of the position. In as much as a position can only be considered
superior if it enables the mating of the opposing King or the
obtaining of an advantage in material which will secure a win in
the ending, it is evident that in sacrificing a player really
never intends to give up more than he gets, but that on the
contrary he expects to gain more than he loses. In other words, a
sacrifice, if correct, is a sacrifice only TEMPORARILY, and very
soon yields either the same, if not more material, or an attack
on the King to which the latter falls victim.
The less evident the way is in which a player recovers the
material sacrificed or realizes an equivalent advantage the more
beautiful the sacrifice is considered. If the effect of a
sacrifice is a direct mating attack on the King, it is as a rule
not difficult to foresee as long as the typical mating positions
are known to the player, most of which have been discussed in the
previous chapter. The following diagrams illustrate examples of
such sacrifices which occur fairly often in actual games.
In Diagram 33, White on the move can play for a similar mate as
the one explained in the discussion of Diagram 29 by placing his
Rook on g3. The best protection against Rxg7 which Black has at
his disposal is P-f6. But if he does not know the mating position
illustrated in Diagram 29 he is liable to play P-g6, and then
White forces the mate by sacrificing his Queen on h7.
(1) R-g3 P-g6
(2) Qxh7+ Kxh7
(3) R-h3+ K-g8
(4) R-h8+
Black could have prolonged the agony one move by interposing his
Queen on h4 on the third move.
+---------------------------------------+
8 | | | #R | | | | #K | |
|---------------------------------------|
7 | #P | #P | #R | | #Q | #P | #P | #P |
|---------------------------------------|
6 | | | #Kt| | #P | | | |
|---------------------------------------|
5 | | | | #P | | | | ^Q |
|---------------------------------------|
4 | | | | | | ^P | | |
|---------------------------------------|
3 | | ^P | | | ^P | ^R | | |
|---------------------------------------|
2 | ^P | ^B | ^P | | | | ^P | ^P |
|---------------------------------------|
1 | ^R | | | | | | ^K | |
+---------------------------------------+
a b c d e f g h
DIAGRAM 33
In the position of Diagram 34 White institutes a mating attack by
(1) P-f6. The only move to protect the mate on g7 is P-g6. It
will then be White's desire to enter with his Queen on h6 again
threatening the checkmate on g7. He will, therefore, play either
Q-f4 or Q-g5.
Black has no other way to defend himself against White's threat than
by K-h8 followed by R-g8. But after K-h8; Q-h6, R-g8 White plays
R-f3 and Black is unable to prevent White from sacrificing his
Queen on h7 and mating by R-h3.
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