The Brilliant Moves Cheat Code
Have you ever played a brilliant move in one of your games? How about more than one? They're hard to find, so it's difficult to score several in a game. However, there's one tactical trick that's likely to let you stack up multiple brilliant moves in a row. The only catch is that you don't get to win the game. Learn about the wonders of the crazy rook!
What Is A Crazy Rook?
When you're in trouble in a chess game, and your king is cornered, that's when the fun begins. Remember, if you have no legal moves but you are not in check, then the game ends in a draw by stalemate. When the situation is desperate and your king has no legal moves, you need to sacrifice your remaining pieces to secure a draw. It's hard to force the opponent to capture a knight or bishop, but a rook is the perfect piece to sacrifice repeatedly. Let's see how it works. Notice that players have been finding crazy rook sacrifices for more than 100 years!
That's five brilliant moves for David Janowski. If he had been around for the Game Review era, he would have been so proud.
Personally, my game with the most brilliant moves followed the same formula. It was particularly sweet because my GM opponent had been messaging me to resign earlier in the game.
Nine brilliant moves isn't bad for a three-minute game.
You don't have to be a titled player to play brilliantly. Check out these 18 brilliant moves by Chess.com member Lakshit Aggarwal, a teenager from India, rated 1485 FIDE.
How To Fight Against A Crazy Rook
If you're the one being driven crazy by rook sacrifices, you don't need to agree to a draw right away. The key is to find a way to escape the checks or capture the rook while letting the opposing king escape from its cell.
Occasionally, you'll need to go on a long king walk to escape the checks and win the game. GM Erwin L'Ami demonstrated this brilliantly in a game with his countryman GM Loek van Wely. White's king marches all the way around the board and finally finds a home where the black rook has no good checks.
Have you ever had a crazy rook? Tell us about it in the comments!
