The Classic Bishop Sacrifice - Part One
Continuing our theme of “mating tactics,” this time we’ll explore one of the most famous sacrifices in chess, the Classic Bishop Sacrifice. In our beginner mating patterns trilogy, we took a good look at the h7-square and how Qh7+ (supported by Rook, pawn, Bishop, or Knight) can easily lead to a strong attack or a stone cold mate. In this version of the war against h7, the Knight offers the Queen support (thus the minimal “team” to make this sacrifice a reality is a Queen, Knight, and light-squared Bishop aiming at h7). Other major “helpers” are a Bishop on the c1-h6 diagonal, a Rook that can make its way to the kingside, a pawn on h4, and a pawn on e5. Over the course of this Classic Bishop Sacrifice (CBS) series, we’ll take a close look at all of these “extra piece/helper” factors.
Here are the barebones visuals of the various setups:
BASIC SETUPS
These are the basic skeletons that make up the CBS, but there are times when Bxh7+ can’t be considered a real sacrifice at all; instead it’s played for quick material gain. This will be our initial topic, with the crazed attacks occurring in subsequent articles.
Rules for the Classic Bishop Sacrifice
* The minimal CBS gang is a Bishop on the b1-h7 diagonal, a Knight that can leap to g5, and a Queen that can check on h5 or, in some instances, along the b1-h7 diagonal.
* Other factors that strengthen the attack are a Bishop on the c1-h6 diagonal, a Rook that can join in the festivities, and a pawn on e5.
* A pawn on e5 is a very important addition to the attack since it prevents the defensive …Nf6.
* In general, a defending Queen on d8 or Bishop on e7 might prevent the attack since Ng5+ can be met by Black snapping it off. There ARE instances where this can be ignored by White, and the attacker must judge each situation on its own merits.
* A pawn on h4 (with a Rook behind it) adds a whole new dimension to the attack.
* As we saw in this article, chopping on h7 with your Bishop is often just a small tactic designed to win material, and has little to do with an actual mating attack.
* Almost all tactics (not just CBS tactics, but ALL tactics) are based on some form of weakened enemy King, double attack, and inadequately defended pieces.
