To Capture Or Not To Capture?
You typically want to capture a valuable piece when you see the opportunity to do so.
However, you have to be careful. Sometimes, when a piece is hung, it is not a blunder, but it is a sacrifice, a gambit that you accept when you capture it. Often, this is to your loss.
Given all this, it is important to determine whether or not its a sacrifice. While you cannot be certain, there are some factors that can help you see what it is.
The first one is what threats your opponent is making when the piece is hung. Do you remember the Legal Trap? When the Queen is sacrificed, 2 pieces threaten the critical square, f7, and another threatens the only safe space for the King. This is why, whenever you see an opportunity to capture a valuable piece, you must always see what pieces are threatening your King or Queen.
Sacrifices are either meant as a diversion, or to remove the defender. If it is a piece that is sacrificed capturing the defender, as seen in the first game of my last post, it is generally safe to take the piece, as the defender is already gone.
Oftentimes, whenever a piece is sacrificed in a way that DOESN'T remove the defender right before the piece is captured, such as when capturing the sacrificed piece removes the defender, or when the sacrifice diverts you, your opponent will likely make it really obvious, wanting you to see the capture and take it.
A pretty obvious sacrifice is when a piece is pinned, such as here:
And the pinned piece moves.
It’s also obvious when the sacrificed piece is left RIGHT NEXT TO the piece that delivers the capture.
It’s not as obvious when there is a pinned piece on the other side of the board that moves, as since your pieces are on opposite sides, it is easier to not notice, such as when the enemy bishop launches a surprise attack on your rook (I can’t find a game for this one, and I will update when I do).
Now, here is a game I played:
What do you think? Blunder or sacrifice?
If you guessed sacrifice, you were right. Bg5 was played as a gambit to clear the f-file, enabling an attack on f7. Remember what I said in my previous post? Always keep an eye on f7 and f2. This is why.
I was being very obvious with Bg5, moving it right next to a piece that can take it.
Now here is another one of my games:
Blunder or sacrifice?
It was a blunder. You can’t see it in this board, but my opponent was premoving. But you CAN see that this time, there were no other threats.
Let’s continue the game:
Did I sacrifice my rook there, or was it a legit blunder?
Yep. It was a blunder. I had nothing to gain from diverting the Queen at that time. Yes, I admit it. Learn from this, everyone.
Time to continue the game:
Was it a Queen Sacrifice or not?
This time, it was a blunder. Most often, when you hang a piece trying to get checkmate, it is a blunder, except in this situation (which comes up a lot in puzzle rush):
But often, this is also seen as a battery attack, and the opponent is forced to accept the sacrifice, so this doesn’t really apply.
And if you guys are interested, here is the full game:
As you saw, a good plan can involve baiting your opponent into accepting a valuable piece to give you the advantage. How do you counter? By making a plan to capture the piece before they can sacrifice it. More on that next time.
Hope you have less losses
— ChessPawn921
