The Ultimate Sacrifice
In my last post I wrote about the lure of the beautiful.
When we are developing as chess players, the most obvious and immediate attraction is winning the game. Well, of course it is. That is the whole point. However, it is difficult to escape the fact that chess is more than just a game where the only point is that you win or lose. It has the power to be profoundly, timelessly beautiful.
Here is the position (which I shared in my last post) that first truly convinced me of this. Marshall had just played the stunning, 1. ....Qg3!!
I am repeating myself on the off chance that you missed it (link below). But the move is undoubtedly worth a second look even if you didn't!
https://www.chess.com/blog/DreamLearnBe/lured-by-fools-gold
What a move! White forces mate whichever way Black chooses to capture the Queen. As important as material might be, there are positions where the Queen chooses to surrender herself to a higher purpose. The symbolism, risk and rarity of them makes them standout amongst more common chess positions. And so, from a young age, I simply could not resist the siren call of the queen sacrifice.
However, all sacrifices are not created equal. Upon a little reflection (and as I gained in experience) it became clear that there was some sort of hierarchy. Let me explain what I mean.
The "no risk" sacrifice
As we deepen our tactical understanding, we become aware of certain commonly recurring motifs. Some of these require us to part with our favorite lady. The most obvious is smothered mate.
Here White is down material, but has a forced mate:
1. Nh6+ Kh8
Now White can sacrifice the Queen. After the rook captures, the knight delivers mate.
2. Qg8+ Rxg8 3. Nf7 mate
Or consider this position:
J. Gast - E. Bhend, Berne 1987 - Black to move
It is taken from the Chapter, Mating Motifs, in Yusupov's first book of his nine book series. It illustrates Anastasia's Mate.
Black first checks with the knight (controlling g1 and g3) then sacrifices the queen:
1. Ne2+ Kh1 2. Qxh2+
After White captures the queen, Black delivers mate with the rook:
2. ....Kxh2 3. Rh4 mate
This is very pretty and certainly makes an impression the first time you see it. However, once it becomes more familiar, it loses a little of it's luster. The combination stops being miraculous and simply becomes another weapon in the strong player's arsenal.
And this begs a question. To what extent can we still consider them to be "sacrifices"? Of course you have obviously sacrificed your queen, but the outcome is guaranteed.
The beauty has been diminished because you are essentially removing risk and surprise from the equation. It is still nice to end a game with a flashy move, but nobody is going to shower your board with gold pieces.
But we are not done with queen sacrifices. Not by a long shot.
Sacrifices where different rules apply
When I was eleven I won this wonderful chess book as a prize:
It really is full of the most marvelous examples and, even if the prose style is old fashioned, still worth a read. The position below opened the second chapter on "The Pieces". It absolutely blew my young mind!
Gusev vs Averbach (U.S.S.R., 1946), White to play
What is going on? White has sacrificed the exchange but has a fantastic pawn on e6. The Black king is also boxed into a corner and the rook is trapped on h8. It should therefore come as no surprise that White can play the spectacular, 1. Qxe5!
Obviously black must recapture the queen: 1. .... fxe5
And now White reveals the point of his play: 2. Rf1, giving us the following:
It is clear that this is a position where very different rules are in operation. The material balance is of no real consequence. Yes, Black has a queen and White doesn't. But the Black queen is tied down to defensive duties. If she goes off wandering, the Rook will deliver checkmate on f8. Equally, if the Black Rook captures the pawn on e6, calamity will follow as white can simply play Bc4.
Considering all this, GM Averbach played the sensible 2. ....Rc8, which indirectly defends f8. The Black Queen is now ready to move, but White has another bombshell prepared. 3. Bd1!
Black is lost! He has two possible defensive attempts, but both fail. Eventually he runs out of defensive improvements, exhausts his pawn moves and is forced to fatally compromise his position.
He can blockade the pawn on e6, but then the white rook invades.
For example, 3. .... Qe7 4. Bb3 Re8 5. Rf7 and eventually e7 and Rf8+ will follow.
In the game he tried to block the bishop, but this also failed.
3. ....Rc4 4. Bb3 b5 5. Bxc4 bxc4 6. b3! and white won.
The game made a great impression on me. This was a sacrifice with a much more subtle purpose. Up to that point I had only seen sacrifices which lead to immediate and brutal punishment. This was different. White gained a clear winning advantage, but it is via a choke hold, rather than a knock-out punch.
A little later in the same chapter, Littlewood gives another example of a queen sacrifice and here the compensation is more dynamic. Would it surprise you that we are going to look at a game of Mikhail Tal's?
The speculative sacrifice
What we have is quintessentially Tal - a position full of dynamic possibilities. It is Black to move.
Toran vs Tal (Oberhausen, 1961)
White threatens a dangerous check with his bishop on d5 followed by a knight check on f7. What should he do about this? Needless to say Tal simply ignores the threat and carries out his own! He captures the Bishop on e3. If White recaptures, Black can pin the Queen with Bd4. So White instead executes his counter attack.
1. .... Rxe3 2. Bd5+ Kh8 3. Nf7+, giving us this tactical mess!
Black's next move should come as no surprise. I mean, this is a post about Queen sacrifices and the player in charge of the black pieces is Tal! So....
3. .... Qxf7! 4. Bxf7
Black is bending material reality. But there is an undeniable logic to his wild play. He has sacrificed his queen for two pieces, but a closer examination reveals that the most salient point is the volume of pieces participating in the defense and attacks of the two wide open kings. Black is simply bringing more fire power to the party.
All it takes is a few precise moves for Tal to achieve maximum coordination of his pieces and a winning position.
4. .... Rd3! 5. Qe2 Bxd4+ 6. Kg2 Ne5!
If white plays 7. Bd5 then c6 will win the bishop - 8. Be4 Re3. The game finished as follows:
7. Rd1 Re3 8. Qf1 Be4+ 9. Kh3 Rf3! 10. Qe2 Bf4+ 11. Resigns
This resignation is perhaps a little early - certainly for a mere mortal like me. How might the game have played out?
Littlewood doesn't give any analysis for the move 11. Kg2. At the very least 11. .... Rf2+ 12. Qxf2 Bxf2 seems to be an easy win. The engine gives it as plus six for black.
However, an appropriately beautiful way to finish the game would have been:
11. Kh4 Re3 12. Qxe3 Nf3+ 13.Qxf3 Bf6 mate
A true work of art.
A lifetime spent in a search for the Holy Grail
I suspect we all enjoy a truly beautiful queen sacrifice. But playing one, well that is another story. Occasionally I have come close. What I mean is, I have parted with my queen on purpose -sure -, but does it stand up to sober analysis after the emotions of the game have subsided?
I wish I could share all the positions, but where are my score sheets? I have moved country many times and most of them are lost. But I did find this one which probably illustrates the Don Quixote nature of my quest. The position below is taken from a game I played in the third round of the Eastern Province Open, South Africa, in 1990. My opponent, Monde Ngesi, has just played 22. .... Nc5
Let's try and make sense of the position. In doing so, I also will try to reflect my thought process in the game. I will do my best, but it did take place 32 years ago...
Black is eyeing the key square, e4. If he controls this square he prevents me advancing my e-pawn. My pawn center stops being a mobile attacking weapon and becomes a fixed target.
The Knight move also has a prophylactic dimension. White would like to play Rg3, but now this move seems to fail to a simple Knight fork on e4.
I thought about this for a while, but the variations lay beyond my calculation horizon. It looked fascinating and I found myself asking the compelling question, " What is the worst thing that can happen? I might lose, but Monde is a friend of mine so that isn't the end of the world. On the other hand..."
So I plunged in with 23. Rg3 to which he immediately replied 23. ... Nce4
You can probably guess what is coming next.
24. Qxf6 !!?, I have given the move two "exclams" for boldness and courage, a question mark because it is all, unfortunately and as you will see, unsound.
The next two moves are obvious: 24. .... Nxf6 25. Bxf6
Time to take stock. White has two pieces for the sacrificed queen. In compensation he has a raging kingside attack. White's Rook (on g3) and Bishop threaten the King, whilst his Knight and Rook on d1 can join the attack in a couple of moves. Black's King, on the other hand, is all alone. I figured this must give me good chances and I had a few motifs in mind.
Black can see the danger and the first threat to deal with is 26. Rxg7+ so he played the natural move, 25. .... g6 to which I replied 26. f5
It is probably worth stating that this is a position that was far too difficult for both of us. I tended to miss easy defenses, whilst my opponent played materialistic moves because he couldn't see how I could actually win the game. His next two moves are questionable.
First Black decided to defend the pawn with 26. ...Kh7 This seems natural, but starts to limit the King's squares.
I brought my other Rook into the attack: 27. Rd4.
Failing to see my plan, he replied 27. .... Qa6?
I have not given any detailed analysis - this is a reconstruction of the game as it happened -but this last move cannot remain un-criticized. Surely now is not the time to go hunting for pawns?
White plays 28. Rh4 This threatens 29. Rxh6+ Kxh6 30. Rh3 mate
Black defends and White renews the threat: 28. .... h5 29. Rgh3
Black tries to defend, but White can now finish with nice Rook sacrifice:
29. .... Kh6 30. Rxh5+ gxh5 31. g4
And now Black realised the awful truth and resigned. He has no checks, no defences .... 32. Rxh5 is impossible to stop. If the king tries to run, he is mated as follows:
31. .... Kh7 32. Rxh5+ Kg8 33. Rh8 mate
The last diagram (I promise):
What to make of all of this?
Firstly, I have avoided giving refutations - run the engine and clear improvements can be found. Or perhaps you, the astute and eagle-eyed reader have spotted them? If so, feel free to share them in the comments! I will take no offence. I remember ever so well that during our post mortem, Monde and I quickly found devastating and winning improvements to Black's defense.
But this doesn't invalidate the sacrifice. Far from it. The psychological element cannot be overstated. A player facing a speculative queen sacrifice has a mind that has been thrown into turmoil. Tal was well aware of this. Of course he could also back up his sacrifices with deep, world champion level analysis.
But that doesn't mean that we amateurs shouldn't give them a try. Yes, we might run the risk of failure, but what will it really cost us? On the other hand, creating our own piece of chess beauty - even if it fails to outlive cold hard analysis - well that is a glorious pay off.
