Evaluate the Sacrifice
Hi chess fans,
I thought I would provide puzzles from a few fun games of mine. The twist on these puzzles is that out of the three positions, only one of the puzzles has a winning tactic. Another sacrifice lost quickly and a third is OK, but not clearly better or worse than quiet play. See how you can do.
1. Should white attack with Bxe6+ (followed by Qc4) or continue quietly with Ba4?
2. Should white sacrifice on h7 or capture the knight?
3. Should black sacrifice with Nf3+ or continue to build up kingside pressure with Rh6?
You can find answers in the comments.
Jeremy Kane is a National Master and three-time Wisconsin state champion. He is the Curriculum Director for chess.com. He has been teaching chess in person and online for over 15 years and has designed hundreds of lessons, available on chess.com/lessons. He is the author of Starting Out The Trompowsky on Chessable and The Next To Last Mistake, a book on defensive ideas in chess.
He is the developer of the Caro-Kane Variation of the Caro-Kann Defense.
email: jeremy@chess.com
Twitter/X: @chessmensch