THE BISHOPS SACRIFICE!! (the most fantastic)

Bishop sacrifices are the most troublesome sacrifices, especially in the opening. Most sacrifices occur in the opening, sacrificing the bishop on "f2" or "f7" where the opposing king has big problems. Bishop sacrifices are performed in positions with an open center (80%), in positions with a closed center (5%) and in positions with a closed center, but with other open or semi-open files (15%). As is known, the queen sacrifice with a closed center is very rare where I wrote in this blog about the queens sacrifices(https://www.chess.com/blog/RazvanParvu/queen-sacrifice-the-rarest) so the bishop sacrifice is not a simple task. To have a higher chance of performing a bishop sacrifice (by at least 10%) you must have the pair of destroyer bishops. The best cooperation in making a beautiful bishop sacrifice is rook+ bishop! 

           Did you know that a bishop and a rook cooperate easily in some positions

against the opposing queen?

         In order to be able to make a beautiful bishop sacrifice like other experienced players, it is important to position our bishop on as open a diagonal as possible. The rules for positioning your (bishop/knight) best: 1) Make sure that that field is the most active for that piece
            2) That field should be secured (it should not be able to push a pawn)
            3) It should be an outpost defended by a pawn (outpost = strategic field in the opposing square)

           Once you have managed to move your bishop to the best square, you need to bring your other pieces to support your attack on the opponent's king or on a certain weakness of the opponent. It is recommended in some positions when there are different castles and you have an attack on the opponent's king to keep a knight in defense because the opponent can get a counterplay in his turn. 

       In the opening, the most numerous bishop sacrifices are made, as I said, but it is not such an easy task in the opening either, but if you succeed, you definitely have to calm down and be careful until the end of the game when you have checkmate.                                                                                                                                                                                        

                   Very important for you!                                                       

     Know that the hardest thing is to win a winning game! (it's not an easy thing because most players, even me sometimes relax and from a winning position it ends up not being such a winning position anymore).The secret is to feel the same way you felt when it was a balanced position! Try not to give your opponent even the slightest chance to get counterplay, because that small counterplay can turn into a bigger and more dangerous one. Play with great courage and with all the pieces on the board (not with an abandoned rook on "a1")!

             How should we hold bishops?

 It is important to know that the bishop is long range and must be kept at a distance (like the rook at a great distance). Bishops next to each other attacking the king on two diagonals at a distance are called Roentghen rays.                                                                                                                        

     After all the rules and principles mentioned, I would like to show you a high level game (GM vs GM) where you can observe: 1. A very interesting bishop sacrifice
                                                   2. Bishops create Roentgen rays
                                                   3. White plays the whole game on the attack (brave)        

           What are the strategies for preventing bishop sacrifices?

  It's always good to think about how to defend against these bishop sacrifices, not just how to attack. So we need to check this list:
   ~ Place pawns on the opponent's bishop color (if there is only one) to limit it
   ~ Try to block the center (even if they can sacrifice there, it's better than opening)
   ~ Create a counterattack

  The truth is that the first criterion on that list is considered the most important, because if you manage to fulfill it, the fight becomes more complicated and offers you better chances than the others (that doesn't mean they should be ignored). Very important is that you don't always manage to win when you have the pair of bishops, even when you have an attack if the opponent manages to limit your bishops and close the center!

         The pair of bishops

  The pair of bishops is the most desired by most players who like attacking and open positions. Did you know that a player sacrificed a rook and three pawns on a bishop just to have the pair of bishops and successfully won?

Because this pair is so good, Boden's checkmate was invented.