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3 Check Tactics to Know: Typical Bishop Sacrifices

3 Check Tactics to Know: Typical Bishop Sacrifices

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TenThousandDays
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I'm back! I know I said that I quit 3 Check, but I couldn't stay away forever. I've started playing in some tournaments again and I also plan to start making new content for my blog. I have 2 new series in mind. This first series will showcase typical 3 Check tactics. The other series will focus on 3 Check strategy.

 A Bishop Sacrifice on f7/f2

Let's start with a very basic example, a typical Bishop sacrifice on f7 or f2. These are the sacrifices that inexperienced 3 Check players will most often fall into. The idea is very simple. You sacrifice a Bishop in exchange for a check while enticing the enemy King onto a vulnerable square where it can (hopefully!) be subjected to further attacks.

Sometimes you won't immediately have a good follow-up to a Bishop sacrifice. If that is the case then you have to judge whether or not the sacrifice is worth it. Some sacrifices are good, some are bad and some are not so clear. Knowing how to evaluate various sacrifices comes with experience. Here is an interesting variation featuring a Bishop sacrifice on f2 that I've tried from both sides:

And here is a game where I had the White pieces showing how quickly Black can lose this position if they fail to create threats fast enough.
For more examples and for a more in-depth explanation on when you should sacrifice a Bishop on f7 you can read my blog post below:
A Bishop Sacrifice on h7/h2

This can be a good way to break down a castled King position while distracting a Kingside Knight from defending key squares that the enemy pieces can then occupy.

This sacrifice can be effective even without the help of a Queen as in the following example:
Now here is an example where this sacrifice is very bad for the attacker:

A Bishop Sacrifice to Open Lines Towards the Enemy King or to Deflect a Piece

A Bishop sacrifice doesn't always need to come with check in order to be effective. Sometimes it's enough to simply open up lines of attack towards the enemy King. You can also consider sacrificing a Bishop in order to deflect an enemy piece from defending a key piece or square. This game below illustrates both of these concepts nicely.

For more examples on the Bxa6 sacrifice you can read my blog post below:

In conclusion, a Bishop sacrifice in 3 Check is one of the most common tactical ideas. However, you need to be smart about the timing of the sacrifice. Very often the sacrifice will fail if you are not able to make follow-up threats fast enough. It's much more effective to sacrifice your Bishops when your other pieces are quickly able to get to active positions and/or when the enemy King's position has been compromised.
Are there any Bishop sacrifices that I left out? Have you played a nice game where you used a Bishop sacrifice? Let me know in the comments!