Clearance Sacrifices in Chess

Sometimes you just wish that you can take one of your pieces off of the board. The piece is stopping you from playing a very strong move, and it is not even in an attacking position! 

The clearance sacrifice is a kind of sacrifice where you sacrifice a piece just to get it out of the way and allow you to play another strong move.

Can you find the correct sacrifice below?

In this game, I sacrificed my knight to obtain an attack. In the end, I mated my opponent. 

Here is another one of my clearance sacrifices where I sacrificed my bishop:

In this game, I pinned his bishop to the queen while also opening a file for my rook to attack my opponent's king.

In both of these games, I sacrificed my piece for the greater good. Often, the piece that is sacrificed is actually threatening something, so the opponent is forced to take, like in the second game, where the bishop is being attacked. Other times, the opponent has the choice to take and chooses to take, like in the first game.

Anyhow, the clearance sacrifice is a useful sacrifice to know and use in your games.