Tactics | Greek Gift Sacrifice Patterns!
#owensdefense #greekgift #tactics
In this game my opponent with the white pieces played an uncommon open, Owen's Defense (1. e4 b6), and I managed to get a pretty good advantage in the opening.
What I wanted to show and something that I learnt on analysis, is a middle game tactic with the Greek Gift Sacrifice. This is a general tactical theme that occurs across many games where the opponent has castled kingside. We sacrifice a bishop to capture the h7 pawn, and then follow up with an attack, typically with knight and queen.
Although I was aware of the Greek Gift Sacrifice previously, I had never really analysed it before. I saw the pattern on move 15 but couldn't quite work out the sequence. On move 17, I had calculated a potential win and committed (17. Bxh7+)! However, Black didn't meet my expectation by capturing the bishop (17... Kh8), which was a mistake with a forced mate [+M5] - but I didn't see the line.
It's very well worth your while learning the two patterns - I've highlighted it in the video and in the PGN!
By missing the line, Black gained an advantage [-0.6] but the complicated nature of the position results in Black making a couple of mistakes - first losing their queen in a fork, and then their rook in a fork. After inflicting emotional damage, Black resigned in the losing endgame on move 30. GG!
Game on chess.com: https://www.chess.com/game/live/79834852797
