One of Greenpawns rules

Geoff always says one of his rules is "If you are up on material,give it back."
In my experience on here,most of the players I have played rely on dominance by grabbing the most material and/or trying to promote a pawn to the same end.
I appreciate it may work sometimes by sacrificing to weaken an opponents' King , or if you can "see a checkmate"but I suspect giving back material would not be a sound tactic on here at my/our level most of the time.
I'm sure others will disagree

@venda

Mainly it is to stop complacently from sinking in. A sac-back attitude keeps
you alert. Stops you from drifting along thinking the game will win itself.

Also you may have have noticed it almost seems traditional once you have played
a combo winning a pawn or a piece your opponent suddenly has counter-play.
This is due to your position once set-up for the combo is now in a bit of disarray.
The hang on to what you have got mindset takes over. So start looking for ways
to give it back to your advantage.

@greenpawn34 said
@venda

Mainly it is to stop complacently from sinking in. A sac-back attitude keeps
you alert. Stops you from drifting along thinking the game will win itself.

Also you may have have noticed it almost seems traditional once you have played
a combo winning a pawn or a piece your opponent suddenly has counter-play.
This is due to your position once set-up for ...[text shortened]... what you have got mindset takes over. So start looking for ways
to give it back to your advantage.

@venda said
Geoff always says one of his rules is "If you are up on material,give it back."
In my experience on here,most of the players I have played rely on dominance by grabbing the most material and/or trying to promote a pawn to the same end.
I appreciate it may work sometimes by sacrificing to weaken an opponents' King , or if you can "see a checkmate"but I suspect giving back mate ...[text shortened]... would not be a sound tactic on here at my/our level most of the time.
I'm sure others will disagree

@mchill said
I suspect giving back material would not be a sound tactic on here at my/our level most of the time.


At the risk of sounding evasive, the decision to give back material or not will depend on what you get in return. If you feel giving back material will provide you with a big enough positional advantage, or you see that doing so will lead to a won game, then by all means do so.

@venda said
I agree.Just as long as you are sure.
In the past I have sacrificed and then discovered an opponents move I hadn't considered which made the sacrifice the wrong decision.