Today is a day everybody should remember, as I, for the first time in the history of chess, reached 2000 on RHP. To celebrate, I propose to everybody interested in chess a series of positions where I made positional strategic sacrifices (to distinguish from ugly tactical ones). For these sacrifices are one of the most interesting things to do in chess, aren't they? (I had to refrain from posting gambits, which to a certain extent is a positional sacrifice)
I would be very pleased if you 1. found them; 2. appreciated them and congratulated me 3. gave me your opinion on them. Not all of them were relevant; so be nasty, please.
I hope you'll like it and it'll encourage everybody to practice!
A classical one, to start. Black to play
[Event "January 2009 Duel VI"] [Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"] [Date "2009.05.29"] [EndDate "2009.07.04"] [Round "3"] [White "finnegan"] [Black "Macpo"] [WhiteRating "1908"] [BlackRating "2000"] [WhiteELO "1908"] [BlackELO "2000"] [Result "0-1"] [GameId "6365732"] 1. e4 c5 2. Ng1f3 Nb8c6 3. Bf1b5 g6 4. O-O Bf8g7 5. Rf1e1 e5 6. Bb5xc6 bxc6 7. c3 d6 8. d4 cxd4 9. cxd4 Bc8g4 10. d5 c5 11. h3 Bg4d7 12. Nb1c3 Ng8e7 13. Bc1g5 O-O 14. Qd1d2 f5 15. exf5 Rf8xf5 16. Nc3e4
One I found really exciting, though I then made mistakes... White to play.
[BlackELO "2192"] [Result "0-1"] [GameId "6525257"] 1. d4 e6 2. c4 Ng8f6 3. g3 c5 4. Ng1f3 cxd4 5. Nf3xd4 d5 6. Bf1g2 dxc4 7. Qd1a4 Nb8d7 8. O-O a6 9. Qa4xc4 Nd7c5 10. Nb1c3 b5
this one is probably the most dubious, but it surprisingly worked... it's not the cleanest one neither, for it's a two tempi sacrifice... White to play.
[Event "Clan challenge"] [Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"] [Date "2009.01.20"] [EndDate "2009.05.30"] [Round "?"] [White "Macpo"] [Black "theundertaker"] [WhiteRating "2000"] [BlackRating "1838"] [WhiteELO "2000"] [BlackELO "1838"] [Result "1-0"] [GameId "5910976"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. g3 c6 4. Bf1g2 Bf8d6 5. Ng1f3 Nb8d7 6. O-O h6 7. Qd1c2 g6 8. Nb1c3 f5 9. cxd5 exd5 10. e4 fxe4
same game, a bit later, white to play.
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. g3 c6 4. Bf1g2 Bf8d6 5. Ng1f3 Nb8d7 6. O-O h6 7. Qd1c2 g6 8. Nb1c3 f5 9. cxd5 exd5 10. e4 fxe4 11. Nc3xe4 Nd7f8 12. Ne4xd6 Qd8xd6 13. Bc1f4 Qd6d8 14. Rf1e1 Ng8e7 15. Re1e2 Bc8f5 16. Qc2c5 Nf8e6
this one is a "passive" (though conscious and voluntary) quality sacrifice... Black to play
1. e4 c5 2. Ng1f3 Nb8c6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nf3xd4 Ng8f6 5. Nb1c3 e5 6. Nd4b5 d6 7. Nc3d5 Nf6xd5 8. exd5 Nc6e7 9. c3 Ne7f5 10. a4 g6 11. g3 Bf8g7 12. Bf1g2 O-O 13. O-O a6 14. Nb5a3 Bc8d7 15. Qd1b3 b5 16. axb5 axb5 17. Bc1d2 Qd8b6 18. Na3c2 Rf8c8 19. Nc2b4 Ra8a5 20. Nb4c6 Bd7xc6 21. dxc6 Nf5e7 22. Bd2e3 Qb6a6 23. Ra1d1 Ne7f5 24. Be3d2 Rc8c7 25. Bg2d5 Rc7a7 26. c4 Nf5d4 27. Qb3d3
I am not sure this passive one was completely voluntary 😀
Should White take, though? (I am black)
[Event "March 2009 Banded Threesomes I 1800+"] [Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"] [Date "2009.04.11"] [EndDate "2009.05.01"] [Round "1"] [White "red cloud"] [Black "Macpo"] [WhiteRating "1814"] [BlackRating "2000"] [WhiteELO "1814"] [BlackELO "2000"] [Result "0-1"] [GameId "6206061"] 1. e4 c5 2. g3 Nb8c6 3. Bf1g2 g6 4. Ng1e2 Bf8g7 5. d3 d6 6. Nb1c3 Ng8f6 7. O-O O-O 8. h3 a6 9. a4 Bc8d7 10. Bc1e3 Qd8c7 11. Qd1d2 Rf8b8 12. Rf1b1 Nc6b4 13. Nc3a2 Nb4xa2 14. Ra1xa2 b5 15. e5 dxe5
is this one still a strategic sacrifice? actually, it would have been if the opponent had not made mistakes... Black to play.
[Event "February 2009 Duel VI"] [Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"] [Date "2009.04.06"] [EndDate "2009.05.01"] [Round "2"] [White "arnosof"] [Black "Macpo"] [WhiteRating "1853"] [BlackRating "2000"] [WhiteELO "1853"] [BlackELO "2000"] [Result "0-1"] [GameId "6190163"] 1. b4 e5 2. a3 d5 3. Bc1b2 Bf8d6 4. e3 Ng8f6 5. c4 c6 6. d3 O-O 7. Nb1d2 Bc8g4 8. Qd1c2 Nb8d7 9. Bf1e2 Rf8e8 10. Ng1f3 e4 11. dxe4 dxe4 12. Nf3d4 Bg4xe2 13. Nd4xe2 Qd8c7 14. Ne2g3 Bd6xg3 15. hxg3 Ra8d8 16. Rh1h4 Nd7e5 17. Bb2xe5 Qc7xe5 18. Ra1d1 a5 19. c5 axb4 20. axb4 g5 21. Rh4h1 Nf6d5 22. Qc2b3
The price of initiative... White to play.
[Event "February 2009 Duel VI"] [Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"] [Date "2009.08.18"] [EndDate "2009.09.02"] [Round "4"] [White "Macpo"] [Black "arnosof"] [WhiteRating "2000"] [BlackRating "1853"] [WhiteELO "2000"] [BlackELO "1853"] [Result "1-0"] [GameId "6622802"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nb1c3 f5 4. Ng1f3 Ng8f6 5. Bc1g5 c6 6. Bg5xf6 Qd8xf6 7. e3 Bf8d6 8. Bf1d3 O-O 9. Qd1c2 g6 10. c5 Bd6c7 11. h4 e5 12. dxe5 Bc7xe5 13. Nf3xe5 Qf6xe5 14. O-O-O b5 15. h5 Nb8a6 16. hxg6 hxg6
two things I observed:
- I almost always play them when I don't know what to play and have to look for "other" moves.
- Opponents quite often made mistakes when defending (which makes it worth to try, even if it is a bit uncertain!).
