Opening Chess Day 25 - The Exchange Sacrifice - 21 Days To Supercharge Your Chess by TheChessWorld

4/29/2015 Day 25: The Exchange Sacrifice — 21 Days to Supercharge Your Chess by TheChessWorld.
com
Positional Package Day 25: The Exchange Sacrifice
Day 25: The Exchange Sacrifice
28% Positional Training Completed
In today's lesson we will learn about one very important middle game technique - an exchange sacrifice. This topic
is especially difficult for amateur players because there are often no clear tactical motifs present that would make
this kind of sacrifice easy to identify and make. The exchange sacrifice is often played based on intuition and deep
positional understanding, both of which come with experience.
What is an exchange sacrifice?
Exchange sacrifice occurs when one player gives up a rook for opponent’s minor piece (knight or bishop) on
purpose. That simply means that if you blunder a rook and it is exchanged for a bishop or a knight it is not
an exchange sacrifice. You may ask me why would somebody wants to give up two pawns with no immediate
compensation whatsoever?
By going for an exchange sacrifice a player hopes to get some sort of positional or tactical advantage in the
position.
http://www.thechessworld.com/supercharge/positionalpackage/day25theexchangesacrifice/ 1/16
4/29/2015 Day 25: The Exchange Sacrifice — 21 Days to Supercharge Your Chess by TheChessWorld.com
Let’s take a look at the following example:
White to move and win
Let’s take a look at what happened in the game:
Take a look at this position. Even though it

appears simple there is a lot going on. White is a
piece down and if he continues passively, he will
surely lose the game. 1. xf6 ! Tactically
backed up exchange sacrifice. gxf6 ? If black
takes the rook, the game is immediately lost.
A better choice is to move the rook out from

the long diagonal and to take care of the
Be4 threat. 1... ad8 2. c6 Offering
queens exchange. xc6 3. xc6 d4 =
Equal position with symmetric pawn
structure and opposite color bishops.
2. g4+ h8 3. f5 Now black has to

give up the queen to delay the mate.
Let’s take a look at a more complicated example where the exchange sacrifice is not as straightforward due
to its positional nature:
In this lesson we will go over the game Botvinnik

‐ Tartakower. In this game Tartakower made
couple of inaccurate moves in the middlegame,
which was just enough for Borvinnik to take
advantage and win the game in style. Let's take a
closer look at what happened in this game.
1. f3 f6 2. c4 d6 3. d4 bd7 4. g3
e5 5. g2 e7 6. O‐O O‐O 7. c3 c6
8. e4 Both white and black have finished the
development and castled. White has a slight
positional advantage due to their perfect center
(c4‐d4‐e4 pawns) which provides space edge, nice
positioning of the knights and the fianchetto
bishop on g2. c7 9. h3 Prophylactic move to
prevent things like ...Ng4 followed by ...f5.
e8 10. e3 White continues the
development supporting the center. f8
What can we learn from this game?
The exchange sacrifice is a powerful weapon. It can be used for many purposes such as opening lines,
removing a defender, exposing a king or continuing an attack. In case of this game an "exchange sac" was
used to remove the defender and expose the king to continue a devastating attack.
Sometimes it is not very easy to judge for a player over the board if a certain sacrifice is sound or not. You
need to keep in mind that by offering an exchange sacrifice you are offering an equivalent of 2 points of
material to your opponent. Therefore, you need to be very careful and make sure you have appropriate
compensation before you do that.
Let’s summarize what we have learned today:
1. Exchange sacrifice can be of two different types: tactical and positional. In a tactical sacrifice you can
clearly see what’s going to happen in the game, and what kind of combination you will play next. In a
positional sacrifice you get some sort of positional advantage that will in turn lead to a long term
advantage which could translate into a win, if everything is done correctly.
2. Exchange sacrifice can be played with many different goals in mind, here are some of the most common:
- Destruction of the opponent king’s pawn structure
- Elimination of an important defender
- Opening up a position
- Winning a pawn (applicable in the endgame)
3. Elimination of a bishop in order for your own bishop to dominate the colors of a certain color is a
powerful technique and should be kept in mind for your own games.
Tactics Lab: Homework 25

Instructions:
Here is your practical (tactical) exercises. Solving these problems is a very important part of the program on your
way to improve your game. Try solving them by looking on the diagram. If that is hard you can setup pieces on the
board and attempt again. Solutions are given at the end. Check them only after your complete/attempt all problems.
#140. White to move and win
#142. Black to move and win
Hide Solution
Najdorf vs. Timman
1. d6 ! g8 2. e8 f7 3. xf8+
e6 4. xc5
Endgame Lab: Position 25
Instructions:
Here is your practical (tactical) exercises. Solving these problems is a very important part of the program on your
way to improve your game. Try solving them by looking on the diagram. If that is hard you can setup pieces on the
board and attempt again. Solutions are given at the end. Check them only after your complete/attempt all problems.
White to move and win
Hide Solution
1. d3 ! This is a won position for white, but

he needs to play very carefully to convert his
advantage.
For example the most logical approach to

cut the opponent's king off the diagonal
draws. Let's see why. 1. c3 ? b5
2. d4 Both white and black are racing
towards the promotion square. If Black
occupies g8 or h8 he can just sacrifice his
pawn and draw the game. c6 3. e5
d7 4. f6 e8 5. g7 e7 = This is
a small detail that draws the game. Black
gives up tempo and obtains opposition.
White has no moves.
1... b5 2. e4 c6 3. f5 h3 Black

chooses to give up the pawn at this point.
Endgame Trainer
Instructions:
Practice the following endgame position against the computer until you are confident that you can play it
correctly in actual game. Take your time and go through the exercise more than once if needed to fully understand
the material. If you have any difficulties please refer to the lesson above.
Hide Practice Position: Day 25
White to move and win:
Great Job! That's it for today. You can move to the next lesson!
Next Lesson
Copyright 2015 21- Days to Supercharge Your Chess by TheChessWorld com . - All Rights Reserved

Opening Chess Day 25 - The Exchange Sacrifice - 21 Days To Supercharge Your Chess by TheChessWorld

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Opening Chess Day 25 - The Exchange Sacrifice - 21 Days To Supercharge Your Chess by TheChessWorld

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

4/29/2015 Day 25: The Exchange Sacrifice — 21 Days to Supercharge Your Chess by TheChessWorld.

Positional Package Day 25: The Exchange Sacrifice

What is an exchange sacrifice?

Let’s take a look at the following example:

White to move and win

Let’s take a look at what happened in the game:

Take a look at this position. Even though it

A better choice is to move the rook out from

2. g4+ h8 3. f5 Now black has to

In this lesson we will go over the game Botvinnik

What can we learn from this game?

Let’s summarize what we have learned today:

- Destruction of the opponent king’s pawn structure

- Elimination of an important defender

- Winning a pawn (applicable in the endgame)

Tactics Lab: Homework 25

#140. White to move and win

#141. White to move and win

#142. Black to move and win

#143. White to move and win

#144. White to move and win

#145. White to move and win

White to move and win

1. d3 ! This is a won position for white, but

For example the most logical approach to

1... b5 2. e4 c6 3. f5 h3 Black

Hide Practice Position: Day 25

White to move and win:

You might also like