Back to Basics Preparing the Classic Bishop Sacrifice
Know your goal and be persistent—but not rigid—in pursuing it. By GM Lev Alburt
The winner of this month’s award,
Andrew Liu, provided us with a well-writ- ten story, complete with diagrams, subtitles, and summary. (My own com- ments will be in italics). Writes Andrew: Dear GM Alburt, My name is Andrew
Liu and I just turned 11. I’m from San Diego, California. This game was very exciting for me because I won with the classic bishop sacrifice. My chess coach Mario Amodeo introduced me to this fas- cinating pattern a few months ago using your 1996 column in Chess Life. I learned a lot from this game after analyzing it with my coach and on my computer (Hou- dini chess engine). I hope it will be an encouragement to other young players.
Slav Defense,
Exchange Variation (D13) Andrew Liu (869) Bob Carnall (1565) Allante 8 (Pinin America Chess Club), 12/15/11 (4), G/120, d5
Stage 1: Positioning for the Classic Bishop Sacrifice
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. cxd5 cxd5 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. e3 Bb4 7. Bb5+? Bd7 8. Bd3
rsn-wqk+-tr zpp+l+pzpp -+-+psn-+ +-+p+-+- -vl-zP-+-+ +-sNLzPN+- PzP-+-zPPzP tR-vLQmK-+R
After 8. Bd3 The game started with the Queen’s
Gambit/Slav Exchange. I had many bishop “sac” opportunities before with this opening. I was very focused on prepar-
44 Chess Life — July 2012
ing for the bishop sac from the opening. That’s why I didn’t bring my dark square bishop out of the pawn chain before play- ing 6. e3. This bishop supports the later Ng5+ move. Bringing it out early would risk getting traded off. Although my plan worked this time, I should have been more flexible with my plan and not bank every- thing on the sac. As you will see later on, Black can easily prevent the sac if he is aware of the plan. I wasted a tempo in 7. Bb5+. I was playing “hope” chess trying to force Black to trade his dark square bishop with my knight. Once Mr. Carnall played 7. ... Bd7, I pulled my valuable bishop back to its rightful diagonal eying h7. I’m sure glad I kept the bishop.
8. ... Qc7 9. Bd2 0-0 10. 0-0 a6 11. Re1 Bb5 (??—L.A.) 12. Bc2?
rsn-+-trk+ +pwq-+pzpp p+-+psn-+ +l+p+-+- -vl-zP-+-+ +-sN-zPN+- PzPLvL-zPPzP tR-+QtR-mK-
After 12. Bc2 When Mr. Carnall played 11. … Bb5
trying to chop off my good bishop, I was way too inflexible with my plan. I retreated my bishop to c2 avoiding any trade while maintaining the attack on h7. Here, I could’ve taken his intruding bishop with my knight and bishop and won a pawn. In fact, 12. Nxb5 would have won a full
piece.
12. ... Bd7 (12. Bc6!? – L.A.) 13. a3 Bd6 14. e4
I pushed my e-pawn, starting my plan
to kick out Mr. Carnall’s knight on f6, which would enable me to start the fire-
works and build tension with a bishop’s sacrifice. I call this strategy “removing the guard.”
14. ... dxe4 15. Nxe4 Nxe4 16. Bxe4 Bc6
rsn-+-trk+ +pwq-+pzpp p+lvlp+-+ +-+-+-+- -+-zPL+-+ zP-+-+N+- -zP-vL-zPPzP tR-+QtR-mK-
After 16. ... Bc6 My plan to remove the knight worked
well when Black took my pawn. I abruptly took with my knight, gaining a direct attack on my target: the f6-knight. I had a blast of excitement as I chopped his knight with my bishop after he accepted the trade. I have successfully removed the guard! I got a feeling my bishop sac would catch him off guard. Ways to pre- vent my sac are putting a bishop on e7 or playing ... h7-h6, both will make the later Ng5+ harder. Still, 16. ... Be7 (or 16. ... h6) 17. Rc1 favors White, who’s better developed.
Stage 2: The Classic Bishop Sacrifice 17. Bxh7+! (punch 1) The Classic Bishop Sacrifice. After cal-
culating the risks and rewards including Black’s Bxh2+, I went for the sac! My coach Mario said that you don’t have to calculate all the way before doing the sac. I was very hopeful because the cal- culation seemed to give me the advantage up to 19. Qg4. You may be surprised. I have only failed once in all the bishop’s sacs I’ve ever done. I have “sac’ed” many times over the board and online. Also, the only two people that have bishop
uschess.org
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76