Exchange Sac: Vulnerable King

The purpose of a relatively common exchange sacrifice is to strip the enemy king side of defenders and make that sector of the chess board more vulnerable. An exchange sacrifice is where one gives up a Rook for either a Knight or Bishop.

In the following 3 minute game played at internet chess club, Svinotigr of Russia has an extra two pawns and will win all endings if he can trade down and consolidate his position. Observe that his g3 pawn is weak defended only by the f2 Bishop.

Many chess masters, including the late FM Jim Gallagher of San Antonio,TX, believed that a "true sacrifice" was one that was incalculable to the end by humans. Jim was an excellent positional player, but was not afraid to mix it up with an aggressive sacrifice recognizing the psychological advantage of putting his opponent on the defensive knowing the chance for error when defending was quite high.




The rotund Andy Smith also loved to mix it up in tactical skirmishes rather than play a long technical ending. Other bright lights from that region of America like Peter Kappler and Drew Sarkisian preferred the the slow positional build ups that might culminate in explosive tactics when the position reached critical mass.

With Black to move in the following position look for a  move that offers to "mix it up" as the Golden Glove boxers are so fond of.