In the game Colle – O’Hanlon, Nice 1930 we have seen one of the most famous examples of the Classical Bishop Sacrifice. In this lesson we will focus on some of the aspects of such a position that will help you to determine whether or not the sacrifice will be sound. I am going to use the game Kothe Harry G – Lewis James W, 1974 as an example.
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Classical |
1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 e6 4.e4 b5 5.a4 c6 6.Bd2 a5 7.axb5 cxb5 8.b3 Bb7 9.bxc4 b4 10.Bd3 Bd6 11.Be3 Ne7 12.O-O O-O 13.e5 Bc7
- A bishop is able to capture the pawn on h7
- A knight is able to move to the g5 square
- This g5 square is defended
- The queen can reach h5
We even have some additional conditions that make it more likely that the sacrifice will be correct:
- Black’s Queen on d8
- Black’s Rook on f8
- White’s pawn on e5 will prevent an escape to f6
But there is also an indication that the sacrifice will not be sound:
- Black’s bishop on b7 may be able to defend h7
As we will see the sacrifice will be sound. Black’s bishop is rather harmless and will be attacked and undefended on e4.
14.Bxh7+ Kh8 Probably the best move, but we are mainly interested in the other alternative ( 14… Kxh7 15.Ng5+ Kg8
15.Ng5 g6 16.Bxg6 fxg6 17.Qg4 Kg8 18.Qxe6+ Kg7 19.Qh3 Rh8 20.Ne6+ Kg8 21.Nxd8 Rxh3 22.Nxb7 winning a piece
22… Rh7 23.Nc5 Nbc6 24.Ne4 Rh4 25.Nbd2 Nf5 26.Nf6+ Kg7 27.Nf3 Rxd4 28.Nd5 Rxd5 29.cxd5 Nxe3 30.fxe3 Nxe5 31.Rfb1 Re8 32.e4 Bb6+ 33.Kf1 Nc4 34.Ke2 Na3 35.Rc1 Rxe4+ 36.Kd3 Re3+ 37.Kd2 b3 38.Rxa3 b2 39.Rb1 Rxa3 40.Rxb2 Be3+ 41.Kc2 Kf6 42.Rb3 Ra2+ 43.Kd3 Bc5 44.Rb5 Bd6 45.Rb6 Ke7 46.Nh4 Kd7 47.h3 Ra3+ 48.Kc2 Rg3 49.Ra6 g5 50.Rxd6+ Kc7 51.Rg6 a4 52.Nf3 Rxg2+ 53.Kb1 Rf2 54.Nxg5 Rd2 55.d6+ Rxd6 56.Rxd6 Kxd6 57.h4 Ke5 58.Nf3+ 1-0
A final exercise:
Is the classical bishop sacrifice sound for the following position? The answer will be given in the comments.
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Tags: Chess, Game, Middlegame
April 5th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
no as Ba6-d3 after the White Queen locates on h5.
May 17th, 2009 at 8:50 am
@ Abie Weiler
You are right!!
1.Bxh7+ Kxh7 2.Ng5+ Kg8 3.Qh5 Bd3 and Black has solved all problems. Black’s additional defender makes the difference.
June 20th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
A most instructive game and lesson!!
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