In basic Rook and Pawn chess endings, as shown in following diagrams, White has a Rook and Pawn against only Rook for Black. White’s plan is to find ways to promote his Pawn with the help of his Rook while Black will use his Rook to try to stop that promotion. In position 1, the White Pawn cannot advance without getting captured. The White Rook cannot leave the seventh rank for the same reason. But the Black Rook is free to move up and down that file and still retain its hold on the Pawn.
The game of chess involves tactics and only tactics. Tactics need not be employed only in the opening game or the middle game. Even in end games, tactics plays a very vital role. Effective implementation of the tactics is very important. Equally important is the counter-moves. If the tactics is not properly understood and visualized, then the tactics of the opponent succeeds and you will end in the losing side.
Chess is a board game played between two players with 32 pieces distributed equally between them. The pieces include one King, one Queen, 2 bishops, 2 knights, 2 rooks and 8 pawns, thus making 16 pieces. One set of 16 pieces are in white color, while the other set of pieces will be in black. The primary objective of the game is to capture the King of the other member through the means of checkmate. In other words, the objective of the person using the White pieces is to capture the black king, while the objective of the person using the black pieces is to capture the White king.
You may recall that each player is provided with 16 pieces at the beginning of the game. The sixteen pieces are as follows: One King, One Queen, Two Bishops - one in white and one in black, Two Knights,Two Rooks,Eight pawns. Before going further, I would like to state that not all chess pieces are created to be equal. Some pieces are more valuable than the other pieces and these pieces gain their importance or strength depending upon their mobility. Except the King, which is of infinite importance, ...
Continuing from "Do not panic – Tactics are present even if they are not visible - Part 2". Now the position after 31 moves is as follows. Now, it is the turn of White to move. Black has initiated the attack and is in the mood of exchanging pieces and launch an all-out attack on White King. As has been reiterated in our series of articles on tactics, assessing the vulnerability of opponent attack and exploring the possibility of checks and captures gain prominence in an attack or counter attack.
Continuing from "Part 1 of Do not panic - Tactics are present even if they are not visible". In response, the black moved the rook from d5 to g5.
The game of chess is all about tactics and tactics alone. There is tactics in every aspect of the game and it is the understanding of the tactics and effective implementation of the tactics after careful analysis from all angles is that differentiates the grandmasters from ordinary players of chess. In one of the games played in the FIDE Championship tournament, in the Knock out stage, one of the two grandmasters, playing White, by using the tactics to his advantage...
In a "previous article on chess tactics", you saw how a GM (Tartakover) transferred his vision to reality by adopting sacrificial tactics. In the game below, see how the same GM displayed a surprising lack of vision to succumb to the brilliance of another GM (Reti) in only 11 moves!
One of the most important factors of the endgame is the opposition. When Kings have to be moved and one player can by force bring his King into a position similar to the one shown in the following diagram, so that his adversary is forced to move and make way for him, the player obtaining that advantage is said to have the opposition. Thing to notice in the diagram/position is that the Kings are directly in front of each other and the number of squares between them is odd, in this case only one square.
The game of Chess, said to have been invented as early as 600 A.D. in India, is said to have been characterized by attacks against the enemy King. Nevertheless, since the popularization of the game since the past 3 centuries, a number of principles have been evolved by the erstwhile masters of the game, which have been tried and tested over a prolonged period. One of such principles related to the opening moves of a chess game, initiated and advocated by Francois-Andre Philidor in the year 1749.
If all IMs and GMs were listed by the initials of their full name, who do you expect to head the list? I am not sure but my money would be on Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine as he would appear as A.A.A.!
Even when you lose a game due to some blunders on your part, do not lose your heart because you may take consolation from the fact that there are Grandmasters and World Champions to give you company!
Are you still smarting from the blunder that made you lose your game against another amateur in your chess club? You would surely wish that you got to play against Nimzovitch or Rubinstein, two of the stalwart Grandmasters in the field of chess, as you might fare better if the following position is any indication!
Beginners often ask about what opening move is best! It is like asking which of your legs should be put forward first when you start a walk! But from general principle of controlling the center, you should choose one of the four central pawns namely KP, QP, KBP, and QBP. Your choice depends on the style of play you like (more strategic or more tactical), the types of openings that go with it and so the first pawn move that is required by that opening theory!
The most interesting and challenging part in the fascinating game of chess is the middle game. It is this part of the game that would witness the real battle between the minds of two players of same capability. Ironically, it is this part of the game for which there is not much literature or straight-forward short-cut formula that one can adopt. With constant practice, however, one can gain experience and expertise in the middle game strategies. Using "online chess" or playing chess using the computer and the Internet in online chess websites
There is no doubt about the necessity to become familiar with the elements of a combination which we understand as chess tactics. In the article "gameplan part2", we have listed the elements for you to find examples on each item and study those thoroughly to build up your repertoire. However good you may be in chess strategy and planning your game, you need to employ tactics to give effect to those.
In several earlier articles, we have discussed about the need for deep calculation for complex combinations and also examined how deep a calculation is possible by a chess master. In "how far deep can you analyze", we presumed that Fischer in his game with Byrne must have visualized his 24th move to justify his 17th move i.e., a calculation 7 moves deep! In the diagram below, we see an even deeper calculation for the brilliant tactical play by White.
All chess masters have the important ability to visualize a board position after certain moves. Actually, even as a beginner, you are doing the same when you are working out a combination but may not be to a significant depth. Some people seem to have an instinct for it and even if you are not so blessed, you can still improve on this quality with practice, In fact, for great players, even the reverse holds true meaning that they can visualize a winning possibility and then work backward to find the moves that will lead to that visualized position!
There is a recent "series of articles on attacking chess tactics" by my colleague teaching you in detail about the positional requirements and the chess tactics for Bishop sacrifice at h7 to break open the Kingside castle of the opponent for a quick win. Nice articles though they were, I was peeved at his giving all the fun to the White player. Why the poor Black should always be at the receiving end?
Well, not exactly! The check has still to be given by your Knight, but the opponent’s King is so hemmed in by his own pieces and pawns that they don’t leave any escape hole for the King. Net result is a checkmate which would not be possible had the opponent’s pieces not surrounded the King to that extent and in that way contributed towards the checkmate! This is also the reason why the final check in this kind of mate, known as
smothered mate, is by a Knight because it can jump over the King’s guards when your other pieces are not getting a look at the King.
We keep bringing this up from time to time because this aspect of chess games occurs quite frequently to influence the course of the game. In "Chess Tactics: A protected passed pawn is a passport to win", you were introduced to this aspect and "Chess Tactics in Middle Game: Power of the Passed Pawn" elaborated on this theme. "Chess Tactics in Middle Game: Give up Queens to get Passed Pawns!" as also "Chess Sacrifice as a Chess Tactics: creating passed pawn" showed you the lengths to which a player can go to create a passed pawn to this end.
It is said that no chess games are identical. But looking at the two diagrams shown below, you have to admit that it is possible to reach the same position through different routes. The first position was reached after 19 moves in a game with Queen’s Gambit Declined opening, played between David Janowski (White) and Oscar Chajes (Black) in the Rice Memorial Tournament held at New York in 1916. To digress a little bit, this tournament was won by Capablanca with Janowski and Chajes coming second and third.
In our article "7 ways chess is beneficial to your mind", the first point was related to memory. We explained how the mental exercise to remember openings and their varitions or tactical issues in middle and endgames and so on help to build up our memory. How about the reverse? Obviously, the better memmory you have, the more you can recollect moves played by you or others in certain situations. These ultimately constitute your experience and we all know that experienced players tend to have an edge over the amateurs.
In the previous article explaining "Philidor’s position" and showing how Grandmasters also stumble into it, we now show you one of even more recent origin that arose in a game played between two young but promising Grandmasters. Alexander Grischuk (b.1983) is a Russian GM who came into limelight when he was a teenager. In 2004 Russian Championship, he came out second behind the winner Garry Kasparov.
The three games we have chosen for this article is slightly different from the aforesaid theme. Here a King deliberately steps out of his castled position and marches towards the enemy King to provide support to his own attacking pieces. Of course this was possible because though opponent’s heavy pieces were still on board, the pawn positions severely restricted their free movement and the attacking King deftly maneuvered through the crowded position.
On the principle of ‘practice makes perfect’, after you have learned about
zugzwang and its application in "Chess Tactics: should some of them be prohibited?", we bring you two more examples, one an endgame study and the other from actual play. The following diagram shows a study which is slightly more elaborate than the previous examples in the sense of having both pieces and pawns.
You have mostly seen the theme of Philidor’s position in action in our "discussions on smothered mate", but we pointed out that such mate can occur during the opening phases also with the King in the center when that player handles his pieces badly or deviates from established lines without sufficient thoughts behind such moves.
Chess is also referred to as a War game. The names of the pieces such as King, Queen, Bishops, Knights, Rooks and Pawns symbolically refer to a battlefield with you being the commander-in-chief of the pieces directing what must be done to say "checkmate" and win over the opposition King. Chess is also referred to as a War game. The names of the pieces such as King, Queen, Bishops, Knights, Rooks and Pawns symbolically refer to a battlefield with you being the commander-in-chief...
Though I said ‘some’ but actually I meant one that goes under a German name and seems to have been in use in German chess literature since since early ninteenth century. It is supposed to have been introduced in English chess literature in early twentieth century by Emanuel Lasker, himself a German!
The game of chess calls for shrewd analytical skills of positions coupled with calculations to gain control over the game. It is essential that good positional play should be entwined with calculations of moves and deployment of effective tactics assessing the overall position in the board. Having good control over the board positionally will not guarantee you any success over the opponent as long as you do not entwine the tactics effectively to gain control over the board.
This one is not that easy, you may get the first few moves but it is bit deeper than that. It is actually 10 moves before White gets any winning position.
First glance it looks like white can capture the black Queen with some tactical move but thats not it, white can actually win the game, here is the sequence of moves that leads to the mate.
When I first looked at this position. I thought the best move would be to go with a tactic so that white can capture the black Queen but given the position black queen is protected by two Knights. There are multiple tactics in this position but I will go over one of them, in fact there are many variations of my tactic itself.
White cannot play any stupid moves here, one of the most interesting moves given the position would be that the white wins the black Queen by a sequence of attacks at the black King. And here is how.
White wants to capture the Rook but in order to do that, the white must do something to the Knight protecting the Rook. Well at first glance you may play a quick mate but because black Queen is protecting the diagonal it is not possible at this moment, but white can win the Rook. And here is how..
Give this position some time and let the image sink in your mind. It is not an easy one. White cannot mate black because the king can escape. There is also the knight stopping the open line for Rook. Bishop cannot do much at this position currently either. Anyways here are the moves as white wins the piece and the game after.
Classy position where multiple tactics are possible, but white can actually checkmate the black. At first glance the
f7 square seems to be the main square of action. And indeed it is. But of course there has to be well planned tactic as to win the game quick, so here are the next few move of white..
In this position, it looks like the game is in mid-game position and at first glance you may not see the mate coming but white wins in 2 moves. Here is the exact Mate in 2.
Once again, not a difficult position, white has to move and wins a piece, in this position one of the best move happens to be as follows.
Given the position, I think for most Chess Players it is a given what is the best move here, white has to move and it will win a piece. In this case the best combo to execute would be as follows..
In telling you about "winning chess strategies", we stated that if your bishop can control the long diagonal towards your opponent’s castled position, it can give you considerable leverage in your attack on the king. If you can place both your bishops on two such side by side open diagonals leading to the enemy King’s position, the force multiplier becomes more than double. If your chess tactics make good use of this power, those can be enough to win the game for you.
Rather easy one but then again, you must make sure the moves are perfect to get the mate. It may take sometime before you can find the exact move but the Rook sac is the way to go.
Sort of a tricky position but here black can win in next two moves, given those two moves are correct.
While showing you "some common traps in chess", we pointed out how the same themes occur in master games at different periods of time. That is why it is important to assimilate such chess tactics and look for opportunities to apply those in your games. Of course the board situation will never be identical, but the pieces participating in such combinations will be occupying more or less similar positions. Sometimes you may have to make some preparatory moves to get the pieces where you want them if you can identify the pattern and the potential to deploy the thematic moves.
In "Chess Tactics: Catching Opponent on Wrong Foot", you were introduced to
zwischenzug and were shown how the failure on the part of a reigning World Champion to consider this tactics by his opponent resulted in his defeat. Another example of the application of this tactics will make it very clear to you. Note how a future World Champion interposes an unexpected move (
zwischenzug) to surprise his opponent and bring a quick finish to the game.
We have discussed earlier that chess tactics rather than chess strategies come to the fore during the middle game. And unless you are one of those with a gift of intuition (remember "Intuition vs. Logic"?) it needs a deep thinking to work out the tactics in the complex middle game positions so as to come out on top!
From the mails received from many beginners, it appears that they are often at a loss in finding the best sequence of moves they should follow in response to a move by the opponent. In effect, they are asking how to make the calculations for a combination (a sequence of moves to achieve a specific purpose like mating the king, winning some material, gaining space etc.).
In the view of experts, it is in the endgame that an amateur is most likely to falter and the difference between an expert and an amateur becomes apparent during this phase. That is why we have dedicated quite a good number of articles on endgame tactics. Knowing appropriate techniques is important no doubt, but because of the limited number of pieces on board, a player often needs to show qualities of a higher order like imagination...
The effectiveness of the middle game in chess, where the real battle of the minds takes place, depends to a great extent on the strength of the opening moves. It is the opening moves that set the stage for the middle game to flourish. A wrong pawn move or an ineffective bishop in the opening stage will have its serious consequences on the middle game. One of the outcomes of an opening, which can either be very effective if used prudently or might turn out to be a hindrance, is the isolated queen pawn.
In our article on "planning your chess strategy and chess tactics" during the middle and end games, you learned that the techniques for using pawns to the best advantage should be part of the chess tactics in your arsenal. The creation of a protected passed pawn is one of the most important among such tactics.
You have seen "how chess tactics was used" for utilizing the power of a passed pawn to settle the outcome of a chess game. Let us now look at another game showing the greater might of united passed Pawns that Black obtained by sacrificing his pieces.
If you suspect that the title is a mix up putting Queens and Passed Pawns the wrong way around, then rest assured that it was not so. Giving up Passed Pawns for Queens can be an excellent chess tactics for mere mortals like us, but the reverse makes for chess immortals like Alekhine! His play with Black pieces amply demonstrates the power of passed pawns, some examples of which as a "chess tactics" you have already seen.
If knowing how to fly on a flight simulator would enable one to pilot a plane, all flying schools would have to close shop! If you do not dispute it (I fervently hope so for the sake of air passengers), then you will also accept that knowing "basic endgame tactics" can bring awareness of the possibilities but cannot make you win the endgames. And unless you can finish off a game successfully, you cannot hope to win, can you?
In our ten_part article series on chess tactics (starting with "12 chess tactics … – Part 1"), we have discussed the different tactics that go into different combinations. You have seen excerpts from chess games that illustrated the use of such chess tactics. Now I would like to show you some full games that abound in such tactics and are quite exciting to play out.
Playing chess online fast tracks your all-round development. In this Internet age where knowledge about anything and everything can be gathered at the click of a mouse, playing chess online is one of the best options/sources available for the chess player in you to blossom, understand the game in its entirety, enhance your skills by playing chess online with players including your friends and relatives, separated by distance, and, in the process, lead a better life.
In the game of chess, the middle game plays a very important role. It is in this stage that the fate of the game is effectively decided and involves a "series of tactics and strategies" to attack and counter attack the opponent. A good opening paves for an intriguing contest in the middle game. Many chess players, in their early days of playing chess, ignore the pawns or do not realize the importance of pawns and sacrifice their pawns very cheaply.
Tactics play a vital role in the game of chess. Tactics is everything in chess. Chess, as you all know, is a fair game with no room for chance or luck whatsoever to either of the players. The players ultimately decide the fate of their result in the game. A slight lapse of concentration, a slight miscalculation or a little oversight is just sufficient to allow your opponent to say checkmate to you.
In the game of Chess, tactics can be used for anything and everything that will ultimately lead to a favorable position in the short term and help us in finally achieving the goal of saying checkmate to the opponent. In this series of articles, we have been looking at the different aspects of tactics. Tactics, in most cases, is required in almost all types of situations. More so in circumstances where the position is very bleak and unfavorable.
In an earlier article "lesson in chess tactics", we discussed a little about Alekhine and his extra-ordinary combinations. This game was played when he was already known as a formidable chess player and two years later he became the World Champion. His opponent with Black pieces was Mr. Nescio Nomen. (Have you heard of him? If not, see at the end of this article.)
and now white wins the piece with Nxc7 so black is pretty much out of the game with queen gone.
and after that Nxb4 black wins a piece and pretty much wins the game
This is an interesting position, in order for black to execute the fork, the Knights must be captured so here is how black goes about doing it.
By now you should have gained good knowledge of Forks, this one should be an easy one.
Lots of pieces around the board but that shouldn’t stop you from finding the best move.
Another easy calculation here. and now white has won 2 pawns in the whole exchange, knight will escape all the coming traps.
Black is winning from here on, the king and pawn ending, given the position black is a pawn ahead and better position for the king to move forward to the center and push the pawns.
This can be tricky position for beginners but one move and white takes over the game.
game is pretty much over, black should let go of the queen with Qxd6 followed by white exd6 but that does not change the situation/position that white is still winning
If you have practiced enough then this one should be easy. It is either white checkmates black or black has to give good amount of material.
White to move and win material, this should be easy to spot after all the Forks we have been doing so far.
We are still doing the easy Forks. You can take these forks as warm up for the harder ones that are coming soon.
Looks like white is not having a bad position but next few moves will ruin white’s position.
After going first two fork examples this one should not be hard to spot.
Interesting position here, white is in total control but the game is not over, looking at the position a beginner might think of capturing the Knight with rook but given these are fork tactics, knight must be moved.
Ng6+! pretty much sums it up.
Nxg6 results in a checkmate with
Rxh7#.
Awesome position to get our brain going. Black to move and do a deadly fork. Basically blacks moves and gets a good exchange, no matter what black gets a solid exchange for the move.
In the article on "formulating your game plan", we indicated that a simple or exchange sacrifice can often be used to initiate an attack on enemy position, often catching your opponent by surprise because of the unexpectedness of such moves. We give here a spectacular example!
If you are like me with next to nothing knowledge of German, this seems to be the season to do something about the weakness! You know that
zug means ‘move’ from the "chess tactics of
zugzwang" and now you can add
zwischen (which means ‘between’) to your vocabulary. So
zwischenzug literally stands for ‘between move’ or, to use a better translation, an ‘intermediate move’.
Position of white pieces. Before considering the sacrifice of light squared white bishop, it has to be ensured that: the light squared white bishop is in the diagonal b1-h7 and there should not be any pieces hindering the movement of the bishop to h7 – if this is not fulfilled, there is no possibility for this attack at all in the first instance
Before learning more about the nitty-gritty aspects of this classic bishop sacrifice, let us explore one more game in the same category in a more systematic way for better understanding of this idea of attacking the castled king with bishop. The position of the game is given hereunder:
In "Part 1 of Chess Tactics: Attacking castled King with the classic Bishop sacrifice", we looked at the main variation of the bishop sacrifice in Part 2 we will look at some of the possible variations. Variation #1 – Capturing the Knight by dark squared black Bishop
In the game of chess, bishops play a very important role both in attacking the opponent’s King as well as in defending one’s own King, especially using its unique capability of moving along the diagonals. Before dwelling further into the attacking aspects of the bishop, let us recollect some of the basic features of the opening principles. In the opening stages of the game, we were taught that the pawn movements should be kept to the minimum such that the minor pieces such as knights and bishops are developed.
In the "vision to combination" article, we showed how the creation of a passed pawn and holding on to it can give a player tremendous advantage over his opponent, particularly in the end-game. Even if your opponent succeeds in preventing the pawn from queening, it is normally possible only with considerable loss of material and that again gives you enough advantage to chalk out a win!
Frank J. Marshall was US Chess Champion from 1909 to 1936 and was regarded as one of the strongest chess players of his time. But he is much better known as a highly attacking player with a penchant for sacrifices at the drop of a hat! Many experts contend that a number of his gambits and sacrifices were more the result of an impulse depending on their surprise value for success than the outcome of a deeply thought out combination. Whatever may be the truth, his games had immense spectator appeal and you can still enjoy playing...
Black to move and mate in three moves. Black has a good check coming, but in order to do that black must do an exchange and then few moves and its checkmate.
In this second part of a two-part series, we consider the minor pieces and pawns.
Bishop: Develop early
* Try not to block your pawns
* Preferred squares:
d2, e3, f4 or b2 (fianchetto) for QB
e2, d3, c4 or g2 (fianchetto) for KB
g5 for QB and b5 for KB (only if pinning enemy Knight, but
use caution)
This article is a ready reckoner type of guide for beginners, in line with the prevalent mode of capsule information sought by people in these days of everything ‘fast’ – fast track, fast food, fast lifestyle, fast …. But at the same time, some saner heads have started questioning this style and warning about the damages wrought on our health and spirits by such ‘fastness’. So a warning will also be appropriate for the capsule package on chess strategies, though it is not likely to cause as much damage!
What is the weakest pawn when you start a game of chess? It is the KBP. Why? While all other pawns get the support from at least one of the pieces, KBP is the only pawn that has the King alone to defend it and you know that the King’s power is very limited in the early phases, itself being subject to attack by all and sundry in the opposition ranks! One idea of a quick castling on the King-side is to bring the support of the Rook for this pawn, besides putting the King in a safe position.
We showed you a game to illustrate "how chess strategy and chess tactics are to be tied" together to secure a win in a game of chess. In that game, you saw the strategies adopted by each player and the tactics deployed to fulfill those strategies. But the superlative skill of Capablanca found ways and means to exploit the slight weaknesses in opponent’s position to carve out a win.
In chess, a notional value is attached to all pieces other than King (which of course is priceless!) ranging from 1 for a Pawn to 9 for a Queen. In this system, Knight and Bishop are considered at par, and the other conditions prevailing on the chessboard at any point are supposed to dictate which of them has a superior value, if any. In "Basic chess strategies Part 2" and "Beginner’s game plan Part 2", we have discussed what conditions or factors determine the preference for one or the other.
Many may continue on the same path for a distance, but you never know where they will end ultimately! We are talking of chess games. This divergence becomes more prominent when one game is controlled by a player who follows the dictates of chess strategy (should we say sanity?) and the other by one who could not care less, a maverick who cannot let go of any opportunity to shock his opponent (and the world at large)!
It is stating the obvious that in a chess game, both you and your opponent are striving to win. The win may come in many ways. In the most unlikely way (1.f4 e6 2.g4 Qh4#) it may even happen without exchange of a single piece or pawn! But realistically speaking, the most frequent will be games where one of the players gain some material advantage and the superior force is used to bring down the opponent.
In "Chess sacrifice to threaten mate" you have seen examples of how sacrifice is used as an attacking chess tactics to bring about a quick checkmate. Where the opponent King’s position does not permit such direct threat, forcing the King into open for further attack can be an alternative tactics employing a sacrifice. Examples of such attacks you saw in "Chess sacrifice to drive the King into open".
Initiative is derived from initiate, which is to originate or start something. In chess, initiative means the ability to take control of the game. You are said to have the initiative when you force the opponent to follow your lead (passive play) rather than initiate something on his own (active play). In "Chess Sacrifice as Chess Tactics", we included the use of chess sacrifice as a tool to gain initiative.
Among the purposes listed for chess sacrifice in "Chess Sacrifices as Chess Tactics", this is one of the most frequent of such uses and may occur sometime or other in a majority of chess games. The lines of attacks that are opened are usually diagonals for Bishops or files for Rooks or either type for the Queen. It is also common occurrence to see a sacrifice of a Bishop to open files for Rooks or Queen, and sacrifice of a Rook to open diagonals for Bishops or files for other Rook or Queen.
Among the most common uses of a sacrifice described in "Chess Sacrifice as Chess Tactics", one was to gain time in promoting a passed pawn. This type of chess tactics to gain time is most likely to arise in the end game, particularly where both players are left with King and pawns. The preventive action against promotion become incumbent on the King only and the ability of the King to do so is dependent on the principle of the Square as was discussed in "4 endgame situations".
In "Chess Sacrifice as Chess Tactics", you have read that gaining tempo or time for attack is one of the chess tactics derived through a sacrifice when such offer cannot be refused without bringing other problems. The move spent in capturing the offered piece loses vital time for the opponent and the player employing the sacrifice uses the time gained to launch his own attack. The game chosen as an example was played at Dusseldorf in 1908 between Jacques Mieses and Karel Treybal.
In part 2 of "Chess strategy and chess tactics in a nutshell", among the tactics and combinations that can be used against the opponent during the middle game, we suggested identifying the weaknesses in the opponent’s position to selectively target them. Amongst the possible targets, the most important defensive piece was named as one such target. In "Chess sacrifices as Chess Tactics", we took up this point and indicated that ...
"Chess Sacrifice as Chess Tactics" identified sacrifice as a tactics to gain tempo. Gaining a tempo is an important chess tactics that provides you with an initiative "Chess Sacrifice as a Chess Tactics: to seize initiative" whereby you take a lead forcing the opponent to passively follow what your moves dictate! You achieve a tempo by threatening to capture a piece, or to gain substantial material, or to deliver a check – any of which will need the opponent to attend to these immediate threats ...
You may sometimes find in your games that if you could place one of your pieces on a particular square, you could have a better game. Unfortunately you find that the square is occupied by your own piece or pawn. If it is a piece, you can plan to move it to some other square, possibly even retreating. But if it is a pawn, you have a problem because pawns cannot retreat and you cannot capture your own pawn!
A sacrificial attack that you are unable to take to a successful end (the realization of your aims) becomes a liability. If the opponent can defend successfully and thwart your attack, you are faced with the handicap of not only a deficiency in material but also loss of time and to regroup your pieces may become impossible. Your opponent will exploit your weaknesses to create his own attacks which you will possibly be unable to resist. The outcome is the opposite of what you intended with your sacrifice.