Positional Sacrifice |
Written by Administrator | ||||||||||||||||
Tuesday, 06 December 2011 | ||||||||||||||||
by Natalia Pogonina for her Chess.com Tuesday column A positional sacrifice implies giving away material for long-term positional advantages. Such exchange operations dont lead to a straightforward win of the game or material. While any piece can be positionally sacrificed, the most common victims are pawns and exchanges (i.e. rooks). There are all sorts of advantages one can gain by performing a positional sacrifice: control over key squares/files/ranks, rapid development, spoiling the placement of the opponents pieces and his pawn structure and so on. As you might be guessing, positional sacrifices are risky. If the advantages gained dont compensate for the invested material, your plan will fail. Therefore, before sacrificing you have to: 1. Carefully evaluate the position, including: decide whether the sacrifice is a must-play one, or you have other options; how significant are the benefits? ; what is your plan after the sacrifice?; calculate variations. The more experience and positional understanding you have, the quicker this procedure can be performed. Some sacrifices can be made with your hand, i.e. in blitz mode. Nonetheless, dont be in a rush to play such a flashy move. 2. Check your psychological state. Any positional sacrifice involves taking risks, and you must make sure you are not afraid of that. If you dont feel confident enough, it is better to avoid sacrificing. Otherwise even a correct sacrifice may lead you to a loss.
Write Comment |
||||||||||||||||
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 06 December 2011 ) |
< Prev | Next > |
---|