The following position was arrived at in St. Petersburg 1914, when Alekhine played Capablanca.
Effectively, there are many ways to proceed here depending on the type of player you are - each advantageous to Black. For instance, you may enjoy a tame, solid line, or you may prefer a more combinative approach - or finally you may see many moves ahead a choose the same sequence as Stockfish ... !
Here is the starting position:
Conservative approach, winning exchange
Combinative, explosive approach
Modern Stockfish 17.1 Lite Variation
I think that the message is clear. From psychological perspective, sacrificing a piece to win two pawns is hugely damaging and decisive. According to the Stockfish analysis, it is not the strongest move, but purely from an entertainment perspective, it is this move that delivers the greatest shock value!
Just lately my club chess has gone from 'very average' to 'catastrophic' to 'downright diabolical' all in the space of about a month! This evening I turned up for my game, mindful that another loss would make me have serious doubts about whether or not I ought to take up tiddly-winks instead ...?
I want to reach 130 Bcf by the end of the season but the fact is, I need to play a lot better than I have been to get anywhere near it ... In my game this evening I was faced with the French. My opponent cleverly managed to trade off his bad light squared Bishop by playing it to a6 early on ... After that I got into a tactically sharpish position (for me) and overlooked a simple enough combination from my opponent allowing him to win a pawn. My head went down - another loss maybe?
I think it should have been a loss for me, but I've always said that you have to cling on to any glimmer of hope you might have ... It is best to remain poker faced when you're losing, advisable not to show your emotions - I.e. shaking of head, grimacing, snorting, whimpering, maniacal laughter - there all off limits! My opponent went on to win the exchange (nothing much I could do about that, 'snort') but bizarrely, he only had a Queen in play with two passive rooks and my Knight was destined for a greater future on b5 ...
Incredibly, my opponent seemed to overlook the safety of his King and presented me with a chance for counter-play ... In the final position it looked like a draw by repetition was probably the best option for him, and when he offered it I practically bit his arm off !!!
(I found out after the game that my opponent was graded almost 300 Elo points above me at 1848 Elo. It paid me in grading points not to give up the fight!)
Wow, I was surfing on the web last night and stumbled by accident on a little Gem; A chess tactics and combinations course in PDF format ready for you to download!
Dr Dave Regis of Exeter Chess Club has put together a number of games mainly starting 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 which of course is an ideal starting place for beginners ...
He says and I quote: "The exciting main lines of the Max Lange and Fried Liver Attacks feature throughout, and Damiano's Defence endures some terrible beatings. There is an opening index by ECO code so you can run through several tactical ideas associated with one opening or even one variation".
Needless to say, I have already downloaded the PDF and I can't wait to get my teeth into it on the train tomorrow. This, I am sure will be a valuable resource for chess teachers.
"Chess is a form of intellectual productiveness; therein lies its peculiar charm, and intellectual productiveness is one of the greatest joys of human existence".
Dr Siegbert Tarrasch (1862-1934), The Game of Chess, 1936, translated by G.E. SMITH and T.G. BONE.
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