The sacrifice
Give up material on purpose when the forced moves that follow win more back, or give mate.
The idea
Give up material on purpose when the forced moves win more back.
- The rook gives check on h8, and the king must take it.
- Then the knight takes on f7 with check.
- It also attacks the queen, and takes her next.
In a game: When a check leaves the other side only one reply, see whether giving material wins more.
How the lesson begins
A sacrifice gives away material on purpose. It is only good if what follows is forced and wins more than you gave.
White gives up the rook on h8. Press Next move.
- 1. Rh8+ The rook checks, and the king has no other move.
- 1... Kxh8 Black must take. Now a knight on f7 would attack both the king on h8 and the queen on d8.
- 2. Nxf7+ The knight takes the pawn with check and attacks the queen.
- 2... Kg8 The king steps out of check.
- 3. Nxd8 White wins the queen. A rook for a queen and a pawn is a good trade.
Find the move
White to move. Your pawn on b7 is one step from queening, but the rook on b8 blocks it. Give up your rook to clear the way.
A hint
Check on the back rank, on the square next to the black rook.
Show the answer
1. Rc8+ Rxc8 2. bxc8=Q+
Rc8+ offers the rook with check. If Rxc8, the black rook has left b8, and bxc8=Q+ makes a new queen. If the king steps to h7 instead, Rxb8 wins the black rook, and White is a whole rook up.
In numbers
In the puzzle bank
6,055 puzzles in GreyChess’s bank practise it. Half of them are rated between 1,514 and 2,330.
The piece that makes the first move of the answer: queen 40%, rook 31%, knight 16%, bishop 8%, pawn 4%, in puzzles from the Lichess puzzle database.