Sacrifice

Giving up something of value in order to reach some future, and sometimes uncertain, goal is very difficult for most of us. When we do work up the nerve to take the risk and are rewarded with success however, the satisfaction we derive from the sacrifice can be immense. Sadly, the converse is also true. It is entirely possible to sacrifice time, money, or other opportunities and still end up with very little in return. These truths apply as much over the chessboard as in life and I would like to share one example from a game played between Dominic (@darktigr) and Chris (@badrallach) in Round 4 of the current tournament.

When we start out playing chess we sacrifice pieces routinely, mostly because we have little notion of the value of what we are giving up - or simply because we blunder them away and recast those blunders as 'sacrifices' in our minds. Grandmasters too make regular sacrifices based on precise tactical calculations (athough in those cases it can be argued that these are not true sacrifices) or based on positional considerations that are usually too abstract for players of my level to fully understand. For club players like most of us sacrifices are rare and offering a queen is rarer still. Take a look at this position:

After 30...Rxf5 Black should win easily. Sadly, Chris was unable to find this move and went on to lose the game. The challenge of converting won games into actual points on the scoreboard will need to be the subject of a blog for another day.

In other news, the last games of sections C and D were completed this week. Congratulations to Hendrik (@hwelman) and to Peter (@FLAMINGORANGE) as clear winners of their sections.

Have a good week everyone and good luck in your games !

David