The Complete Guide To Chess Sacrifices

Master Chess Sacrifices and Tactical Brilliance: Learn When to Sacrifice, Spot Key Signals, and Unleash Winning Combos

What you'll learn

Ability to understand and apply Alekhine’s clear and logical sacrificial style across many themes.

Ability to recognize when Alekhine-style forcing moves lead to decisive sacrifices.

Ability to spot opportunities to sacrifice based on king safety damage, as shown in Alekhine’s games.

Ability to execute sacrifices that punish opponents for weak development or uncastled kings.

Ability to apply deflection tactics in the style of Alekhine to create winning combinations.

Ability to play calculated bishop sacrifices that target pawn shelters, inspired by Alekhine’s classics.

Ability to leverage knight sacrifices to remove key defenders and initiate mating nets.

Ability to use rook sacrifices along semi-open files to break through defensive setups.

Ability to evaluate queen sacrifices for exposing the king, as Alekhine often demonstrated.

Ability to combine positional pressure with sacrifices to eliminate king escape squares.

Ability to create powerful attacking opportunities using Greek Gift-style bishop sacs, as Alekhine did.

Ability to implement “Fishing Pole” traps to provoke decisive mistakes from opponents.

Ability to exploit soft spots like f2 and f7 with Alekhine-style sacrifices that convert to material or mate.

Ability to sacrifice material to take away escape squares in complex attacking formations.

Ability to transform absolute pins into winning attacks through well-timed Alekhine sacrifices.

Ability to resolve your own pin with creative counter-sacrifices, inspired by Alekhine’s defense.

Ability to execute king hunts by dragging the enemy king across the board.

Ability to evaluate when a bishop pair or pawn structure can be sacrificed for attacking chances.

Ability to sacrifice a bishop for a seemingly “bad” knight if it leads to domination, as Alekhine did.

Ability to create dominant knight outposts through material sacrifices.

Ability to apply subtle preparatory moves that make later sacrifices more effective.

Ability to win greater material after sacrifice sequences — especially with queens trapped or overextended.

Ability to spot back rank weaknesses and exploit them with clean tactical sacrifices.

Ability to sacrifice in the opening to keep the opponent’s king in the center.

Ability to lure key defenders away from the king to create decisive attacks.

Ability to remove king defenders tactically, even when the sacrifice seems risky.

Ability to carry out positional blockades using exchange sacrifices, inspired by Alekhine’s technique.

Ability to undermine pawn chains and weaken the enemy king with forcing piece sacrifices.

Ability to create thorn pawns or thorn bishops with the help of intuitive sacrifices.

Ability to transition from positional pressure into tactical breakthrough via sacrifice, as Alekhine often did.

Ability to distinguish between attacking and positional sacrifices using the aggression scale.

Ability to make clearance sacrifices to vacate squares or open files.

Ability to win with sham/pseudo-sacrifices where no real risk is taken.

Ability to recognize when no sacrifice is needed — and win by pressure alone

Ability to apply sacrifice-based motifs across multiple opening systems.

Ability to use pawn sacrifices to gain space, initiative, or tempo.

Ability to combine tradeoffs in structure or piece quality for activity.

Ability to identify and exploit diagonals sensitive to castled kings ("diagonal of death").

Ability to use sacrifices to keep the king stuck in the center and prevent castling.

Ability to make sacrifices that convert into unstoppable passed pawns.

Ability to understand the tradeoff between simplification and sacrifice in winning positions.

Ability to use tempo-gaining sacrifices to limit your opponent’s defensive options.

Ability to punish greed or slow play by sacrificing to break open the center.

Ability to emulate Tal’s intuitive and speculative sacrifices to seize the initiative.

Ability to apply Petrosian’s famous exchange sacrifices to neutralize attacks.

Ability to study Nezhmetdinov’s artistic sacrifices that blend accuracy with creativity.

Ability to channel Fischer’s approach — sacrificing only when the position demands it.

Ability to mimic AlphaZero’s deep, NN-inspired sacrifices based on positional pressure.

Ability to appreciate Anderssen’s romantic-era brilliant sacrifices, even when unsound.

Ability to study Nimzowitsch’s positional sacrifices that challenge classical principles.

Ability to punish opening violations with Morphy-style sacrifices for fast wins.

Ability to evaluate sacrifice soundness based on player styles and aggression level.

Ability to contrast speculative and calculated sacrifices to suit your own playing style.

Ability to enjoy the art of chess by choosing sacrifices that are beautiful, not just practical.

Ability to adapt your sacrifice choices based on the position — like Alekhine and Kasparov did.

Requirements

Know how the pieces move and basic chess rules.

Understand check, checkmate, and common tactics like forks or pins.

Description

Welcome to "The Complete Guide to Chess Sacrifices," an in-depth and comprehensive chess course designed to transform your understanding of chess tactics, strategy, and the art of sacrifice. This course is ideal for beginner to intermediate players rated between 0 and 1600 who are looking to sharpen their skills, gain confidence, and learn how to use sacrifices to dominate their games. Whether you play online, over-the-board, in casual games, or rated tournaments, mastering sacrifices is a powerful way to outplay opponents and create unforgettable combinations on the board.Sacrifices are among the most thrilling and instructive elements in chess. In this course, we go far beyond the basics of trading material. We explore how chess sacrifices can disrupt your opponent's plans, open critical lines, remove key defenders, destroy king safety, and convert positional pressure into tactical brilliance. By learning how to evaluate, calculate, and execute sacrifices, you will take your game to a whole new level.Throughout the course, we focus heavily on real examples from master-level and world championship chess games, particularly the games of Alexander Alekhine, one of the greatest attacking players and combination artists in chess history. Alekhine's sacrifices were often logical, sound, and deeply instructive, making them perfect models for players seeking to improve. His games are rich in themes such as deflection, clearance, overloading, domination, and classic checkmating patterns.In addition to Alekhine, we draw on examples from a wide range of legendary chess players including Mikhail Tal, Tigran Petrosian, Paul Morphy, Bobby Fischer, Rashid Nezhmetdinov, Garry Kasparov, AlphaZero, and Aron Nimzowitsch. Each of these players demonstrates different sacrifice styles, from speculative attacks to positional exchange sacrifices, allowing students to experience the full spectrum of sacrificial chess.This course is structured into over 220 detailed video lectures across more than 50 sections. Each section is thematically organized around a particular type of sacrifice or tactical idea, such as the Greek Gift, the Fishing Pole, sacrifices for removing key defenders, back-rank sacrifices, sacrifices for passed pawns, sacrifices based on pinning or unpinning, clearance tactics, and many more. By grouping the content in this way, we make it easier for students to absorb concepts and apply them in their own games.Key themes include:Tactical sacrifices for checkmatePositional sacrifices for long-term compensationExchange sacrifices to gain control and limit opponent activityClassic attacking sacrifices in the opening and middlegameThe use of sacrifice in modern computer and AI-based chessPsychological and practical elements of sacrificingWhen not to sacrifice: understanding restraint and simplificationYou will learn the difference between sound sacrifices and speculative ones. We present games where the sacrifice is perfectly justified and wins by force, as well as games where a speculative sacrifice introduces chaos, betting on the opponent's inability to find the right defense. Understanding this difference is essential to improving your chess decision-making.Each example includes in-depth commentary and analysis, breaking down not only the moves but the underlying strategic ideas and tactical motifs. This helps reinforce core chess principles such as piece coordination, central control, king safety, initiative, pawn structure, and dynamic imbalance.We also explore how sacrifices relate to broader chess themes such as opening principles, middlegame plans, and endgame transitions. Many sacrifices are successful because of earlier strategic build-up. By studying these moments in full context, you will understand not only how to sacrifice, but also when to prepare and time them correctly.The course also incorporates model games with a special focus on opening repertoires that naturally give rise to sacrificial opportunities. Openings such as the Italian Game, King’s Gambit, Vienna Game, Danish Gambit, Evans Gambit, and aggressive lines of the Sicilian Defense and French Defense are covered to show how opening choices can influence the likelihood of sacrifices arising in your games.Special attention is also given to:Positional Exchange Sacrifices (especially by Petrosian)Speculative Intuitive Sacrifices (by Tal and Nezhmetdinov)Strategic AI-style Sacrifices (by AlphaZero)Romantic Era Brilliance (Anderssen, Morphy)Hypermodern Positional Ideas (Nimzowitsch)Additional sections include:Sacrifices to punish opening principle violationsSacrifices that leverage king-in-the-center positionsThorn pawn sacrifices to restrict king movementSacrifices to control key files or diagonalsCounter-sacrifices and defensive sacrificesSacrifices to gain tempi and destroy coordinationThis course also provides a downloadable PGN library of all games covered, allowing students to study the examples independently. Students are encouraged to play through these games actively, pause at key moments, and guess the moves themselves to reinforce tactical pattern recognition.You do not need any advanced chess knowledge to take this course. If you understand basic tactics like forks, pins, and discovered attacks, and are familiar with algebraic notation, you’ll be ready to absorb the content. The course is suitable for club players, adult improvers, ambitious beginners, and even advanced students looking to revisit key sacrificial themes in a well-organized format.By the end of the course, you will be able to:Recognize opportunities for tactical and positional sacrificesCalculate sacrifice variations confidentlyApply sacrifice themes in blitz, rapid, and classical formatsAvoid unsound sacrifices through proper evaluationIntegrate sacrifice strategy into your overall game planningPlay with more confidence, creativity, and attacking powerWhether you're preparing for your next online chess tournament, training for over-the-board classical events, or simply looking to deepen your enjoyment of chess through artistic and powerful play, this course will give you the tools to approach every game with deeper insight and sharper vision.Join thousands of students who have transformed their tactical and strategic understanding through structured chess instruction. Learn from legendary masters, train your mind to see deeper, and discover the beauty and impact of the chess sacrifice.This is not just a course about giving up material. This is a complete journey through the art of sacrifice in chess — where calculation meets creativity, and where positional understanding meets tactical execution.Enroll now and unlock the full potential of your attacking and strategic play through "The Complete Guide to Chess Sacrifices."

Overview

Section 1: Introduction

Lecture 1 Why use Chess Sacrifices?

Lecture 2 Sacrifices and general tradeoffs

Lecture 3 When to play a chess sacrifice

Lecture 4 Chess Sacrifice Quotations

Lecture 5 Chess Combination Quotations

Lecture 6 Why Alekhine as a major guide for sacrifice types

Lecture 7 Attacking vs Positional Sacrifices - and how they fit the "Aggression Scale"

Lecture 8 Chess Player Sacrifice Styles

Lecture 9 PDF Download of Chess Player Sacrifice Styles Table

Section 2: Very clear cut sacrifices for mating

Lecture 10 181 Cs- Knight undermined to create a forced checkmate - Alekhine vs Fletcher

Lecture 11 108 Cs- Forcing move option finds the right time to be played - Caravaca vs A.

Lecture 12 55 Cs- Due to bad opening, Black K stuck in center enables sac - A. vs Evenson

Lecture 13 59 Cs- Lack of escape squares give clear cut sacs - Gonsiorovsky vs A.

Lecture 14 90 Cs- Opening trap sequence sac.- Caro-Kann Two Knights - Alekhine vs Bruce

Lecture 15 A cute finish with two knights checkmating - Alekhie vs Cihel

Lecture 16 Attacking pressure results in very logical calculated sac - A. vs Segovia

Section 3: Deflection sacrifices - "If only we could force a weakness of the last move…"

Lecture 17 9 Cs- Black rook overloaded - weakness of last move forced - Alekhine vs Dory

Lecture 18 Killer common square needs to be taken to tipping point - Alekhine vs Kolarzik

Lecture 19 15 Cs- Deflecting pawn sacrifice avoiding passivity - Sergeant vs Alekhine

Lecture 20 84 Cs- Deflection sacrifice helps checkmate with a pawn - Alekhine vs NN

Section 4: Queen sacrifice vs Checking piece

Lecture 21 19 Cs- Queen sacrifice ensures all problems solved for black - Euwe vs Alekhine

Section 5: King safety damage/ reduction e.g. reducing pawn shelter - pawn sacrifice

Lecture 22 4 Cs- Unsound pawn sac but does create sac possibilities - Naastepad vs A.

Lecture 23 37 Cs- Pawn sac even with Queens off still gives strong attack - A. vs Muffang

Section 6: King safety damage/ reduction e.g. reducing pawn shelter - Bishop sacrifice

Lecture 24 38 Cs- Powerful bishop sacrifice even with fork threat - Alekhine vs Andersen

Lecture 25 19 Cs- Logical looking bishop sacrifice needs accuracy after - Davidson vs A.

Lecture 26 95 Cs- Bishop sacrifice helps expose King and bad development - Pirc vs Alekhine

Lecture 27 207 Cs- Bishop sac timings creates many winning ideas - Alekhine vs Drewitt

Lecture 28 6 Cs-Bishop sac like "Piece break" creating new pawn structure - A. vs Stickgold

Section 7: King safety damage /reduction e.g. reducing pawn shelter - Knight sacrifice

Lecture 29 36 Cs-Powerful knight sacrifice leverages attacking rooks -Alekhine vs Borochow

Lecture 30 15 Cs- Knight sac for two points and rook pivot vs e4 effective - A. vs Apel

Lecture 31 Knight to f5 square allowed which enabled Knight sac on g7 - Alekhine vs Palau

Lecture 32 141 Cs-Strong attacking position built up in opp side castling-Bogo. vs Alekhine

Lecture 33 13 Cs- Opposite side castling where White has previously sacced - Hovind vs A.

Section 8: King safety damage /reduction e.g. reducing pawn shelters - Rook sacrifice

Lecture 34 142 Cs- The semi open g-file really asks for a rook sacrifice - A. vs Asztalos

Lecture 35 10 Cs-Exchange sacrifice logically justified for opening bishop- Tselikov vs A.

Lecture 36 16 Cs- Rook sacrifice helps win the Queen or checkmate - Alekhine vs Portela

Lecture 37 4 Cs- Position so strong that rook sac timing not important - A. vs Goncalves

Section 9: King safety damage /reduction e.g. reducing pawn shelters - Queen sacrifice

Lecture 38 445 Cs- Huge pressure on K-side with Q-sac to reduce shelter- Alekhine vs Lasker

Section 10: Greek Gift sacrifice (a specific type of Bishop sacrifice)

Lecture 39 61 Cs- Greek Gift more effective because c8 bishop closed in - A. vs Lovewell

Lecture 40 209 Cs-Bxf6 in opening sets te stage for Greek gift sac- Alekhine vs Asgeirsson

Lecture 41 7 Cs- e5 pawn chain supports Greek Gift sacrifice - Alekhine vs Reilly

Section 11: Fishing pole sacrifice (a sacrifice to open up a file for an 'a' or 'h' rook

Lecture 42 159 Cs- Not entirely sound but iconic Knight sac helps - Alekhine vs Hoelscher

Lecture 43 7 Cs-Black queen a target as well as Fishing pole resources- Alekhine vs Macias

Lecture 44 16 Cs-Richter attack gives rise to many fishing pole ideas - Alekhine vs Linares

Lecture 45 15 Cs- Fishing pole attack style justified when no defensive knight -Perez vs A.

Section 12: Sacrifices to take away more King escape squares which we can be excited about

Lecture 46 257 Cs-Amazing sacrifice builds on lack of escape squares - Potemkin vs Alekhine

Lecture 47 426 Cs- Positional build up has effect for removing escape square - A. vs Yates

Lecture 48 18 Cs- Exchange sac for a pawn and lack of escape squares - Gize vs Alekhine

Lecture 49 12 Cs- knight sac. to cover more opponent King escape squares- Alekhine vs Lista

Lecture 50 6 Cs- Powerful f-file control allows removal of defender- Alekhine vs Mueller

Lecture 51 Logical sacrifice takes away many King escape squares - Alekhine vs Knorad

Lecture 52 7 Cs- Bishop sacrifice has potential to take more escape squares - A. vs Gambino

Section 13: Sacrifices to leverage absolute pins

Lecture 53 98 Cs- Amplifying neglect of key square with a bishop sac - Alekhine vs NN

Lecture 54 218 Cs- Absolute pins are a form of NEGLECT - less square control-Alekhine vs NN

Lecture 55 19 Cs- Nice preparation move before absolute pin sacrifice - Alekhine vs Duras

Lecture 56 115 Cs-Temporary exchange sacrifice creates huge absolute pin - Verlinksy vs A.

Lecture 57 Pin pressure culminates in sacrifice for forcing checkmate - Alekhine vs Schenke

Lecture 58 7 Cs- Absolute pin & great rooks creates many winning variations- A. vs Carlsson

Lecture 59 19 Cs- Knight sacrifice to get absolute pin wins key pawn - Alekhine vs Rabar

Lecture 60 6 Cs- Semi-open g-file leads to dynamic potential to exploit pin - Bona vs A.

Lecture 61 1 C- Sacrifice to open up f-file gets absolute pin rewards - A. vs Clotas

Section 14: Sacrifices to help solve pinning issues when we are pinned

Lecture 62 142 Cs- Ordinary move to try and resolve pin would fail - Mieses vs Alekhine

Section 15: Defensive and counter-attacking sacs- Korchnoi

Lecture 63 Defensive sacrifice refutes black's early attack - Alekhine vs Wilson

Section 16: King hunt sacrifices to bring the King out

Lecture 64 96 Cs-Beautiful Queen sacrifice drags the King down the board - Alekhine vs Prat

Lecture 65 19 Cs- Black too slow - very logical sacrifice to bring king out - A. vs Zubarev

Section 17: Sacrifices to leverage vacuum of weaknesses around King

Lecture 66 69 Cs- In effect a bishop without counterpart - Queen sac - Alekhine vs Steiner

Section 18: "Sacrifice" AKA "Tradeoff" of pawn structure for attacking pressure

Lecture 67 8 Cs-K-side pressure where Bishop pair, structure traded off-Alekhine vs Brunner

Lecture 68 8 Cs- Knight kept on f5 even though pawns doubled - Alekhine vs Picurena

Lecture 69 142 Cs-How to beat the London system with structural tradeoff - Rubinstein vs A.

Section 19: "Sacrifice" AKA "Tradeoff" of active bishop for seemingly passive knight

Lecture 70 123 Cs- Instructive pressure after Bishop takes a passive Knight - Ahues vs A.

Section 20: Sacrifices for aggressive Knight outposts

Lecture 71 3 Cs- A knight really can't wait to get to c6 - dreamy square - A. vs Afritsch

Lecture 72 257 Cs-Powerful knight outpost helps attack plays itself-Boleslavsky vs Lisitsin

Section 21: Sacrifices directed at opponent King soft spots - King only protector

Lecture 73 179 Cs- f2 softspot highly influence of winning variations - Rubinstein vs A.

Lecture 74 44 Cs- Soft spot sacrifice which needs patience to gain material - A. vs Isakov

Lecture 75 269 Cs- f7 softspot sac prepared for with subtle Queen move first - A. vs Feldt

Lecture 76 5 Cs King left in center too long and weakness of last move - A. vs Vasiutinsky

Lecture 77 13 Cs- King soft spot related sacs create great compensation - Alekhine vs Newt

Lecture 78 81 Cs- Very early soft spot sacrifice very effective - Veitch vs Penrose

Lecture 79 9 Cs- Bishop sac. celebrates soft-spot to bring King out - Alekhine vs Aspenieks

Lecture 80 7 Cs- Well timed use of soft spot gives passed pawn potential - A. vs Perez

Lecture 81 2 Cs- Bxf7+ effective and top move - Alekhine vs NN- Blindfold Simul, Paris 1928

Lecture 82 4 Cs- Bxf7+ unsound compared to pawn sac but works anyway - Alekhine vs Blass

Lecture 83 8 Cs- Black's early cxd4 amplified later soft spot sac on f7 - A. vs Castiarena

Lecture 84 6 Cs- Bxf7+ is correct but follow up not completely accurate - A. vs Zagrodzki

Section 22: Sacrifices to create unprotected piece downsides

Lecture 85 14 Cs-Weakness of the last move has unprotected piece downside - Goldfarb vs A.

Lecture 86 3 Cs-Initial exchange sacrifice highlights unprotected pieces - Alekhine vs YMCA

Lecture 87 Despite knight x-ray defended, it can be made unprotected-Alekhine vs Asgeirsson

Lecture 88 19 Cs-Alekhine's last game-Knight sac exposes two unprotected pieces- Lupi vs A.

Lecture 89 19 Cs- g-file check on g5 becomes important for winning material - A. vs Junge

Section 23: Sham AKA Pseudo-Sacrifices AKA Calculated (No risk/speculation really incurred!)

Lecture 90 2 Cs- Exploiting an unprotected bishop on c5- Alekhine vs Mooyman/Citroen

Lecture 91 3 Cs- Black ramps up the pressure with a logical sacrifice - Engelen vs Alekhine

Lecture 92 10 Cs- In Opening White plays calculated sacrifice for advantage- A. vs Sanchez

Lecture 93 44 Cs- Very good calculation for a nice checkmate in the end - Alekhine vs Cruz

Section 24: Named Gambits - Sacrifice - usually of a pawn in the opening

Lecture 94 220 Cs- Alekhine-Chatard Gambit is engine approved for advantage - A. vs Fahrni

Lecture 95 8 Cs-Mietner-Mieses Gambit in Vienna game is very strong - Alekhine vs Goluvsky

Lecture 96 11 Cs-Vienna Gambit has a lot of pressure on semi-open f-file-Alekhine vs Klerck

Lecture 97 90 Cs-Danish Gambit leads to a beautiful Marshall like finish-Alekhine vs Supico

Lecture 98 7 Cs- Danish gambit made to look very dangerous - Alekhine vs Clotas

Section 25: Un-Named as "Gambit" but given name-Sacrifice - usually of a pawn in the opening

Lecture 99 100 Cs-Dark square weaknesses and giving bishop without counterpart- A. vs Bogo.

Section 26: Handling well unexpected sacrifice from opponen to keep control

Lecture 100 4 Cs- Risky pawn move played perhaps overlooking sacrifice - Alekhine vs Llorens

Section 27: Pawn sacrifice for the initiative (not necessarily named gambits)

Lecture 101 19 Cs- Not the Cambridge springs because of Bb4 - Alekhine vs Tennis Club member

Lecture 102 19 Cs-Ponziani is played too greedy giving initiative to Black- Fink vs Alekhine

Lecture 103 9 Cs-Powerful pawn sacrifice fully justified with K in center - Alekhine vs Ward

Lecture 104 155 Cs- Very complex Sicilian Poisoned Pawn game - b2 pawn sac - Tal vs Tolush

Section 28: Clearance sacrifices (vacate square and/or line)

Lecture 105 206 Cs- Powerful default strength of own move (clearance) - A. vs Rubinstein

Lecture 106 11 Cs- The clearance motive starts with taking the a7 pawn - Alekhine vs Menzel

Lecture 107 18 Cs- Clearance themes both with sacs and plain moves - Alekhine vs Levitsky

Lecture 108 11 Cs- Very logical clearance knight sacrifice for mating- Alekhine vs Strazdins

Lecture 109 11 Cs- Clearance sacrifices exploit unsafe King - A./Frank vs Bogo./Pfaffenroth

Lecture 110 17 Cs- Nice clearance sacrifice exploiting King in center - Weil vs Alekhine

Lecture 111 12 Cs- White's miscalculated Queen sac misses clearance sac - Opocensky vs A.

Section 29: Sacrifices to exploit King in Center - not castled early enough or stopped

Lecture 112 227 Cs- White plays too many active operations before castling - Rodzynski vs A.

Lecture 113 288 Cs- Black king in center vulnerable on key diagonals - Alekhine vs Vasic

Lecture 114 186 Cs- Black punished for greed and not having King safety - A. vs Levenfish

Lecture 115 221 Cs- Queen sacrifice punishing black for not castling - Alekhine vs Tenner

Lecture 116 18 Cs-King left too late in center caught by forcing moves - A. vs Palais Royal

Lecture 117 11 Cs- Knight sacrifice helps build pressure on King in center - A. vs Folger

Section 30: Piece or sacrifices for thorn pawns or thorn bishops

Lecture 118 99 Cs- Rook sacrifice for maximising thorn pawn potential - Vygodchikov vs A.

Lecture 119 179 Cs- Thorn bishop gives interesting Rook sac opportunity- Alekhine vs Sterk

Lecture 120 4 Cs- Series of trade-offs help goal of installng thorn pawn-Alekhine vs Hawley

Lecture 121 44 Cs- Pawn sacrifice creates huge K-side pressure and thorn pawn - Leepin vs A.

Lecture 122 13 Cs- Thorn pawn has mating or passed pawn aspects to it - Hausz vs Alekhine

Lecture 123 89 Cs- Fairly clear sacrifice for a thorn bishop - Alekhine vs Cassio

Lecture 124 9 Cs- Thorn bishop sacrifice option was most optimal but game was fun-A. vs Pita

Lecture 125 49 Cs- Strongest move intuitively reinforces thorn bishop - Alekhine vs Munoz

Lecture 126 18 Cs- Knight on f5 can lead to thorn bishop taking away escapes - A. vs Ricondo

Lecture 127 200 Cs-Thorn pawn taking escape squares creates beautiful mates- A. vs Maroczy

Section 31: Sacrifices to gain tempo(s) -Just one extra defensive move can make a difference

Lecture 128 180 Cs- Tempo gain from pawn sac. makes bishop sac effective-A. vs Alexander

Section 32: Sacrifice to win greater material

Lecture 129 216 Cs- Sacrifice to potentially win exchange after b5 played - Alekhine vs Euwe

Lecture 130 195 Cs- Very logical pseudo-sacrifice to win material - Capablanca vs Alekhine

Lecture 131 154 Cs- Clearance sacrifice helps win Q and material - Alekhine vs Tartakower

Lecture 132 10 Cs In a superior position black's knight seems unstable - A. vs Rodriguez

Lecture 133 3 Cs- Queens can sometimes be trapped easily - Alekhine vs Fernandez

Lecture 134 91 Cs- With K in center, relative pin backfires to d5 break - A. vs Podgorny

Lecture 135 86 Cs- Bad opening sequence from black gives exchange sac option - A. vs Poindle

Section 33: Back row mate related sacrifices - force a win from this type of downside

Lecture 136 147 Cs- Clear cut sacrifice for back row mating implications - Alekhine vs Colle

Lecture 137 61 Cs- Passed pawn and back row weakness combine - Bardeleben vs Alekhine

Lecture 138 109 Cs- Back row issues exploited with logical sacrifice -Blumenfeld vs Alekhine

Lecture 139 19 Cs-Black king has a lack of air ("luft") exploited well-Alekhine vs Eliskases

Lecture 140 23 Cs- Sacrifice emphasises back row issues and great bishop -Canepa vs Alekhine

Lecture 141 11 C- King caught in the center means a knight doesn't move-Alekhine vs Letelier

Lecture 142 19 Cs- Back row related issues emerge after black takes d4 pawn - A. vs Flohr

Lecture 143 19 Cs- White in very passive position makes bad King move- Stahlberg vs Alekhine

Lecture 144 7 Cs- Sacrifice emphasises lack of King escape squares - Alekhine vs Piacentini

Section 34: Sacrifices to keep opponent's King in the center - stop castling etc

Lecture 145 79 Cs- Exchange sacrifice keeps K in center and forces accuracy - A. vs Junge

Lecture 146 155 Cs-Sacrifice of a knight followed by exchange - rook down - Alekhine vs Book

Lecture 147 14 Cs-Sacrifice opportunity missed by Alekhine to exploit K in center- A. vs Sik

Section 35: Sacs to lure/decoy key defenders away from K (excited about missing defenders!)

Lecture 148 18 Cs- Bishop sacrifice lures opponents Queen away from King - A. vs Rabinovich

Section 36: Sacrifices to remove key defenders from King

Lecture 149 22 Cs- Weakness of the last move with Knight triggers off sacs - A. vs Morrison

Lecture 150 77 Cs- Black's central defensive bishop becomes targeted - Alekhine vs Opocensky

Lecture 151 6 Cs- The King is a bad protector of the Queen - Lyubimov vs Alekhine

Lecture 152 15 Cs- Principle to remove King defenders but this was UNSOUND! - Pianov vs A.

Lecture 153 172 Cs- Bishop calculated sac to undermine White's King safety - Tarrasch vs A.

Section 37: Blockading positional sacrifice - Blockading key pawns and defensive resources

Lecture 154 9 Cs- Blockading sacrifice works out well - Alekhine vs O'Malley

Lecture 155 436 Cs- Shutting down defensive resource with blockade sac - Fischer vs Benko

Section 38: Positional exchange sacrifice (rook sacrificed for a bishop or a knight)

Lecture 156 105 Cs-Clear cut exchange sacrifice winning material back soon- Alekhine vs Wolf

Lecture 157 57 Cs- Thematic exchange sacrifice in French defence - Rovner vs Tal

Section 39: General Positional sacrifices- often best way to increase positional advantages!

Lecture 158 9 Cs-Clear cut positional exchange sac helps further advantages - Saemich vs A.

Lecture 159 41 Cs- Powerful counter positional pawn sac results in great attack - A. vs West

Section 40: Making sacrifice moves more effective by destroying opponents if…then options

Lecture 160 160 Cs- Logical preparatory move makes a rook sac more effective - A. vs Flohr

Section 41: Sacrifices which help liberate attacking bishops

Lecture 161 17 Cs- Multiple sacrifices open up attacking bishops - Alekhine vs Mendelevic

Section 42: Sacrifices for undermining pawns with often piece safety and King safety impact

Lecture 162 617 Cs- A spectacular sacrifice to help undermine K-side pawn chain - Reti vs A.

Lecture 163 18 Cs- Knight sac highlights weaknesses and enlivens Knight - A. vs Koltanowski

Section 43: Sacrifices for "Diagonal of Death" - the diagonal sensitive on castling K-side

Lecture 164 364 Cs- f3 with loose piece punished for "diagonal of death" - Gruenfeld vs A.

Lecture 165 49 Cs- Bishop sacrifice possibility behind the scenes after f5 - A. vs Golombek

Lecture 166 91 Cs- Knight sacrifice on key diagonal helps passed pawn - Saigin vs Tal

Lecture 167 15 Cs-Black manually "castles" with K on g8 - but diagonal used - A. vs Bornholz

Section 44: Sacrifices for passed pawn potential

Lecture 168 98 Cs- Multiple sacrifices bring alive passed pawn potential - A. vs Schwartz

Lecture 169 10 Cs- Exchange sacrifice helps emphasises connected passers - A. vs Treybal

Lecture 170 690 Cs- Multiple sacrifices show passed pawns vs Knights great -Bogo vs Alekhine

Lecture 171 79 Cs- An inspirational knight sac for passed pawn potential - A. vs Marshall

Lecture 172 19 Cs- Piece sacrifice for winning passed 'a' pawn - Alekhine vs Tartakower

Lecture 173 19 Cs- Queen sacrifice for passed pawn and mate potential - Alekhine vs Saemisch

Lecture 174 75 Cs- White's piece sac refuted by counter-sac for passed pawns- Carranza vs A.

Section 45: Sacrifices to avoid checks and counterplay complexity

Lecture 175 203 Cs-White prevents key checks and opportunities for opponent - A. vs Marshall

Section 46: Sacrifices for a Knight on f5 - ideally with Queen's on as well

Lecture 176 143 Cs-Early pawn sacrifice leads to Knight on f5 with Queens on - A. vs Frieman

Section 47: When simple moves better than sacrificiing

Lecture 177 42 Cs- When winning, the sacrifice goal can have simpler means - Grigoriev vs A,

Lecture 178 71 Cs- In a fun blitz game, Alekhine goes for a Knight sac - Alekhine vs Euwe

Section 48: When strenghening/stabilising better than pressure building or sacrificing

Lecture 179 10 Cs- Junction between sacrifice/ pressure/ strengthen - A. vs Benitez / Vidal

Section 49: When no sacrifice is needed: Winning by pure pressure and/or weakness provoking

Lecture 180 42 Cs- No material sac. needed but doubled pawns tradeoff- Steiner vs Alekhine

Lecture 181 1 C- Smooth game of pressurising and weakness provocation - Menchik vs Alekhine

Lecture 182 2 Cs- Super smooth Nimzo-Indian with strong attack - Jongedijk vs Alekhine

Lecture 183 80 Cs- Smooth game where Black King stranded in center - Alekhine vs Euwe

Lecture 184 61 Cs-Only a sacrifice behind the scenes needed to be seen - Saemich vs Alekhine

Lecture 185 55 Cs- Such a brutal attack building up that no sacrifice needed -A. vs Weenink

Section 50: Adolf Anderssen- Romantic Era "Brilliant" Sacrifices that are like works of art!

Lecture 186 1009 Cs - "Immortal game" - many brilliant sacrifices - Anderssen vs Kieseritzky

Lecture 187 806 Cs- "Evergreen Game" - one move away from trouble - Anderssen vs Dufresne

Section 51: Aron NImzovich Hypermodern Era Positional Sacrifices and wider tradeoffs

Lecture 188 597 Cs- "Immortal Zugzwang" - Sac for positional domination - Saemich vs Nimzo.

Lecture 189 316 Cs- "Women's prison" - Sac for overprotection of e5 - Nimzo vs Hakansson

Lecture 190 242 Cs- "Knight who says Nh1!" - Sac of time & activity - Nimzo vs Rubinstein

Lecture 191 234 Cs- Sac (Tradeoff) of Bishop pair and center occupation - Mattison vs Nimzo.

Lecture 192 230 Cs- Sac (AKA Trade off) literal occupation for control - Nimzo vs Salwe

Lecture 193 153 Cs- Why "Blockade" can be interesting goal for sacrifices - Mannheimer vs N.

Section 52: Paul Morphy – Punishment Sacrifices for Violating Opening Principles

Lecture 194 1085 Cs- Opening principle violations -King in Center- Morphy vs Karl / Isouard

Lecture 195 385 Cs- White really needed to prioritise castling - Schulten vs Morphy

Lecture 196 371 Cs- Sacs not always necessary to punish bad opening - Morphy vs Schrufer

Lecture 197 306 Cs- One pawn move too many punished severely - Morphy vs Anderssen

Lecture 198 303 Cs- Evans Gambit gone wrong losing central control - Marache vs Morphy

Section 53: Tigran Petrosian's famous exchange sacrifices

Lecture 199 213 Cs- Exchange sac for blockading that impressed Tal - Reshevsky vs Petrosian

Lecture 200 610 Cs- Two exchange sacrifices create counterattack - Petrosian vs Spassky

Lecture 201 372 Cs- Attacking exchange sac- White's rooks not great - Spassky vs Petrosian

Lecture 202 219 Cs- The exchange sac that ended a 20 game win streak - Petrosian vs Fischer

Lecture 203 134 Cs- Exchange sac for passed pawns and light squares - Spassky vs Petrosian

Lecture 204 96 Cs- Exchange sac gives powerful light square grip - Petrosian vs Rashkovsky

Lecture 205 50 Cs- Exchange sac gives central passed pawn potential - Dunaev vs Petrosian

Lecture 206 19 Cs- Two exchange sacs in one game further advantage - Troianescu vs Petrosian

Section 54: Mikhail Tal's speculative/intuitive sacrifices - "Waffly reasoning" important

Lecture 207 554 Cs- Positional Knight sacrifice includes liberatating bishops- Tal vs Larsen

Lecture 208 451 Cs- In the absence of dark squared bishop K is vulnerable - Tal vs Hjartason

Lecture 209 406 Cs- At key junction point, a bishop sac seems promising - Tal vs Smyslov

Lecture 210 383 Cs- At key junction point, a Knight sac seems promising - Botvinnik vs Tal

Lecture 211 378 Cs- K in center -Queen sacrifice later followed by Bishop sac - Tal vs Hecht

Lecture 212 368 Cs- Too complex a deep dark forest for humans to comprehend -Tal vs Koblents

Lecture 213 295 Cs- Intuitive Queen sacrifice has many intuitive reasons - Bobotsov vs Tal

Section 55: Rashid Nezhmetdinov’s Firework Sacrifices – When Art Meets Accuracy

Lecture 214 552 Cs- Creating works of art rather than rating concerns - Polugaevsky vs Nez.

Lecture 215 421 Cs- An incredible Positional Queen Sacrifice- Nezhmetdinov vs Chernikov

Lecture 216 223 Cs- Exploiting King in the center with beautiful sacs - Nezhmetdinov vs Tal

Lecture 217 104 Cs- Initial knight sacrifice sets up absolute pin beauties - Nez. vs Kotkov

Lecture 218 95 Cs- Two Knight sacs helo prove which King is truly unsafe - Nez. vs Paoli

Section 56: Bobby Fischer's "Tactics flow from superior positions" sacrificial style

Lecture 219 1203 Cs- "Game of the century" - sacs sound, engine approved- D.Byrne vs Fischer

Lecture 220 849 Cs- "The Brilliancy Prize" - sac sound, engine approved - R.Byrne vs Fischer

Lecture 221 660 Cs- "Best by Protest" - great positional build up - Fischer vs Spassky

Section 57: AlphaZero's AI Neural Network Sacrifices – Superhuman Intuition in Action

Lecture 222 32 Cs- Sac for "Installations" that have huge benefits - Alphazero vs Stockfish

Lecture 223 17 Cs- Six pawn sad offerings showing power of pressure - Alphazero vs Stockfish

Section 58: PGN Downloads

Lecture 224 PGN Downloads

Section 59: Conclusions and Philosophical points

Lecture 225 Conclusions

Section 60: Bonus

Lecture 226 Bonus Lecture

Beginner to intermediate players (0–1600 rating) who want to go beyond basic tactics and learn when and why sacrifices work.,Players who struggle to judge whether a sacrifice is sound or speculative — and want to build intuition and confidence.,Students who love classic attacking games and want to study legends like Alekhine, Tal, Petrosian, and Fischer to understand different styles of sacrifice.,Anyone who wants to make their games more dynamic, creative, and fun — whether in online blitz or over-the-board tournaments.