Essential Chess Sacrifices (How to... Chess Tactics)

A Gambit Classic Reissue: A guide to the sacrifices that are most fundamental to understanding chess"a modern successor to Vladimir Vukovic's groundbreaking The Art of Attack in Chess." - IM John Donaldson, USA Team CaptainSacrifices are an essential part of chess. Those who never consider sacrificing will miss countless opportunities and find that promising positions repeatedly slip away. Players who do not appreciate their opponents' sacrificial possibilities will be unable to see danger signs, and find themselves on the wrong end of too many king-hunts.In this unique book, popular author David LeMoir investigates in detail the most important standard sacrificial ideas. Rather than merely cataloguing the various possibilities and providing examples, he discusses the possible follow-ups to the sacrifices, the defensive options against them, and the positional factors that might suggest whether the sacrifice will be sound or unsound. There are many important types of chess positions that can only be played well by those who understand the thematic sacrifices that are possible.The sacrificial ideas covered in this book lie at the heart of some very popular opening systems, and indeed there are few games in which one or another of these sacrifices isn't relevant.David LeMoir is an experienced chess-player and writer. He twice won the championship of the West of England and was runner-up on four occasions. In 2000, he was champion of the English county of Norfolk. In a successful career as a business strategy consultant, he has made good use of the strategic and decision-making skills that are developed by playing chess. He has earned a reputation for writing chess books that discuss important practical chess topics with great clarity. This is his third chess book, his previous works (also published by Gambit) being How to Be Lucky in Chess and How to Become a Deadly Chess Tactician."LeMoir fulfills my requirements for a great chess book. He gives us mostly complete games so you can see how the position develops. There is lots of text, not just for the attacker but for the defender also. Then he concludes with why the sac worked and what to look for and plenty of diagrams to follow 'How To Make Sacrifices Work'." - Sigurd, Sig's Chess"Essential Chess Sacrifices is a must-buy for anyone who ever harboured hopes of being a combinative chessplayer ... I would rank it as the definitive manual of the piece-sacrifice." - Norman Stephenson, ClevelandChess"The definitive and BEST word on this subject. I have already played through 5 games of systems which can or could concern me, and I intend to go through another 30 or more. This book should have been written a long time ago. His historical and database selections are also perfectly chosen. A true treasure in chess for which I predict a good future." - Chessco"The beauty of a book like this for average club players is that it reinforces what you are already rather vaguely aware of. It provides a more structured approach to understanding the potential of typical sacrificial continuations and gives you the confidence to take the plunge where previously you might have ducked out and taken a more positional approach. What amazes me is the number of times strong players allow themselves to be victims of such sacrificial attacks. If they can be caught out, so can your much less able club opponent. Read the book and arm yourself!" - Alan Sutton, En Passant Read more