Queen Sacrifice

"For it is in giving that we receive" -St.Francis of Assisi





Right from the times of Greco until the current day, the idea of sacrifices in chess has appealed to both amateurs and professionals alike. Masters of the yesteryear valued the spirit of chivalry very highly and would even stake their quest for victory in order to create artistic beauty. Perhaps, things have changed a little bit nowadays with the advent of better defense aided with advent of powerful chess engines refuting( in theory) daring and beautiful attacks through cold blooded defense( though, I have to admit, who knows how Alpha Zero has changed even the perception of the engines! ) Nevertheless I know that all of the players aspire to create a lasting masterpiece over the board. If sacrifices appeal to the artistic side of a chess player what can be a better way than to sacrifice the most powerful of all pieces- the Queen?

   While observing the games from the ongoing Asian Continental Chess Championship at China, the following position from the first board duel between two talented youngsters caught my eye.

This is the position after White's 9th move in the game between  the Iranian prodigy Alireza Firouzja and Karthikeyan Murali of India. Here after 21 minutes of thought former National Champion Karthikyan came up 9...Qxc3!!  From the time spent I infer that it was purely an improvisation over the board than a result of detailed home preparation( which makes it even more impressive!) The sacrifice is purely positional one and there are no forced lines leading to clear assessments in the near vicinity. I do not ( or even want to!) know whether the sacrifice is objectively the best continuation and so on. But things are clear that as a practical player the opponent is in for a big shock when you sacrifice your queen this early in the game for 2 minor pieces.  There can also be thoughts such as " I need to refute this impudent sacrifice etc" which can be counterproductive to a calm thought process. So all in all a brilliant psychological master stroke, but things do not end there! Thinking purely in chess terms also I like the fact that Black gets 2 minor pieces and a pawn for the sacrificed Queen and apart from that wrecks white;s pawn structure a little bit and gains good sole control of dark squares of the board. But all said and done, a Queen is still a Queen and it still requires great guts and imagination to sacrifice it!



Here is the position after 2 more moves.

  Note the position of the pawn on h3 which weakens the g3 square and also indirectly the f4-square. If the pawn were on h2 White could have retained a good chance of control of central dark squares with an eventual g2-g3 and f3-f4. But black obviously was attentive to this little detail!

Moving on, we come to the position after Black's 16th move ....Bf4

Clearly things have become a whole lot brighter from Black's perspective. He is completely dominating the central and king-side dark squares, thanks to the absence of Whites minor pieces which could have controlled them. White's King is rather shaky in trying to find a permanent shelter, while Whites pawns especially the backward doubled pawns on the semi open c-file are inviting targets for Blacks pieces. Black has no targets/ weaknesses to offer White's major pieces. Black's coordination among all his pieces is nothing short of remarkable!


Let us move in to the position after move 27 by Black

Each one of Black's pieces are a symbol of efficiency. With 27...f5  Black brings in the last dormant rook on f8 into the game and crashes through White's defenses. I will conclude this game with 2 more diagrams.

This position after Black's 32nd move is reminiscent of end games from a Sicilian Dragon where Black mops up all White's pawns though he is an exchange down.

The final position after move 53...Kf3  whereupon White resigned is a picture of pure domination!Given below is the full game re playable with my comments

[Event "Asian Championship"] [Site "chess24.com"] [Date "2019.06.11"] [Round "5.1"] [White "Firouzja, Alireza"] [Black "Karthikeyan, Murali"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E90"] [WhiteElo "2682"] [BlackElo "2593"] [Annotator "Kidambi,Sundararajan"] [PlyCount "104"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Iran"] [BlackTeam "India"] [WhiteTeamCountry "IRI"] [BlackTeamCountry "IND"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. h3 O-O 6. Be3 c5 7. Nf3 Qa5 8. Nd2 cxd4 9. Nb3 Qxc3+ $1 {A purely positional sacrifice of the Queen after 21 minutes of thought. From this I infer that this was an improvisation over the board. The exclamation mark is for the courage and imagination. I do not know or even care about the objective assesment of the position, but from the practical player's point of view it is quite hard for White to deal with this over the board. First White has to overcome the psycological shock of having to deal with the very rare Queen sacrifice for a couple of minor pieces. And secondly it is not at all easy to defend with the Queen( It is a great attacking piece, but not as good as a defender as the pieces with lesser value will constantly harass it). And finally there is this over estimation of the position in the lines of "White should be winning, I should be able to punish my opponent for this travesty etc"} 10. bxc3 dxe3 11. f3 {Ambitious, but a bit risky too. White wants to keep his pawn structure intact and hopes to encircle the e3-pawn in the long run. Alas this does not happen in the game, and the pawn on e3 turns out to be a thorn in white's flesh.} (11. Qc2 exf2+ 12. Kxf2 Nc6 {Black has two minor pieces and a pawn for the sacrificed Queen. But more importantly, White's weak pawn strucure, and a slightly weakened King and the lack of control of dark squares from White's view point give Black a positional compensation for the Queen.}) 11... Nh5 $1 {It is important to note that White's pawn being placed on h3 is a key aspect of Black's sacrifice. if the pawn were on h2 white would have been able to play g2-g3 and neutralise all Blacks activity. But because of this little detail, Black now pursues the weakned f4 square with full vigour!} 12. Qc1 Bh6 13. g4 Nf4 14. Kd1 Ne6 { With the exception of the pawn on c3, all other White's pawns stand on light squares. Coupled with the fact that White misses his dark squared Bishop clearly underline his helplessness on the dark squares.From here on Black simply keeps increasing his control of and utilizing the weakened dark squares in the opponent's camp.} 15. Kc2 Nc6 16. h4 Bf4 {f4 square becomes a safe haven for Black's minor pieces.} 17. Qd1 Ne5 $1 {Note that Black's pieces are protecting each other, and his pawn structure is intact which is also protecting one another. White's pieces and especially his Queen is helpless without any targets to attack. On the other hand Black mops up the weak pawns( c4,f3 ) and relentlessly moves forward.} 18. Nc1 Bd7 19. a4 Rac8 20. Ne2 Bh6 21. g5 Bg7 22. Bh3 Nxf3 23. Qd3 Ne5 24. Qxe3 Nxc4 25. Qf2 ({If} 25. Qxa7 Bc6 ( 25... Nc5 {is possible but not necessary} 26. Bxd7 Ra8 27. Qxa8 Rxa8 28. Bb5) 26. Ng3 Ra8 27. Qf2 Bxa4+ {Whites position collapses.}) 25... Rc5 26. Rhb1 Bc6 27. Bg2 f5 $1 {Opening up the f-file and activating the only dormant piece on f8 means that its curtains for White.} 28. gxf6 Bxf6 (28... Rxf6 29. Qg3 Bh6 $5 {All Black's pieces are effectively placed and pose a dominating position!}) 29. Rf1 Bxc3 ({Perhaps even simpler was} 29... Bg7 $5 30. Qg1 Rxf1 {Any capture on f1 leads to material losses. Quite geometric!} 31. Bxf1 (31. Rxf1 Bxa4+) 31... Bxe4+) 30. Qxc5 Nxc5 31. Rxf8+ Kxf8 32. Kxc3 Ne5 $19 {The position has transformed into one where Black is an exchange down but has three pawns in return. But more than the material distribution, White's problem lies in the fact that his remaining isolated pawns are also very weak and Black's pawns are connected and well protected by his pieces. So Black is slowly but surely winning!} 33. a5 Nxe4+ 34. Bxe4 Bxe4 35. Nd4 Bd5 36. Nb5 a6 37. Nc7 Bc6 38. Rf1+ Kg7 39. Ne6+ Kh6 40. Rf8 Kh5 41. Rh8 h6 42. Rh7 Kxh4 43. Rxh6+ Kg4 44. Nd4 Kg5 45. Rh2 Bd5 46. Re2 Kf4 47. Rf2+ Nf3 48. Re2 e5 49. Nc2 Be4 50. Ne3 d5 51. Kb4 Nd4 52. Re1 Kf3 {A wonderfully played game. A picture of positional domination!} 0-1

While looking at the above game the famous game Spassky-Bronstein Amsterdam Candidates 1956 obviously came to my mind. I will share some interesting moments from the classic game.

Bronstein played 9....Nxg3 here inviting 10.Qf2 to which he had prepared the response

10......Nxf1  sacrificing his Queen for two minor pieces and a couple of pawns just like how it happened in the Alireza-Karthikeyan game.

Moving forward we reach the position after White's 13th move 13.b3. Here according to Bronstein it was possible to play the active 13....Na3!? with a later ...Nb4 in mind. Instead he chose to play 13....Nb6  and the game went on. The next interesting moment comes after White's 20th move exf5

Once again according to Bronstein, he had a fine move in 20....Ne7! wherein he keeps the initiative which was atleast good for a draw. A sample variation which captivated me was ( though by no means forced!) 21.fxg6 Nf5 22. gxh7+ Kh8 23. Qe1 Nd3 24. Qd2 Nh4+ 25.Kg3 Rg8+! leading to mate.

Instead Bronstein chose to play 20....Bf5 which led to the sly response 21.Ra4! from Spassky which as Bronstein admits he had evidently overlooked. The game was a big slugfest after that but Spassky nursed home his material advantage in exemplary fashion.You can check the full game with Bronstein's comments from his book Sorcerers Apprentice co authored with Tom Furstenberg in the replayable board below.

[Event "Candidates Tournament"] [Site "Amsterdam/Leeuwarden"] [Date "1956.04.18"] [Round "12"] [White "Spassky, Boris Vasilievich"] [Black "Bronstein, David Ionovich"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E80"] [Annotator "Bronstein"] [PlyCount "95"] [EventDate "1956.03.27"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "18"] [EventCountry "NED"] [SourceTitle "Sorcerer's Apprentice"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "1999.07.01"] [SourceVersion "2"] [SourceVersionDate "1999.07.01"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 e5 6. d5 Nh5 7. Be3 Na6 8. Qd2 Qh4+ 9. g3 {To an amateur Black's moves may seem unorthodox, but in chess 2+2 is not always 4!} (9. Bf2 Qe7) 9... Nxg3 {!!! Max Euwe in the tournament book: "An extremely deep and highly original conception whereby Black sacrifices his Queen for the pair of Bishops and a couple of pawns! A most enterprising combination.Everybody knows that the Queen is stronger than the two bishops in the endgame. It is very difficult to judge the correctness of this sacrifice but one thing is certain: if there is a player in the world who could make such a conception work, it can only be Bronstein! It is a pity that he failed, maybe he was not in form that day"} 10. Qf2 Nxf1 11. Qxh4 Nxe3 12. Kf2 (12. Ke2 Nc2 13. Rc1 Nd4+ 14. Kd1 O-O 15. Nce2 f5 16. Nxd4 exd4 17. Nh3 fxe4 18. fxe4 Nc5 19. Nf2 d3 20. b4 Rxf2 21. bxc5 Rg2 22. h3 Bd7 23. c6 bxc6 24. Qe7 Bh6 25. Qxd7 Rd2+ 26. Ke1 Re2+ 27. Kd1 Rf8 28. Rb1 Rd2+ 29. Ke1 Re2+ 30. Kd1 Ref2 31. Ke1 Bd2+ 32. Kd1 Bc3 33. Re1 Rf1 {White resigns 0-1 (33) Rhodes,H-Learner,A Sorcerer's Apprentice [Bronstein]}) 12... Nxc4 13. b3 Nb6 ({More active would have been} 13... Na3) 14. Nge2 f5 15. Rhg1 O-O 16. Kg2 Bd7 {Black has an excellent pawn formation.} 17. a4 Bf6 18. Qg3 Nb4 19. a5 Nc8 {So far all of Black's plans have been successful.} 20. exf5 $2 ({If now} 20. h4 {there could follow} Ne7 21. Rh1 Nc2 22. Rac1 Ne3+ 23. Kf2 f4 24. Qg1 Rf7 25. h5 g5 26. h6 Kh8 {and later Rg8 with the intention of opening more scope for both Bishops by playing g4.}) 20... Bxf5 $2 {Not the best move from either player} ({ Black has atleast a draw with} 20... Ne7 {for instance} 21. Ne4 ({White cannot play} 21. fxg6 {because after} Nf5 $1 {Black has a winning attack for instance} 22. Qe1 (22. Qf2 Nd3) (22. gxh7+ {is even worse} Kh8 23. Qe1 Nd3 24. Qd2 Nh4+ 25. Kg3 Rg8+ $3) 22... Nc2) 21... Nxf5 22. Nxf6+ Rxf6 23. Qg5 Raf8 {followed by Nxd5 or Nd3}) 21. Ra4 {Black completely overlooked this move but he continues to fight and put up a strong resistance.} Nd3 ({Better was} 21... Na6 {right away}) 22. Rc4 Nc5 23. Ne4 Na6 24. Nxf6+ Rxf6 25. f4 e4 26. Nc3 Ne7 27. Re1 Raf8 {Drawing all pieces into attack.Perhaps only Spassky can win such a position.} 28. b4 c6 29. Nxe4 Bxe4+ 30. Rcxe4 Nxd5 {Black originally sacrificed his Q to obtain the pair of Bishops.All that now remains are the two Knights.} 31. Re8 Nac7 32. Rxf8+ Kxf8 33. Kh1 Rf5 34. Qh4 Nf6 35. Qf2 Nb5 { Black tries to construct a fortress but he is disillusioned and has no fighting spirit left.} 36. Qe2 Nd5 37. a6 bxa6 {The fortress turns out to be a 'Hollywood village' with many entry gates and no protection.} 38. Qe8+ Kg7 39. Qxc6 Kh6 40. Qxa6 Nxb4 41. Qb7 Nd3 42. Re7 Nxf4 43. Rxh7+ Kg5 44. Qe7+ Kg4 45. Qe3 Kg5 46. h4+ Kg4 47. Kh2 Nh5 {A fight to the very end} 48. Rh6 {Black resigns} 1-0

This is a position from the blitz game between Kramnik and Kasparov from 1994, as you would have already guessed, Black chose 12....Nfxe4! sacrificing the Queen for 2 minor pieces and a pawn. Despite being a blitz game it illustrates the point well and is quite similiar in spirit to the other two games examined here. For the continuation and the full game find the board viwer below

[Event "Munich Intel Express blitz '5"] [Site "Munich"] [Date "1994.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Kramnik, Vladimir"] [Black "Kasparov, Garry"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E92"] [WhiteElo "2710"] [BlackElo "2815"] [Annotator "Kidambi,Sundararajan"] [PlyCount "78"] [EventDate "1994.05.??"] [EventType "tourn (blitz)"] [EventRounds "17"] [EventCountry "GER"] [SourceTitle "EXT 2000"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "1999.11.16"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "1999.11.16"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. d5 a5 8. Bg5 h6 9. Bh4 Na6 10. O-O Bd7 11. Nd2 Nc5 12. b3 Nfxe4 13. Bxd8 Nxc3 14. Qe1 Rfxd8 15. Rc1 Nxa2 16. Ra1 Nb4 {We see a similar scenario as with the other King's Indian games. Black has two minor pieces and 2 pawns for the Queen. But also his coordination is perfect, all pawns and pieces protect each other and White completely lacks any sort of targets. Whereas Black is going to slowly improve and march forward, creating targets for attack along the way which would be very difficult to defend from White's viewpoint because Major pieces are not good defenders.} 17. Bd1 e4 18. Rb1 Re8 19. Qe3 f5 20. h4 Rf8 21. g3 Rae8 22. Kg2 Nbd3 23. Rg1 f4 24. gxf4 Rxf4 25. h5 g5 26. Rf1 Rh4 27. Rh1 Rf4 28. Rf1 Ref8 29. f3 Rh4 30. fxe4 ({A very interesting and pretty line would be} 30. Rh1 Nf4+ 31. Kg1 Nh3+ 32. Kg2 Bd4 33. Qxd4 exf3+ 34. Nxf3 Rxd4 35. Nxd4 Rf2+ 36. Kg3 Ne4#) 30... Nf4+ 31. Kg1 Ncd3 32. e5 Nxe5 33. Rc1 Rh3 34. Nf3 g4 35. Nxe5 Rxe3 36. Nxd7 Nh3+ 37. Kg2 Rxf1 38. Kxf1 g3 39. Kg2 Nf4+ 0-1

My observation from these three games are as follows:-

1.The side sacrificing the Queen maintains a very clean pawn structure.
2. The minor pieces co-ordinate well with the pawns as well as remaining major pieces on the board.
3.This also means that there are no targets for the Opponent's queen and instead there are usually targets for the side who has sacrificed his queen
4.The Queen , though a very good attacking piece is by far a poor defensive piece. This is even more pronounced when dealing with pieces of lesser value( especially the minor pieces)

To conclude, I would like to congratulate Karthi for taking such a pretty decision and etching his name in history along with the other giants!  I also feel that I have barely scratched the surface of a fascinating topic- namely Positional Queen Sacrifices. Interested readers can turn their attention towards Spielmann's Art of Sacrifice in Chess and Suba's Positional Chess Sacrifices.

As an additional study material I would also refer the readers to check the following games.Happy Explorations!

                     
                                                  Nezhmedtinov-Chernikov 1962

                                           Kramnik-Ezat 2013

  

                                               Ivanchuk-Karjakin Amber Rapid 2008