About the Book
"The beauty of a game of chess is usually appraised, and with good reason, according to the sacrifices it contains. On principle we incline to rate a sacrificial game more highly than a positional game. Instinctively we place the moral value above the scientific. We honor Capablanca, but our hearts beat higher when Morphy's name is mentioned." - Introduction.Perhaps the strongest Austrian-born grandmaster of the20th century, Rudolf Spielmann (1883-1942) defeated such world-class opponents as Nimzovich, Tartakower, Bogoljubov - and even the great Capablanca. Among the reasons for his success was his mastery of the art of sacrifice. In this ground-breaking classic, distilled from 40 years of tournament play, he outlines the hard-won lessons that enable a player to win games by giving up pieces!Drawing on dozens of his own games against such topflight players as Schlechter, Tartakower, Bogoljubov, Reti, Rubinstein and Tarrasch, Spielmann describes and analysis various type of sacrifices: (positional, for gain, mating) and real sacrifices: (for development, obstructive, preventive, line-clearance, vacating, deflecting and more). The result was the first systematic attempt to explain and exploit the theory of chess sacrifice; it remains an extremely helpful and useful weapon in the arsenal of chess players at every level.
Table of Contents:
INTRODUCTION 1. THE VARIOUS TYPES OF SACRIFICES SHAM SACRIFICES 11 Positional Sacrifices EXAMPLE 1: Spielmann-Pirc, Match, 1931 EXAMPLE 2: Spielmann-Schlechter, Ostend, 1906 EXAMPLE 3: Pirc-Spielmann, Match, 1931 Sacrifices for Gain EXAMPLE 4: Bogolyubov-Spielmann, Magdeburg, 1927 EXAMPLE 5: Spielmann-Muller, Ebensee, 1933 Mating Sacrifices EXAMPLE 6: Spielmann-Honlinger, Match, 1929 EXAMPLE 7: Spielmann-Dr. Tartakover, Marienbad, 1925 EXAMPLE 8: Spielmann-Grunfeld, Carlsbad, 1929 EXAMPLE 9: Spielmann-L'hermet, Magdeburg, 1927 REAL SACRIFICES Sacrifices for Development EXAMPLE 10: Schories-Spielmann, Scheveningen, 1905 EXAMPLE 11: Dr. Bernstein-Spielmann, Ostend, 1906 Obstructive Sacrifices EXAMPLE 12: Spielmann-Landau, Match, 1933 EXAMPLE 13: Spielmann-Honlinger, Vienna, 1933 EXAMPLE 14: Spielmann-Bogolyubov, Match, 1932 EXAMPLE 15: Spielmann-Walter, Trentschin-Teplitz, 1928 Preventive (or Anti-castling) Sacrifice EXAMPLE 16: Spielmann-Duras, Scheveningen, 1905 70 EXAMPLE 17: Spielmann-Mieses, Match, 1910 EXAMPLE 18: Mieses-Spielmann, Match, 1910 EXAMPLE 19: Gereben-Spielmann, Sopron, 1934 Line-Clearance Sacrifices EXAMPLE 20: Spielmann-Flamberg, Mannheim, 1914 EXAMPLE 21: Spielmann-Eljaschoff, Munich, 1903 EXAMPLE 22: Spielmann-Griinfeld, Teplitz-Schonau, 1922 Vacating Sacrifices EXAMPLE 23: Spielmann-Janowski, Giuoco Piano, Carlsbad, 1907 EXAMPLE 24: Spielmann-Reti, Abbazia, 1912 Deflecting or Decoy Sacrifices EXAMPLE 25: Spielmann-Forgacs, Hamburg, 1910 (Castled) King's Field Sacrifice EXAMPLE 26: Spielmann-Dekker, Bussum, 1934 EXAMPLE 27: Leonhardt-Spielmann, Nuremberg, 1906 EXAMPLE 28: Spielmann-Duras, Ostend, 1907 EXAMPLE 29: Spielmann-Bogolyubov, Match, 1932 EXAMPLE 30: Becker-Spielmann, Vienna, 1926 King-Hunt Sacrifices EXAMPLE 31: Rubinstein-Spielmann, San Sebastian, 1912 148 EXAMPLE 32: Spielmann-Rubinstein, Vienna, 1933 154 2. SACRIFICIAL VALUE THE EXCHANGE SACRIFICE EXAMPLE 33: Dr. Treybal-Spielmann, Teplitz-Schonau, 1922 EXAMPLE 34: Spielmann-Dr. Tarrasch, Carlsbad, 1923 EXAMPLE 35: Spielmann-Dr. Tartakover, Munich, 1909 THE QUEEN SACRIFICE EXAMPLE 36: Spielmann-Maroczy, Vienna, 1907 EXAMPLE 37: Spielmann-Moller, Gothenburg, 1920 EPILOGUE INDEX OF OPENINGS
