Greek gift sacrifice
Encyclopedia
In chess
, the Greek gift sacrifice or classical bishop sacrifice is a typical sacrifice
of a bishop
by White playing Bxh7+ or Black playing Bxh2+.
The position to the right, which might occur after the moves 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.Nf3 Bb4 6.Bd3 O-O?? (see diagram at right), is a simple case where the Greek gift sacrifice works. White can play 7.Bxh7+! Kxh7 8.Ng5+ to force black to give up the queen
to prevent mate:
These variations are typical of many Greek gift sacrifices, though the outcome is not always so clear-cut.
Black could play 7...Kh8 instead, but due to poor king safety, also leads to a lost position:
7...Kh8 8.Ng5 g6 9.Qg4 Qe7 10.Qh3 Kg7 11.O-O Nc6 12.Nge4 f6 13.Bh6+ Kf7 14.exf6 Nxf6 15.Ng5+ Ke8 16.Bxg6+ Kd8 17.Bxf8 Qxf8
Greek gift sacrifices, or the threat of them, occur relatively frequently in play, especially at the lower levels. One of the most famous examples of the sacrifice is found in the game Edgard Colle
- O'Hanlon, Nice 1930. Less commonly, a Greek gift sacrifice may be the prelude to a double bishop sacrifice, as seen in the game Lasker - Bauer, Amsterdam 1889.
The etymology
of the phrase "Greek gift" in this context is not entirely clear. The obvious explanation is that it alludes to the Trojan Horse
, and specifically to Virgil
's famous "timeo danaos et dona ferentes
" ("I fear the Greeks even [when they are] bringing gifts", Aeneid
II.49). The Oxford Companion to Chess, however, suggests that one explanation is that the sacrifice often occurred in Gioachino Greco's games.
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
, the Greek gift sacrifice or classical bishop sacrifice is a typical sacrifice
Sacrifice (chess)
In chess, a sacrifice is a move giving up a piece in the hopes of gaining tactical or positional compensation in other forms. A sacrifice could also be a deliberate exchange of a chess piece of higher value for an opponent's piece of lower value....
of a bishop
Bishop (chess)
A bishop is a piece in the board game of chess. Each player begins the game with two bishops. One starts between the king's knight and the king, the other between the queen's knight and the queen...
by White playing Bxh7+ or Black playing Bxh2+.
The position to the right, which might occur after the moves 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.Nf3 Bb4 6.Bd3 O-O?? (see diagram at right), is a simple case where the Greek gift sacrifice works. White can play 7.Bxh7+! Kxh7 8.Ng5+ to force black to give up the queen
Queen (chess)
The queen is the most powerful piece in the game of chess, able to move any number of squares vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. Each player starts the game with one queen, placed in the middle of the first rank next to the king. With the chessboard oriented correctly, the white queen starts...
to prevent mate:
- 8...Kh8 9.Qh5+ Kg8 10.Qh7#
- 8...Kg8 9.Qh5 Qxg5 (9...Re8 10.Qxf7+ Kh8 11.Qh5+ Kg8 12.Qh7+ Kf8 13.Qh8+ Ke7 14.Qxg7#) 10.Bxg5 wins the queen
- 8...Kh6 9.Nxe6+ wins the queen
- 8...Kg6 9.h4 and there is no satisfactory way to meet the threat of 10.h5+ Kh6 (10...Kf5 11.Qf3#) 11.Nxf7+, winning the queen
- 8...Qxg5 9.Bxg5 wins the queen
These variations are typical of many Greek gift sacrifices, though the outcome is not always so clear-cut.
Black could play 7...Kh8 instead, but due to poor king safety, also leads to a lost position:
7...Kh8 8.Ng5 g6 9.Qg4 Qe7 10.Qh3 Kg7 11.O-O Nc6 12.Nge4 f6 13.Bh6+ Kf7 14.exf6 Nxf6 15.Ng5+ Ke8 16.Bxg6+ Kd8 17.Bxf8 Qxf8
Greek gift sacrifices, or the threat of them, occur relatively frequently in play, especially at the lower levels. One of the most famous examples of the sacrifice is found in the game Edgard Colle
Edgard Colle
Edgard Colle was a Belgian chess master. He scored excellent results in major international tournaments, including first at Amsterdam 1926, ahead of Savielly Tartakower and future world champion Max Euwe; first at Meran 1926, ahead of Esteban Canal; and first at Scarborough 1930, ahead of Maróczy...
- O'Hanlon, Nice 1930. Less commonly, a Greek gift sacrifice may be the prelude to a double bishop sacrifice, as seen in the game Lasker - Bauer, Amsterdam 1889.
The etymology
Etymology
Etymology is the study of the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time.For languages with a long written history, etymologists make use of texts in these languages and texts about the languages to gather knowledge about how words were used during...
of the phrase "Greek gift" in this context is not entirely clear. The obvious explanation is that it alludes to the Trojan Horse
Trojan Horse
The Trojan Horse is a tale from the Trojan War about the stratagem that allowed the Greeks finally to enter the city of Troy and end the conflict. In the canonical version, after a fruitless 10-year siege, the Greeks constructed a huge wooden horse, and hid a select force of men inside...
, and specifically to Virgil
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...
's famous "timeo danaos et dona ferentes
Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes
Timeo Danaos et dona ferentēs is a Latin phrase from Virgil's Aeneid . It has been paraphrased in English as the aphorism "Beware of Greeks bearing gifts", though its literal meaning, "I fear the Greeks, even those bearing gifts", carries a somewhat different nuance to the usual English...
" ("I fear the Greeks even [when they are] bringing gifts", Aeneid
Aeneid
The Aeneid is a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. It is composed of roughly 10,000 lines in dactylic hexameter...
II.49). The Oxford Companion to Chess, however, suggests that one explanation is that the sacrifice often occurred in Gioachino Greco's games.
Further reading
- Vladimir VukovićVladimir VukovicVladimir Vuković was a Croatian chess writer, theoretician, player, arbiter, and journalist.His tournament record includes the following achievements:* 3rd at Celje 1921, behind Stefan Erdélyi and Imre König...
, Art of Attack in Chess - chapter 6 is dedicated to the classical bishop sacrifice - David Rudel, http://www.bishop-sacrifice.com - Website with information on Bxh7+, a book devoted to the classical bishop sacrifice