A castled king is a protected king. Nestled behind a wall of pawns, guarded by a knight, and often a bishop to boot, the king is much safer tucked away in the corner of the board than left in his starting position.
Experienced players know, however, that there are ways to roust out your opponent's monarch. With an understanding of thematic sacrifices, you can score stunning victories by breaking through the pawn shield and exposing your royal quarry to the fury of your attacking army.
The first of these methods we're going to examine is the bishop sacrifice at h7. Let's take a look at an example. (You can also play through this game on your browser by clicking here.)
Here's what the board looks like after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 Ne7 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Nbc6 7. Bd3 0-08. 8. Nf3 Bd7:
Black has misplayed this opening, leaving his kingside open to attack. Notice how white's d3 bishop, f3 knight and queen can all quickly converge on the h7 square, while there are no black pieces around to aid in the defense. To take advantage of this situation, white must strike while the iron is hot:
9. Bxh7+!
Although black has other options, we'll begin by looking at the usual response to this sacrifice by amateur players: 9. ...Kxh7 10. Ng5+ Kg8 11. Qh5
All is lost for black. White has been able to open up the castled position and bring his queen and knight forward in a coordinated attack at h7. Even with best play black is mated in six moves: 11. ...Re8 12. Qh7+ Kf8 13. Qh8+ Ng8 14. Nh7+ Ke7 15. Bg5+ Nf6 16. Bxf6+ gxf6 17. Qxf6#
This combination did not materialize as if by magic. Black made crucial mistakes from which white was able to benefit:
- Inadequate protection of h7. Note how just before the bishop is sacrificed at h7, all of black's pieces are on the far side of the pawn chain. In particular, black's knight is barred access to f6, and no measures are taken to counter the force of the d3 bishop. A move like 8. ...Nf5 was necessary;
- Failure by black to control the crucial g5 square. This gave white a perfect launching pad for his attack;
- White was allowed to position his pieces for the attack unhindered. Playing 6. ...c5 would have put counter-pressure on the queenside and made the push ...c4 possible at some point to keep white's bishop off of d3.
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