{"id":1461,"date":"2022-09-21T22:25:20","date_gmt":"2022-09-21T22:25:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forwardchess.com\/blog\/?p=1461"},"modified":"2023-02-24T12:30:32","modified_gmt":"2023-02-24T12:30:32","slug":"latest-book-highlights-september","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forwardchess.com\/blog\/latest-book-highlights-september\/","title":{"rendered":"Latest Book Highlights September"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Exchange Sacrifice according to Tigran Petrosian <\/a><\/strong>by Vassilios Kotronias (Russell Enterprises) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ninth World Champion\u2019s unique style has never been replicated, even though he died 38 years ago. There were many extraordinary aspects to his game, including his legendary sense of danger, extreme use of Nimzowitschian prophylaxis and, of course, the subject of the current book \u2013 his famous, repeated use of the exchange sacrifice.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Petrosian in 1962<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Chess players are usually reluctant to give up material unless the rewards are obvious and instant, such as a sacrifice to force checkmate upon the opponent\u2019s king. To sacrifice the exchange (give up a rook for a bishop or a knight) for long-term compensation requires a much deeper level and understanding and a heightened appreciation of the subtleties of the position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As Kotronias puts it, \u2018With his rare strategic feeling and exceptional vision, Petrosian gradually became one of the top exponents of the art of the exchange sacrifice, and perhaps the leading protagonist for the positional exchange sacrifice.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The author presents 36 games, from 1947 to 1980, in which Petrosian uncorked at least one exchange sacrifice. Virtually anyone could sacrifice material against lower-rated opposition and get away with it (we all known chess club bores who do) but Petrosian\u2019s \u2018victims\u2019 in this book include Botvinnik, Smyslov, Tal, Spassky, Fischer and Korchnoi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The introduction provides a classic example of a Petrosian exchange sacrifice and one which made a deep impression on me when I first saw it in The Art of Defense in Chess<\/em> by Iakov Damsky and Lyev Polugaevsky (Pergamon Chess, 1988).<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

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