1.

@@@@@@@

[

Attacking Chess Introduction by Larry Christiansen





  Every aspiring chess player should be aquainted with the following sample of classic chess battles. The main theme in these briliancies is the art of attack. All of the games feature liberal doses of sacrifices and combinations, the chess artist's main tools of his trade.  



  As a youngster, I would play over these games and others carefully, trying to understand the secrets and methods of the successful attackers. It soon became apparent that the loser had usually violated at least one basic principle to create the conditions for a successful attack. The attacker, when presented with his opportunity, had to be ruthless in executing his attack and spared neither material or made the least pause in his pressure to win the game.

{W:intro25}{W:sil500}{W:intro26}{W:sil500}

]

2.

@@@@@@

[



  My first choice in this anthology of attacking games is the following brilliancy between the American genius Paul Morphy and the tenacious English player Henry Bird. Morphy's name became associated with dazzling sacrifices and fierce attacks as a result of wins like this one.



  I should mention that this game has sparked some controversy down through the years. Some have argued that Morphy jeopardized a winning position by playing to the gallery with his sacrifices. There is some truth to this argument. I was once in a nearly identical situation to Morphy's in a game played back in Buenos Aires 1975. 



  I was winning easily - I had an extra pawn and a better position, much like Morphy stood versus Bird, but I could not resist the temptaion to play a combination featuring a rook and queen sacrifice - the same quantity of material Morphy sacrificed against Bird. Basically I could not resist being a "showoff".  



  There is another similarity to the Morphy game. My combination had a small flaw in it. With correct defense my opponent could have drawn and I would have felt pretty stupid to have turned an easily winning game to a draw with an unnecessary combination. Luckily for me my opponent defended like Mr. Bird and I went on to win.



 Well I guess the moral to this is: "Don't play to the crowd!"  Well, maybe once in a while… I shouldn't be too hard on myself, it's almost irresistible to avoid a queen and rook sacrifice if you have the opportunity. Ok lets get to the action!

{W:intro27}{W:sil500}{W:intro29}{W:sil500}{W:intro30}{W:sil500}{W:intro32}{W:sil500}{W:intro34}

]

