Understanding the Sacrifice: Sacrifice Your Way to Success [Paperback]

Angus Dunnington (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2002 | Series: Everyman Chess

All chessplayers adore the thrill of the sacrifice, whether this is part of a checkmating attack, a defensive measure, or simply an attempt to confuse the opponent. But every sacrifice has a time and a place, and the correct use of sacrifices is a skill possessed only by a precious few. Now readers can add themselves to that list! In this ground-breaking book, Angus Dunnington acquaints readers with key aspects of all kinds of chess sacrifices, including the queen sacrifice, sacrifices in endgames, and the psychology attached to the sacrifice. Read this book and sacrifice with confidence!

*Written by an experienced chess teacher and writer
*Includes all different types of sacrifice
*Ideal for the improving player

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

All chessplayers love to sacrifice, whether this is part of a checkmating attack, a defensive measure, or simply an attempt to confuse the opponent. Gambitting material inevitably increases the tension on the board and sets the pulse racing. However, material cannot just be jettisoned on a whim. Every successful sacrifice is based on sound basic principles and mastery of these is a skill possessed only by a precious few. Now you can add yourself to that list! In this highly entertaining and instructive book, International Master Angus Dunnington acquaints the reader with key aspects of all kinds of chess sacrifices, including the exchange sacrifice, the restrictive sacrifice and, everybody's favorite, the queen sacrifice.
Read this book and sacrifice with confidence!
Written by an experienced chess teacher and writer
Includes all different types of sacrifice
Ideal for the improving player

About the Author

English International Master Angus Dunnington is well-respected on the international chess tournament circuit. He is a successful chess teacher, who has coached many of Britain¿s top junior players. His earlier works include Attacking with 1 d4 and Mastering the Middlegame.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Everyman Chess; 1st edition (November 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1857443128
• ISBN-13: 978-1857443127
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #757,676 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent intro to positional thinking, May 3, 2004

By 

2many2read (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Understanding the Sacrifice: Sacrifice Your Way to Success (Paperback)

This book is _not_ a slapped together data dump of random sacs, but a mini-course in improving your positional understanding.

While it does show the obligatory fun queen sacrifice, it also deals with concepts that intermediate players have trouble with: the importance of structure, weak color complexes, key squares, the virtues and weaknesses of minor pieces, exchange sacrifices.

(It's like a sacrifice-advocating version of the classic Simple Chess by Michael Stean, which is anything but simple as it discusses positional strategy.)

Both Jeremy Silman and John Donaldson like this book a great deal, and Silman calls it "fantastic" and "absolutely wonderful." Highly recommended to those who don't find serious chess texts on these important topics easy to slog through.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Middlegame Book Since Reasess your Chess, December 28, 2009

By 

Chess reader (Ohio, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Understanding the Sacrifice: Sacrifice Your Way to Success (Paperback)

Angus Dunnington's Understanding the Sacrifice is in my opinion the best book on the middlegame since Silman and Seirawan's titles. The book is 143 pages long, but makes up for it's slight thinness by great content. The author doesn't waste space with philosophical comments or give game after game with little explanation. Rather, Dunnington manages to completely perfect the balance between annotation, analysis, and games. Speaking of the games themselves, Dunnington's choices couldn't be better. Most are games by extremely creative but not quite world champion status grandmasters, such as Akopian, Bacrot, and Shirov. The author also uses the classic games Saemisch-Nimzowitch and Alekhine-Johner but their instructiveness trumps their well-known status.

There are 10 chapters.

1 The Importance of Structure
2 The Colour Complex
3 Pieces for Pawns
4 Rampant Knights
5 Bishops at work
6 Exploiting Key Squares
7 The Exchange Sacrifice
8 The Vulnerable King
9 The Restrictive Sacrifice
10 The Queen Sacrifice

My favorite is probably The Importance of Structure as Dunnington makes positional concepts interesting and explains pawn structure with flair. Every game seems well thought out, and Dunnington's creative examples deal with less standard sacrifices and provide more original and exciting ideas.

This book is understandable to weak players and yet is still instructive to better ones. Yet another balance this book does well! My favorite thing about this book is it's beautiful complexity. While other authors shy away from complex situations for fear they will make a mistake in analysis or evaluation, Dunnington's book shows the most interesting part of chess. And I haven't found a mistake anywhere.

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good but thin, June 3, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Understanding the Sacrifice: Sacrifice Your Way to Success (Paperback)

This book has a good collection of instructive sacrificial themes, especially positional ones such as the exchange sacrifice and the structurally motivated sacrifice. But it is rather thin, and I would have liked more material included. Dunnington's books are usually above average.