There is an abundance of books on chess tactics. Many of them show
well-known brilliancies from the classic era of chess. Today a lot of
the combinatorial themes have moved into the standard repertoire of
any tournament player. Nobody raises an eyebrow over a bishop sacrifice
on h6 or over a smothered mate starting with Nf7. Even blitz players
will find these moves in a matter of seconds. Nowadays, the true artistry
is to achieve positions that allow such combinations, rather than executing
them once they become possible.
Still, what attracts many of us to chess in the first place is the
magic of unexpected moves that seem to demonstrate the triumph of mind
over matter.
One famous example is the the following position from a game between
Levitsky and Marshall
in 1912:
Here
Marshall as black moved Qc3-g3! The queen can be captured three ways,
but all of them lead to mate.
According to legend, spectators showered gold coins over the board
in their excitement and admiration over this stunning move. Many years
later, Marshall was asked about the veracity of this story, and he is
said to have confirmed that it was true.
Of course, many modern players of even moderate strength are able to
find such moves, but in all likelihood this is due to their familiarity
with the classic brilliancies. It is a lot more difficult to find a
brilliant move when there is no precedent.
Once the ice is broken, the same theme will recur many times. Sometimes
even entire games are replayed.
Marshall's famous move was echoed by the great Aljechin in a blindfold
game against Supico:
There
is some confusion among the sources about where (Lisbon or Teneriffa)
and when (1941, 1942 or 1945) this game was played , but the sources
agree that it was indeed played blindfold by Aljechin. In this position
he played Qd6-g6! forcing mate in a few moves.
My
own favorite is not any of these, but a less known brilliancy, Eliskases
- Holzl (1929). Unfortunately, there seems to be some doubt over whether
Eliskases
actually played the move attributed to him.
What I like about this combination is the association it brings to
the Japanese martial arts, where you do not overcome your opponent simply
by overpowering him, but rather by making him lose his balance so that
his own force works against him.
The astonishing move in this position is Rc5-d5! White puts an unprotected
rook on a square where it can be captured in four ways.
Apparently Eliskases actually played Rc5-e5! which is just as effective
but - at least in my opinion - not quite as impressive.