The Beauty of Chess Tricks
By GM Lubomir Kavalek
At the time Paul Morphy was conquering the best European players in the late
1850s, William Steinitz came to Vienna to start his chess career. "I didn't
play with the object to win directly, but to sacrifice a piece," he admitted.
He played for tricks. Sacrifice after sacrifice, combination after combination
earned him the nickname "the Austrian Morphy." His combinational craft
is clearly visible in the following fragment:
Reiner-Steinitz, Vienna 1860
16...Qh4!! The queen sacrifice does the trick. It is also
the shortest way to win. The queen deflects the rook from the square g1, threatening
17...Qh2 mate at the same time. 17.Rg2. After 17.Rxh4 Rg1 mates.
17...Qxh2+! 18.Rxh2 Rg1 mate.
What is a chess trick? In her book Judit Polgar Teaches Chess 1: How I
beat Fischer's record, the all-time best woman attempts to define it:
"I see the trick as a basically simple (maximum two or three moves),
but very well masked, tactical operation. It requires imagination, alertness,
lack of preconceptions, and the ability to intuitively perceive the intimate
dynamic nuances of the position. These qualities allow spotting, foreseeing
or aiming to deliver a trick."
Polgar wrote the book, the first volume of her trilogy published by Quality
Chess, together with the Romanian grandmaster Mihai Marin. It is conceived
as a teaching manual based on her games and fragments. The first chapter of
the book is called Tricks and in the first example Polgar uses a stunning deflection
to win a friendly game against Jozsef Palkovi:
Palkovi-Polgar Judit, Budapest, 1989

1...Rh2+! and White resigned. After 2.Kxh2 exf2 and the pawn
queens because black has two squares to promote it. Polgar admits: "I was
labeled as a tricky player early on and have been regarded as tricky throughout
my whole career. It was said that I was able to pull out tricks from nowhere."
The late world champion Vassily Smyslov nicknamed her "Tal in a skirt."
She enjoys being compared to the brilliant world champion Misha Tal.
Throughout his career, Tal created many great combinations and there are not
enough books about his skills. The latest is The Magic of Tactics of Mikhail
Tal by Karsten Muller and Raymund Stolze, published by New
In Chess. It is the English version of the German book we liked in our
review.
But Tal also made many unsound sacrifices. And somehow when nobody would bet
a dime on his position, he turned it around with a wonderful trick.
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16...Bd7?? 16...Qe5 17.Kg1 Bd7 17.Qxd7+! Kxd7 18.Nc5+ Ke7 19.Nxe4 f5 20.Nc5 1–0
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Tal,M | - | Tringov,G | - | 1–0 | 1958 | | Munich Chess Olympiad | |
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This fragment brings another element: tricks are often possible only with the
opponent's help.
I had my own experience in three games against Drazen Marovic, the Croatian
grandmaster and editor of the Yugoslavian chess monthly Sahovski Glasnik.
It began during our student years.
"You only play for tricks," Marovic told me at the Student Olympiad
in Krakow in 1964. And the Yugoslav master had his reasons. Our game finished
with a queen sacrifice I had predicted before the game in a conversation with
our coach, Frantisek Pithart. I was lucky because I would not have able to do
it without Marovic's help.
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35.Qxf7+‼ 35.Qxf7+ Rxf7 36.Rc8+ Rf8 37.Rxf8# 1–0
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Kavalek,L | - | Marovic,D | - | 1–0 | 1964 | | Krakow st ol final | 1 |
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At the Student Olympiad in Marianske Lazne in 1962 I played Marovic for the
first time and he remembered the encounter as well. Throughout the competition
I was in a creative mood. For example, I have conceived my
signature game against Eduard Gufeld, winning the brilliancy prize. The
game with Marovic was another tactical adventure. At that time Marovic selected
the wrong path and the punches began to fall.
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23.Rd1!? Qxc6? 23...Qxg3 24.Nxe4 fxe4 25.Bxf6 25.Rxf6 Rxf6 26.Bxf6 Nf4 27.Rd8+ 27.Qxe4? Nh3+ 28.Kh1 Nf2+-+ 27...Kf7 28.Qd2 Nge6 29.Rh8 Kxf6 30.Qb2+ Kf7-+ 25...Nf4 26.Rxf4 Qxf4 27.Bc3 Bg4 28.Qc4+ Rf7-+ 24.Nxe4! fxe4 24...Qb6+ 25.Nf2 Ba6 26.Bd5+ Kh7 27.Qf3 Bxb2 28.Qh1+ Nh5 29.Qxh5+ Kg7 30.Bxa8 Bxf1 31.Rd7+ Rf7 31...Kf6 32.g4! 32.Rxf7+ Kxf7 33.Qxf5+ Kg7 34.Kxf1 24...Bxb2 25.Nf2 Qc3 26.Bd5+ Kh7 26...Ne6 27.Bxe6+ Kg7 28.Rd3± 27.Ne4‼ fxe4 28.Qh2+ Nh5 29.Qxh5+ Kg7 30.Rxf8 Qxg3+ 31.Ng2 Nxf8 32.Rf1 25.Rxf6! Rxf6 26.Bxe4 Re6?! 26...Qb6+!? 27.Bd4 Qe6! 28.Bxf6 Bb7 29.Bxg7 Bxe4 29...Qxe4 30.Qxe4 Bxe4 31.Rd7± 30.Bd4 Re8 27.Rd8+ Ne8 27...Kh7 28.Qh5+‼ Nxh5 29.Rh8# 27...Nf8 28.Rxf8+ Kxf8 29.Qf3++- 27...Kf7 28.Qf2+ Rf6 29.Nf3 Qb6 29...Qxe4 30.Ng5+ Ke7 31.Bxf6# 30.Bd4 c5 31.Ng5+ Ke7 32.Bxc5++- Kxd8 33.Qd4+ Bd7 34.Bxb6+ Rxb6 35.Qxg7 Rc8 36.Bxg6+- 28.Bxc6 Rxe2 29.Bxa8 Ba6 29...Rxe1+ 30.Kf2 Rb1 31.Rxe8+ Kf7 32.Re2+- 30.Bc3 Kf7? 30...Kh7 31.Bf3 31.Rd7+ Re7 32.Rxe7+ Nxe7 33.Bd4 Nc8 34.Nf3 31...Re7 32.Rd5+- 31.Bf3! Rxa2? 31...Re3 32.Bd2 Re5 33.Ra8+- 32.Rd7+! Kf8 32...Ne7 33.Bh5+ Kf8 34.Bg7+‼ 34.Bb4 Nd6 35.Rxc7 Ndc8 36.Nf3 34...Nxg7 34...Kxg7 35.Rxe7+ Kh6 36.Bxe8+- 35.Rd8+ Ne8 36.Rxe8+ Kg7 37.Rxe7++- 32...Ke6 33.Bg4# 33.Bb4+ Kg8 33...Nd6 34.Rxc7+- 34.Bd5+ 34.Bd5+ Kh8 35.Bc3+ 1–0
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Kavalek,L | - | Marovic,D | - | 1–0 | 1962 | | Marianske Lazne st ol | 5 |
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Caissa, the chess goddess, is just, fair and merciful to her subjects and what
she takes away, she often gives back. I am sure that the sacrifice on e4 in
the above game was fixed in Marovic's mind and that it reapeared during his
game against Tigran Petrosian in Amsterdam in 1973:
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33.Nxe4! fxe4 34.Bxe4 Qe6 35.Re3 Rde8 36.Be7 Rf5 37.Bxf5 Qxf5 38.Rg5! Qf7 39.Qh4! Kg8 40.Rxh5 Bxh3 41.Kxh3 1–0
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Marovic,D | - | Petrosian,T | - | 1–0 | 1973 | | IBM | 8 |
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In 1968, we played in the IBM tournament in Amsterdam. The outcome was important
since I was able to finish first ahead of the legendary grandmaster David Bronstein.
My victory in the game against Marovic came out of nowhere. He resigned in a
position in which I had plenty of threats and we both thought it was not premature.
We both missed that Marovic could have saved the game with a stunning trick.
32.Ref1 Qb4!? 32...Nb7 33.Bd3 Qb4 34.Bg6 Rf8 35.Ng5! hxg5 36.Bf7+ Rxf7 37.Rxf7 Nd8 38.Rxg7+ Kxg7 39.Qxg5+ 32...Qe7 33.Bd3 Nf8 34.g4 33.Ng5! Rxf2 34.Qxf2 34.Qxf2 Nxe5! 34...hxg5 35.Qf7+ Kh8 36.Qe8+ Kh7 37.Bd3++- 34...Qxb5 35.Qf7+ Kh8 36.Qf8+ Nxf8 37.Rxf8# 34...Nf8 35.Qxf8+ Qxf8 36.Rxf8+ Kxf8 37.Nxe6+ 34...Qe7 35.Nf7 Rc8 35...Nxb3 36.Nd6 Nf8 37.Be8 Na5 38.Qf4 Nc4 39.Bf7+ Kh7 40.Ne8 Ra7 41.Nxg7! 36.Nd6 Rf8 37.Qc2 Rxf1+ 38.Bxf1 35.dxe5 35.Nxe6 Rf7= 35...hxg5 36.Qxb6 36.Bd3 gxh4 37.Qf3 hxg3 38.Qh5 g2+! 39.Kxg2 Qd2+ 40.Rf2 Qxd3 41.Qe8+ 36...Qe4+ 37.Kg1 Rc3! 37...Rc2 38.Qxe6+ Kh7 38...Kh8 39.Qe8+ Kh7 40.Qh5+ Kg8 41.Rf8+ Kxf8 42.Qe8# 39.Qf5+ Qxf5 40.Rxf5 38.Qd8+ Kh7 39.Qxg5 Qe3+ 40.Qxe3 Rxe3 41.b4 Nc4 1–0
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Kavalek,L | - | Marovic,D | - | 1–0 | 1968 | | IBM | |
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