In my new book “The Silicon Road to Chess Improvement” I spend a whole chapter on engine sacrifices. One of the many sacrifices that engines play nowadays are sacrifices to clear lines for their major pieces. We saw many such long-term sacrifices from AlphaZero and modern engines are just as ready – indeed eager – to do so! One great example was from the game Combusken-rofChade in round 3 of the ongoing TCEC Swiss 2 (https://tcec-chess.com/#div=sw2&game=102&season=21)
Engines can teach us how to play like Tal or Shirov at their best! Understanding this theme is a key building block in creating promising attacking positions.

A little test of your tactics this time from a mate that came up in an engine game. It was so beautiful and elegant I burst out laughing when I saw it! Spotting little tactics quickly and reliably is the key to successful practical play – the way to improve is to train solving positions like this!

We witness a fantastic tactical episode from Stockfish against Leela. Black’s king is caught in the centre and its kingside pieces are undeveloped but it isn’t clear how to transform these dynamic advantages into something concrete. Stockfish shows the way!
Lots of useful tactical motifs to drill into your head here – they will certainly come in handy in your games!

A central break on move 14 unleashes the attacking potential in White’s position creating an attack which combines mating threats and queen traps to leave Black bound hand and foot!
It’s a really unusual attack with some instructive themes from a typical Queen’s Indian structure – well worth remembering!

This super-quick video is in our Engine Snacks series! Nothing deep or instructive this time – just a fantastic move to enjoy! Hopefully ideas like this can inspire you in your own games!