All the Pieces...Or the King? Part 1
Which is worth more, the king, or all the pieces?If you know the rules, you know that it doesn't matter how many pieces you have left, if your opponent's king is in checkmate, you win!
The game I am going to show you fascinated me when I was first learning chess. It is the game Glucksberg - Najdorf. In this game, the Polish (and later Argentinian) grandmaster Miguel Najdorf gets the chance to sacrifice all of his minor pieces, leading to checkmate. Let's see the game!
Black has played a formation known as the "Stonewall".
Like a wall of stone, Black's pawns on c6, d5, e6, and f5 block up the center. There is not any easy way for White to break them up. They also give Black a lot of space, and control of e4.
But if the Stonewall were perfect, everyone would play it, wouldn't they? So far, nobody has found a perfect opening. The Stonewall formation has a disadvantage that Black's center pawns are all on the light squares. So that means that the pawns do not cover the dark squares. The pieces have to cover squares like e5. And pieces would rather be doing other things than defending squares.
Also, look at Black's bishop on c8. Poor, poor, wretched piece. How will it ever get out from behind the stone wall?
Chess is a tricky game. When you look at this position, you first see that Black has an extra pawn. "Aha," you say, "he is winning". Then you look again. You notice that the bishop is stuck on h2. And the queen and knight are stuck holding on to its lifeline. Meanwhile White is getting ready to go Rh1 and Nf3, and win the poor bishop.
So then you might think White is winning. But if you look again, much deeper, you just might find the way that Najdorf was able to turn up the heat for the white king!