Sacrifice and Initiative in Chess

SACRIFICE AND INITIATIVE in by GM Ivan Sokolov makes him four for four. Like WINNING CHESS MIDDLEGAMES, THE STRATEGIC NIMZO-INDIAN and THE RUY LOPEZ REVISITED, Sokolov’s latest effort is an outstanding work that should appeal to a wide audience that enjoy well chosen examples and first rate annotations.

The material for this book is arranged as follows:

Part I Initiative. . .11
Chapter 1
Ignoring the Threat. . .12
Chapter 2
Keeping the Momentum. . .23
Chapter 3
Standard Attacking Plans. . .32
Chapter 4
Pawn Breaks . . .48
Chapter 5
Sensing the Moment. . .53
Chapter 6
Developing the Attack. . .60
Chapter 7
The Fight for the Initiative . . .74

Part II Sacrifice. . .83
Chapter 8
The King Chase . . .84
Chapter 9
The Castled King . . .93
Chapter 10
The Decoy Sacrifice . . .142
Chapter 11
King in the Center . . .154
Chapter 12
The Sacrifice for Development . . .180
Chapter 13
Clearance Sacrifices. . .212
Chapter 14
Pawn Structure Sacrifices . . .218
Chapter 15
Unexpected Sacrificing Motifs . . .229
Chapter 16
Intuitive Sacrifices . . .236

While the content of this book can be meaty, it is lightened by Sokolov’s humor. When annotating a win over the Moldovian GM Viorel Bologan, Sokolov remarks at a critical stage in the game: “At the same time Black is clearly overestimating his own threats related to his knight on c3 – which is not that strange since Bologan has been overestimated his own chances for the last 25 years, and this habit of his is likely to continue in the next 25 years!”

Highly Recommended