Boris Spassky’s Psycho Rook Sacrifice 🤪 (Chess Openings)

How was Boris Spassky able to prevail in this game even when it went out of chess opening theory? 🤔 There are a number of principles we can apply to our game to start taking down our toughest opponents. Sign up for GM Lemos FREE masterclass. ►https://ichs.co/2ELBVH8

Boris Spassky was well-known for his creative and aggressive style that resulted in many outstanding victories over the contemporary grandmasters of his time. In the following chess video, viewers will witness one of the most incredible sacrifices ever played where Spassky gives away a rook for no material compensation – only to receive a critical tempo for his attack against the opponent’s king. It’s a great chess opening lesson for us when facing off against Hypermodern systems.

The opponent in this game – GM Bent Larsen – was a huge proponent of strange openings, specifically playing along the lines of Hypermodern ideals (Hypermodern Openings concede the center to your opponent, so that you may attack this center from the flanks and expose it to be over-extended.) GM Larsen’s opening experiments are famous, often for his undying creativity and desire to avoid main lines of theory. However in this game, Larsen’s experiment was proven a complete failure.

The early chess opening play of Boris Spassky in this game is a perfect example of how to play against any Hypermodern Opening set-up – first by taking control of the center and actively developing the pieces, and next by attentively identifying the weak points in the opponent’s position and striking rapidly before the opponent can consolidate his position.

The Dane Bent Larsen played as White, and Boris Spassky as Black. The game began with 1. b3, not a move you’ll face as often as 1.d4 or 1.e4. Spassky responded with 1…e5. If Black offers control of the center, why not grasp it without the usual fight? 2. Bb2 immediately challenges for the center, but it can be defended with 2…Nc6. Next, Larsen played 3. c4 Nf6 4. Nf3. This Nf3 move is rather peculiar. Perhaps a better move might have been e3, or perhaps even Nc3. For example, 4. e3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 leads to a sort of reversed hedgehog setup for White.

But of course, Larsen was a super creative player and was trying out some ideas! Sit back and enjoy the video as FM Will Stewart takes you through every move in the game from 1970.

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