In
chess
Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...
, a combination is a sequence of moves, often initiated by a
sacrifice
Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly exi ...
, which leaves the opponent few options and results in tangible gain. At most points in a chess game, each player has several reasonable options from which to choose, which makes it difficult to plan ahead except in
strategic terms. Combinations, in contrast to the norm, are sufficiently forcing that one can calculate exactly how advantage will be achieved against any defense. Indeed, it is usually necessary to see several moves ahead in exact detail before launching a combination, or else the initial sacrifice should not be undertaken.
Definition
In 1952/53, the editors of ''
Shakhmaty v SSSR
''Shakhmaty v SSSR'' (russian: Шахматы в СССР; ''Chess in the USSR'') was a Soviet chess magazine published between 1931 and 1991. It was edited by Viacheslav Ragozin for several years. Yuri Averbakh was also an editor. From 1921 or ...
'' decided on this definition: ''A combination is a forced sequence of moves which uses tactical means and exploits specific peculiarities of the position to achieve a certain goal.''
Irving Chernev
Irving Chernev (January 29, 1900 – September 29, 1981) was a chess player and prolific Russian-American chess author. He was born in Pryluky in the Russian Empire (now in Ukraine) and emigrated to the United States in 1905. Chernev was a nati ...
wrote:
What is a combination? A combination is a blend of ideas – pins, forks, discovered checks, double attacks – which endow the pieces with magical power. It is a series of staggering blows before the knockout. It is the climactic scene in the play appearing on the board. It is the touch of enchantment that gives life to inanimate pieces. It is all this and more – A combination is the heart of chess .
Example
A combination is usually built out of two or more fundamental
chess tactic
In chess, a tactic is a sequence of moves that each makes one or more immediate threats ─ that is, a check, a material threat, a checkmating sequence threat, or the threat of another tactic ─ which culminates in the opponent being unable to ...
s such as
forks
In cutlery or kitchenware, a fork (from la, furca 'pitchfork') is a utensil, now usually made of metal, whose long handle terminates in a head that branches into several narrow and often slightly curved tines with which one can spear foods ei ...
,
pins,
skewers
A skewer is a thin metal or wood stick used to hold pieces of food together. The word may sometimes be used as a metonym, to refer to the entire food item served on a skewer, as in "chicken skewers". Skewers are used while grilling or roasti ...
,
undermining,
discovered attack
In chess, a discovered attack is a direct attack revealed when one piece moves out of the way of another. Discovered attacks can be extremely powerful, as the piece moved can make a threat independently of the piece it reveals. Like many chess t ...
s, etc. Thus a combination is usually at least three moves long, but the longer it takes to recoup the initial sacrifice, the more impressive the combination. The position below from G. Stepanov–
Peter Romanovsky
Peter Arsenievich Romanovsky (russian: Пётр Арсеньевич Романо́вский; 29 July 1892 – 1 March 1964) was a Russian chess player and author. He won the Soviet Championship in 1923 and, jointly, 1927.
Biography
At the begi ...
, Leningrad 1926, begins a combination which illustrates several forks and skewers.
Stepanov-Romanovskij
/ref>
Black has just played 1... Rxf3+. Retreating with 2.Ke2 would allow 2...Nd4+, a attacking both White's king and queen and winning the queen. Similarly, 2.Kd2 would allow 2...Rf2+ (skewering the white king and queen) 3.Be2 Rxe2+! 4.Kxe2 Nd4+, again winning the queen. White accordingly chose 2. Ke4, but after 2... d5+! resigned. White still could not take the black rook without losing his queen, but the alternative 3.cxd5 exd5+ 4.Kxd5 Be6+ would leave White with no good defense. Taking the bishop with 5.Kxe6 allows the long-threatened fork 5...Nd4+, while taking the knight with 5.Kxc6 allows the skewer 5...Rc8+ followed by 6...Rxc2. Retreating with 5.Ke4 permits the black bishop to skewer the white king and queen with 5...Bf5+, so White has only one option left: 5.Kd6.
After 5.Kd6, Black would have played 5...Rd8+. White couldn't take the bishop or the knight for exactly the same reasons as before (after 6.Kxe6 Nd4+ 7.Ke7, Black comes out a rook ahead with 7...Nxc2 8.Kxd8 Nxa1), which leaves one legal move, namely 6.Kc7, but then 6...Rf7+ absolutely forces the white king to take the black knight, allowing the skewer 7...Rc8+ followed by 8...Rxc2.
See also
* Chess tactics
In chess, a tactic is a sequence of moves that each makes one or more immediate threats ─ that is, a Check (chess), check, a Glossary of chess#material, material threat, a Checkmate, checkmating sequence threat, or the threat of another tactic ...
* Glossary of chess
* Zwischenzug
The zwischenzug (German language, German: , "intermediate move") is a chess tactic in which a player, instead of playing the expected move (commonly a ), first interposes another move posing an immediate threat that the opponent must answer, and ...
References
Bibliography
“What is a Chess Combination?” by Edward Winter
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{{chess
Chess terminology
Chess tactics