Greek gift sacrifice
The Greek gift sacrifice is a bishop sacrifice on h7, or h2 for Black, played as Bxh7+ Kxh7, followed by a knight check on g5 and the queen coming to the h-file to attack the exposed king.
Also called: Bxh7 sacrifice
The idea is to drag the king out of its pawn cover. White's bishop takes the pawn on h7 with check, the king takes it, and White follows with a knight check on g5. Then the queen swings to h5, and the exposed king faces a mating attack that is usually worth far more than the bishop.
The sacrifice only works when the attackers are ready. Your queen must be able to reach h5, a knight must be able to jump to g5 with check, and the bishop should have a clear diagonal to h7. Just as important, Black must lack defenders. A black knight on f6 can capture on h7, a bishop on e7 attacks g5, and a pawn on f5 blocks the bishop's diagonal, so each of them stops most of the attack.
Before you play it, check three things. First, what happens after Kxh7 Ng5+ Kg8: does the queen reach h5 with a real threat? Second, can the king run to g6 or h6 and escape? Third, does Black have a defender such as a knight on f6 or a queen close to the kingside? If any answer is bad, keep the bishop.
To defend, keep a knight on f6, avoid leaving the h7 pawn unprotected, and watch for the queen and knight forming a pair.
In the diagram White plays Bxh7+. After Kxh7 Ng5+ Kg8, the queen goes to h5. Qh7 mate is threatened, and the king has no flight square.
Compare it with Pawn shield. A pawn shield is the group of pawns standing directly in front of a castled king, typically on the f, g and h files or the a, b and c files, that blocks enemy lines and covers the squares ahead of the king.
It sits close to Smothered mate. A smothered mate is a knight checkmate against a king hemmed in by its own men: every square the king could use holds its own pieces, and a knight check cannot be blocked.
Compare it with Double check. A double check is a single move that puts the enemy king under attack from two pieces simultaneously, typically one that moved and one it unmasked, so only a king move can answer it.
Knowing "Greek gift sacrifice" helps most once you can spot it in a real game. A first lesson with George Li starts from your own games and finds the tactics you keep missing.
Related terms
A combination is a forcing sequence of moves, usually built from sacrifices and checks, in which every move leaves the opponent few or no choices and the sequence ends in a concrete gain such as mate or material.
A smothered mate is a knight checkmate against a king hemmed in by its own men: every square the king could use holds its own pieces, and a knight check cannot be blocked.
A double check is a single move that puts the enemy king under attack from two pieces simultaneously, typically one that moved and one it unmasked, so only a king move can answer it.
A fork is a move that leaves one of your pieces threatening two enemy pieces together. Because the opponent gets only one turn to respond, something usually falls.
A quiet move is a move that makes no capture and gives no check, yet creates a decisive threat or removes the opponent's last defense, so it is easy to overlook among more forcing moves.
Openings where it occurs
Guides that go further
What to decide first, the questions to ask, what a first lesson should show and the red flags to avoid.
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