Spielmann: Sacrifice properly!

Autor: Spielmann, Rudolf
Verlag: Beyer
Erscheinungsjahr: 2013
Sprache: German
Buchumschlag: hardcover
Seiten: 128

Prerequisites, goal and implementation of the sacrifice in chess
The Austrian professional chess master Rudolf Spielmann (1883-1942) cultivated a daring attacking style that was evident in numerous brilliant games spiced up with imaginative sacrifices. As the "last knight of the King's Gambit" (as Tartakower called him at the time), Spielmann saw the beauty of chess realized in combination play, especially in the intuitive, not entirely predictable sacrifice that arouses universal admiration among the chess public. Equating chess with art was part of Spielmann's credo, and even though he had to endure some bitter defeats due to his aggressive, risky style, at the height of his chess career in the second half of the 1920s he was among the elite of the 10 best players in the world.
This book, the first edition of which appeared in 1935, is considered to be the best of his (quantitatively modest) literary chess works. In it, Spielmann classifies the various types of sacrifice for the first time and illustrates these using 37 of his own games with detailed commentaries. (The second edition of 1982 was supplemented by two more recent games on the topic.) Undoubtedly, Spielmann's efforts to re-enthusiast his fellow chess masters for the art of the \''true\'' sacrificial game, an art that had increasingly evaporated in the euphoria of the hypermodern movement, are evident in this classic. Would today's reader be inclined to be inspired by the \''lonely romantic\'' Spielmann to kill the enemy king in a direct sacrificial attack? He would be sure to receive applause from the onlookers!

128 pages, 3rd edition 2013, hardcover.