Perhaps the strongest Austrian-born Grandmaster of the twentieth century, Rudolf Spielmann (1883 - 1942) defeated such world-class opponents as Nimzovich, Tartakower, Bogoljubov - and even the great Capablanca. Among the reasons for his success was his mastery of the art of sacrifice. In this ground-breaking classic, distilled from 40 years of tournament play, he outlines the hard-won lessons that enable a player to win games by giving up pieces!
Drawing on dozens of his own games against such topflight players as Schlechter, Tartakower, Rubinstein and Tarrasch, Spielmann describes and analyzes various types of sacrifices: (for development, obstructive, preventive, line-clearance, vacating, deflecting and more). The result was the first systematic attempt to explain and exploit the theory of chess sacrifice it remains an extremely helpful and useful weapon in the arsenal of chess players at every level.
Unabridged Dover (1995) republication of the work published by David McKay Company, Inc. New York, 1951. Translated by J. du Mont. Edited and revised by Fred Reinfeld and I.A. Horowitz.