What Are You Willing to Give Up for Your Goal?
Every athlete asks themselves this question at some point. During a chess game, our goal is to checkmate the opponent’s King. At times, the boldest answer comes in the form of a Queen sacrifice.
The Queen is the strongest piece we have, the one we instinctively protect at all costs — to just give her away feels almost unthinkable. And yet, when it happens, it can create the kind of beauty that stays in our memory forever. For a spectator, it can be quite shocking to watch.
“Wait… did they really just do that? Can this possibly work?” Then, as the pieces click into place and the plan reveals itself, the shock turns into delight.
Let us see two queen sacrifices I absolutely love — played more than 140 years apart.
Zukertort vs Blackburne, London 1883
Johannes Zukertort was the brilliant attacker who challenged Wilhelm Steinitz in the first Chess World Championship back in 1886! Three years before their match, he created a timeless gem while facing Joseph Blackburne with the White pieces.
After move 27, Black’s rook has landed on the seventh rank, threatening both White’s queen and bishop. White’s pawn on h7 in fact blocks checks against the Black king on the ‘h’ file, thus playing the role of the Black King’s defender in some lines. White looks like he is in trouble.
What do you think White played here to create one of the most beautiful games of chess ever played?
Zukertort found the breathtaking 28. Qb4!!
Black’s Queen played a staunch guardian to the Black King. White offers his Queen just to lure the Black Queen away from guarding the vital e5-square.
Taking the Black Queen loses, thanks to a beautiful sequence:
- 28… Qxb4
- 29. Be5+ Check! Kh7
Did you notice how White managed to remove or deflect all of the Black King’s defenders?
- 30. Rh3 Kg6
- 31. Rg3 Kh7
- 32. Rf7 Kh6
- 33. Bf4 all moves come with check Kh5
- 34. Rh7 finally delivering Checkmate.
In the game, Black avoided taking the queen, but White had a beautiful follow-up anyway:
- 28… R8c5
- 29. Rf8+ Check, Sacrificing the Rook – taking it would again leave the e5 pawn vulnerable, a crucial guard for the Black King!!
- Kh7 (29… Qf8+ Check would have led to 30. Be5+ Check Kh7 31. Qe4+ Check with mate to follow in a few moves)
- 30. Qe4 Kg7
- 31. Be5+ Check Kf8
- 32. Bg7 Kg8
- 33. Qe7+ Check
1-0. Black resigned.
The fact that all of Black’s pieces were stuck on the Queenside, unable to come to the King’s aid, played a big role in the sacrifice working out. Zukertort didn’t cling to material — he traded his Queen to expose the opponent’s King and empower his remaining pieces, the two rooks and bishop, to attack it directly, thus fully exploring their potential.
Aditya Mittal vs Erdogmus Yagiz Kaan, Grand Swiss 2025
Now let’s fast-forward to our time. In the Grand Swiss Open, two teenagers — Aditya Mittal from India and Erdogmus Yagiz Kaan from Turkey — produced a finish that felt like history repeating itself.
White had just queened a pawn with 37. d8=Q. Normally, this is a triumphant moment. A brand-new queen on the board!
The obvious response was to just take it — 37… Rxd8 38. Qxd8 Bf1 39. Kf1, and Black is still slightly better.
But 14-year-old Erdogmus has other ideas. He finds the stunning 37… Qf2+!!
From this moment, every single move was a check:
- 38. Rxf2 Re1+
- 39. Kh2 Rxf2
- 40. Kh3 Rh1+
- 41. Kg4 f5+
- 42. Kh5 g6 Checkmate.
What a stunning masterpiece by Erdogmus! Seeing such games makes us fall in love with chess over and over again!
Applying These Ideas in Our Game
Placing these two games side by side shows the timelessness of chess ideas. Once again, the Queen was sacrificed so that the two rooks and bishop could break into the White King’s fortress.
A game played in London in 1883 can still speak to a teenager in 2025.
Learning from others’ games is often considered the best tool for chess development. When we study classics and absorb ideas, the core theme of the game often comes to our aid in our own play. When the right position appears on our own board, those echoes from the past may guide us, opening up our imagination and giving us the courage to play boldly.
Allowing us to create our own masterpiece one day!
(Soumya Swaminathan is an International Master and Woman Grandmaster in Chess. She has been World Junior Champion and Commonwealth Gold Medalist.)