The Forgotten Chess Champion’s Brilliant Sacrifice

Deep positional play, demonic prophylaxis, and the restriction of enemy pieces… followed by a destructive sacrifice that sets the stage for another extraordinary sacrifice, leading to a crushing attack. All this happens in an attacking masterpiece by the Ukrainian and Soviet chess champion Fedor Bohatirchuk — a player erased from chess history by the Soviets. Let’s dive in and see if you can find all these brilliant ideas. Support the Channel:   / chesswisdom   Chistiakov vs Bohatirchuk, USSR Championship 1938, Semi-final 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.O-O Bd7 6.c3 g6 7.d4 Bg7 8.Be3 Nf6 9.Bc2 O-O 10.h3 Nh5 11.Nbd2 Nf4 12.Re1 Qf6 13.Nf1 Rad8 14.Kh2 g5 15.d5 Ne7 16.Ng1 Qh6 17.c4 f5 18.Ng3 Nxg2 19.Kxg2 f4 20.Bd2 fxg3 21.fxg3 Qg6 22.Qe2 g4 23.h4 Bf6 24.Rf1 Qh5 25.Rf2 Bxh4 26.gxh4 Ng6 27.Qe3 Rxf2+ 28.Kxf2 Rf8+ 29.Kg2 Nxh4+ 30.Kg3 Rf4 31.Bd1 Nf3 32.Nxf3 gxf3 33.Bxf3 Qh3+ 34.Kf2 Bg4 0-1