Combinations
A combination might be defined as a series of moves, forced, or at least the best in the situation, most often involving a sacrifice, that makes use of some inherent weakness and that leads to an advantage or an improvement. While a combination is often part of a mating attack, conversely it is sometimes involved a saving defense. Combinations are generally not obvious, often quite shocking and almost always aesthetically pleasing. Some combinations are so well known they have names or can be traced back to a certain player. Combinations, or the threat of combinations, work hand-in-hand with strategical elements and positional considerations to enrich chess..
Different chess masters and writers have given their insight into the subject.
Eugene Znosko-Borovsky in "The Art of Chess Combination" wrote :
Some players believe that a combination is a spontaneous creation, that the possibility of a sacrifice springs up in the mind like a flash of genius, as surprising to the player as to his opponent. The truth is that combinations due to pure chance are not merely fantastic. There are combinations based on the opponent's errors; and most "traps" may be classed among these. There is even the type of player, the coffee-house expert, who speculates on the ignorance and inexperience of his adversaries. But this is detestable and inglorious style of play, based on others; weaknesses, no one one's own strength. True combination is quite another matter. The crown of a fine player's logical chess, it must be prepared, and not left to chance.
Fred Wilson explains in "303 Tricky Chess Tactics" :
A combination is a tactical maneuver in which you sacrifice material to obtain an advantage, or at least to improve your position. So, strategy then, is your general plan, while tactics are your specific means of carrying it out.
In "The Game of Chess" by Siegbert Tarrasch we are told :
Tactics are the most important element of the Middle Game. We must above all "see" what is more or less hidden. We must exploit opportunities for combinations wherever they are offered. Here there is only an illusory guard, there our opponent has a man quite unguarded, or a double attack, etc., is possible. Over and over again there occur the tactical maneuvers ... and these opportunities must frequently be created by a sacrifice. Mistakes by our opponent must be recognized as such, and also those that we ourselves are about to make.
Irving Chernev quoted Em. Lasker in "The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played" :
In the beginning of the game ignore the search for combinations, abstain from violent moves, aim for small advantages, accumulate them, and only after having attained these ends search for the combination - and then with all the power of will and intellect, because then the combination must exist, however deeply hidden.
Al Horowitz gave his own uniquely expressed thoughts on combinations in "Chess for Beginners":
The word "combination" can be taken to have two meanings. We think of a combination as being a series of moves, at least one of which is a sacrifice, to reach a certain goal. The word "combination" also conveys that the pieces are acting in concert, each participating piece contributing some necessary element to the plan. The "sacrifice" is the surprise "gimmick" which.... gives away some material in astonishing fashion in order to gain something of even greater value later on. The astonishment we feel lends a very pleasant quality to the process; but the success of the scheme gives us a lordly feeling of successful achievement. Of course, when a clever scheme is upset by an even more ingenious rejoinder, our delight is often met with chagrin.
Below are some examples or combination that I'm sure would comply with any definition.
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Samuel or Saloman Lipschütz is considered by most one of the early US champions. Here he loses to the one time British champion, Joseph Blackburne who was no stranger to tactical brilliancies.
Theodore Tylor was a particularly intriguing player. A lawyer and lecturer of law at Balliol College, Tylor, legally blind, had captained the Oxford chess team, finished 2nd behind Sultan Khan in the British Championship in 1933, was a 3 time British correspondence champion, all while playing on a tactile board. His opponent, William Winter was a two-time British champion. Below, Tylor demonstrates the tactical ability for which he was noted.
23 year old Grigory Levenfish would later become a two-time Soviet champion and one of the strongest players in the world. Alekhine was only 19 but already a leading Russian player. Here he shows the value of time over material.
Celso Golmayo Zupide lost 2 out of 5 games to Morphy at Knight-odds and Morphy deemed him too strong for such odds. Sam Loyd played and lost one game against Morphy, also at Knight-odds. Here Loyd beats Golmayo on even terms with a combination worthy of a puzzle.
The "Uruguayan Immortal"
Since you made it this far here's a treat!
