AlphaZero shocks the world: Unbelievable Triple-Pawn Sacrifice

Hi all

Another fascinating dynamic game shows Alphazero really playing in the spirit of the Romantic era, first with a well known counter gambit, but then extending the game to two more pawns. The resulting compensation is an impressive bishop pair but also another hidden asset - a 3rd rank which is clear of pawns that can be used to pivot a rook into the attack.

The game starts with the Two Knights variation

There is an invitation for White to play Ng5 here which Stockfish does play:

The best known antidote is a gambit variation

All well known opening theory

Hitting the Knight on g5

Aiming to give White doubled pawns in the center

The 2nd pawn sacrifice

Keeping a bind on d4, but also look at the attacking routes here to Whites King

Direct mating threat

The losing mistake

Direct mate threat

Ra8 is just winning now

Qd1 is the equivalent of resignation - giving up a piece

The game final position

So Why did Stockfish give up a piece? Lets highlight behind the scenes action now:

If Nb5 there is first the move Bf3

gxf3 Ra6

This cannot be defended adequately

Video Annotation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQm1Y4lNaXA

Key takeaway points

• The Two Knights's defence goes into a very interesting gambit which is well known
• Alphazero played two more pawn sacrifices, and Stockfish 8 only realised too late that the King attack was too powerful and just ended up giving up a piece
• We cannot underestimate the power of dynamic attacking chess

I hope you enjoyed this blog :). Any likes and follows are really appreciated. Also, I also have some interesting chess courses at https://kingscrusher.tv to check out.

Cheers, K