Desperado
When in a situation where you may be at risk of losing a piece, the Desperado is a perfect tactic to use in order to get at minimum some value out of that piece, which could be a pawn or even, in some cases, change the outcome of the game. This tactic can also be used in situations where the position is equal to get an advantage.
Let’s take a look at an example.
This position is from a game between Vasilevich and Kosteniuk. Although black seems to have a significant advantage, white can play a decisive move here in order to make this game a draw.
If you said Qg4+, you’d be correct! The main idea to notice here is that the white king has no squares to move to. Thus, if the white queen were not on the board, it would be a stalemate. In this position where white is down by four points, white is more than happy with a stalemate.
If black plays Kxg4, the position is immediately a stalemate. If black decides to prolong the inevitable stalemate by playing Kh6, white can play another brilliant move, Qg6+, which now forces black to capture the white queen and causes a stalemate.
Let’s take a look at another example.
The desperado in this position is for black. However, since it never hurts to practice tactics, let’s find the best move for white first.
If you said Ne4, you’d be correct! By moving that knight, the white bishop on d2 is uncovered and is able to attack the black knight on a5. However, since the black knight has no safe squares to go to, white will win the black knight. That being said, black is not going to go down without a fight. He at first can play f5, threatening the white knight on e4. If white plays Bxa5, black can play fxe4, losing only a pawn rather than a knight.
If instead white plays Nc5 after f5, black can use a desperado by playing Nxb3.
If white tries to get greedy and plays Nxb7, black can fire back with Nxd2. This will result in black having gained a pawn in the overall interaction, albeit still losing, though not as severely.
If, however, white plays Nxb3 or axb3, black will be down by four points, but that is better than being down by five points had black not played Nxb3.
Thus, the desperado is a powerful tactic, and although it may not alter the course of the game every time, it can make the position slightly more playable, which may just make the difference later on in the game.
Author: Saharsh Satheesh
