Chess PatternsGreek gift
The oldest sacrifice against the castled king: the bishop takes on h7 with check, the knight jumps in with another check, and the queen joins on the h-file. It wins when three conditions hold, and loses a piece when they don’t.
How it works (spoiler)
Bxh7+ drags the king out and Ng5+ brings it back to the edge with gain of time. After ...Kg8, Qh5 threatens mate on h7, and with the pawn on e5 taking f6 away from Black’s knight, nothing can come back to defend. Here ...Re8 only gives the king a flight square on f8, and the queen hunts it across the back rank.
The set-up: bishop, knight and queen
Look for a triangle of pieces aimed at h7: a bishop on d3 (or c2) on the b1–h7 diagonal, a knight on f3 that can jump to g5, and a queen on d1 that can reach h5 (or g4, or d3) in one move. A pawn on e5 helps a lot: it takes f6 away from Black’s knight, the piece that would otherwise defend h7.
Then check the three conditions. 1. The bishop, knight and queen are in place. 2. When the knight jumps to g5, nothing can take it (or, if something can, a pawn takes back and opens a file, see the h-pawn version). 3. After Qh5, no black piece can come back to cover h7.
Where can the king go?
After 1.Bxh7+ Kxh7 2.Ng5+ Black has four choices, and each has its own answer. 2...Kg8 runs into 3.Qh5 and mate on h7 or f7. 2...Kh6 allows 3.Nxf7+, forking king and queen. 2...Kg6 keeps the king near its pieces, but h4–h5+ chases it further out. And declining with 1...Kh8 still loses to Ng5 and Qh5.
2...Kh6 3.Nxf7+ wins the queen
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2...Kg6 3.h4: the h-pawn chases the king into a mating net
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1...Kh8 declines, but Ng5 and Qh5 mate all the same
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When it fails: the knight can be taken
Here everything looks ready, but Black’s bishop on e7 covers g5. After 1.Bxh7+ Kxh7 2.Ng5+ Bxg5 the knight is simply gone, and White is down two pieces for a pawn with no attack left.
3.Bxg5 Qxg5: the queen takes back
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3.Qh5+ Bh6: the bishop blocks, and the attack is over
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When it fails: h7 can be defended
Without a pawn on e5, Black has defenders. After 3.Qh5 the bishop can come to f5, or a knight to f6, covering h7 for good. White has given up a piece for a pawn and the mate threat is parried.
3...Bf5 covers h7
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3...Nf6 covers h7 and hits the queen
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