Tactical motifs · Master
passive sacrifice
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The idea
A piece is placed where it can be captured, but it takes no part in the attack. Its only job is to make your opponent spend a move taking it.
The test is simple: remove that piece from the board entirely. If the threat remains, it really was only bait.
How it looks
You leave a piece en prise away from the main action. Your opponent takes it — and spends the one move he needed for defence.
How to spot it
This is one of the hardest tactics, and only calculation reveals it. From the outside such a move looks like an ordinary blunder until you work the line out to the end.
Often confused with
A genuine blunder. One question tells them apart: what am I getting for this piece? If there is no answer, it is a blunder.