Breakthrough

A breakthrough is a destruction of a seemingly strong defense, often by means of a sacrifice.

In the above Nakamura's breakthrough puzzle, it is White to play. Stockfish, one of the strongest free engines and at a depth of 34 suggested the natural looking 47. Bd5 with a slight advantage for White (+0.6). However, the brilliant and totally unexpected move is 47.g5!! Stockfish, which could not find this move on its own, gave White a score of +1.69 after playing 47.g5. There is always room for human creativity.




The following is a puzzle of breakthrough motifs and promotion combinations with the solution. It is Black to play and win.

In the above breakthrough combination puzzle, White should play
1. Rh5! and win.

In the above puzzle, it is Black to move and make a breakthrough. The following is the solution in PGN format.


[Event "Rosenwald Memorial"]
[Site "Game of the Century"]
[Date "1956.10.17"]
[Round "8"]
[Result "0-1"]
[White "Donald Byrne"]
[Black "Robert James Fischer"]
[ECO "D92"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]
[PlyCount "82"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. d4 O-O 5. Bf4 d5 6. Qb3 dxc4 7. Qxc4 c6 8. e4 Nbd7 9. Rd1 Nb6 10. Qc5 Bg4 11. Bg5 Na4 12. Qa3 Nxc3 13. bxc3 Nxe4 14. Bxe7 Qb6 15. Bc4 Nxc3 16. Bc5 Rfe8+ 17. Kf1 Be6 18. Bxb6 Bxc4+ 19. Kg1 Ne2+ 20. Kf1 Nxd4+ 21. Kg1 Ne2+ 22. Kf1 Nc3+ 23. Kg1 axb6 24. Qb4 Ra4 25. Qxb6 Nxd1 26. h3 Rxa2 27. Kh2 Nxf2 28. Re1 Rxe1 29. Qd8+ Bf8 30. Nxe1 Bd5 31. Nf3 Ne4 32. Qb8 b533. h4 h5 34. Ne5 Kg7 35. Kg1 Bc5+ 36. Kf1 Ng3 37. Ke1 Bb4+ 38. Kd1 Bb3+ 39. Kc1 Ne2+ 40. Kb1 Nc3+ 41. Kc1 Rc2# 0-1





The following is another practical endgame breakthrough example.

A pawn breakthrough involves a sacrifice of one or several pawns in order to create a passed pawn. This device often occurs in practice, and so in the course of play it is very important to foresee the possibility of a breakthrough.