Chapter Five More about Aesthetics. About the pseudo..sacrifice. The sacrifice of a Queen undefended square cannot be taken, interest is aroused for the whole creative production. You see, also the pseudo-sacrifice , which l ike the sacrifice is an active offensive operation, is needed in accordance with the combinational conditions. Thus , essentially, the great diffe rence between the pseudo-sacrifice and the sacrifice is difficult to per ceive. Strictly speaking , the prefix "pseudo" can be added to almost any sacrifice, since as the end result of the combination i ts initiator achieves (or a definite combination should achieve by itself) an advant age. The strength of the aesthetic influence of a sacrifice is deter mined not so much by the argu ment questioning the right to qua lify a giving up of material as a sacrifice, as by a number of other creative considerations , ansmg around the sacrifice ( or pseudo sacrifice ) . In both this and the other case occurs a sudden break with generally accepted, habitual notions and one of these cir cumstances is already sufficient for an aesthetic perception of the occurring events. For the different degrees of aes thetic influence , of vital impor-
Already in the previous chapters , we have touched upon the subj ect of sacrifice , as upon the element of aesthetics in chess art. As we have already explained above, we call a voluntary giving up of material, pawns , pieces , etc, with the aim of carrying out a combinational plan, a sacrifice. Other sacrifices can be called pseudo-sacrifices where , after one , two , three moves, the sacrificed material is recovered with interest and the sacrificer himself achieves a material advantage. Also possible is the kind of sacrifice as was fea tured above in the game , Bernstein -Capablanca. The queen is placed under attack, but it cannot be taken because of the mate which would fol low immediately in this case. Such a "sacrifice" can still quite rightly be called a pseudo sacrifice, but also a pseudo-sacrifice in no way lacks beauty. In it, also , the usual notions of the possibility and the allowance of this or that move are sharply and surprisingly disregarded. The first impression about the pseudo-sacrifice is the same as an "oversight" ( the so called unnoticed threat) . When, however, it is "explained" that the piece placed under threat on an 23
