Bishop sacrifice

The following game was played in 1965 between Dragoljub Velimirovic and Lubomir Kavalek in Belgrade. Kavalek recalled this game because the Bishop sacrifice which he encountered was identical to one which was played out between Wang Hao and Anish Giri at the Beijing 2013 FIDE Grand Prix. It was the identical Philidor system.

The beauty of the two games lies in the supporting moves which followed the sacrifices. The continuations were without flair. They were quiet, almost prophylactic, but gained momentum as the game progressed, and reached destructive force in the end.

Almost one hundred years ago German grandmaster Aron Nimzowitsch wrote a