The likelihood of opening files and diagonals justifies many pawn sacrifices.
Mikhail Tal White
Georgi Tringov Black
Amsterdam 1964
Modern Defense B06
1 e4 g6 2 d4 ♗g7 3 ♘c3 d6 4 ♘f3 c6 5 ♗g5 ♕b6
Now 6 ♖b1 ♗g4! with a threat of ...♗xf3 and ...♕xd4 isn’t bad for Black (7 ♗c4 e6).
6 ♕d2! ♕xb2 7 ♖b1 ♕a3 8 ♗c4
8...♕a5
White doesn’t have open lines for this pieces – yet. But they are inevitable, e.g. 8...♘f6 9 0-0 0-0 and now 10 ♖b3 ♕a5 11 e5!.
Then 11...♘(f6)-moves 12 ♗xe7 is lost. Also bad is 11...dxe5 12 dxe5 ♖d8 13 ♕e3 and 13...♘g4 14 ♕f4!, striking at f7.
9 0-0
Here 9...e5 makes 10 dxe5 dxe5 11 ♖fd1 strong. Black must prepare ...e5 with 9...♘d7 (10 ♖fe1 ♕c7).
9...e6?! 10 ♖fe1 a6 11 ♗f4 e5? 12 dxe5 dxe5
13 ♕d6!
Now 13...exf4 14 ♘d5! threatens ♘c7+ and wins quickly (14...cxd5 15 exd5+).
13...♕xc3
Question 176: What if Black protects his e-pawn with 13...f6 ?
14 ♖ed1 ♘d7
Or 14...♕a5 15 ♘xe5 and wins, e.g. 15...♘h6 16 ♗g5 f6 17 ♖xb7! and mates.
15 ♗xf7+! ♔xf7 16 ♘g5+ ♔e8 17 ♕e6+ resigns.
The finish would be 17...♔d8 18 ♘f7+ ♔c7 19 ♕d6 mate or 17...♘e7 18 ♕f7+ ♔d8 19 ♘e6 mate.
Varlam Vepkhvishvili White
D. Magalashvili Black
Soviet Georgia 1966
1 e4 d6 2 d4 g6 3 ♘c3 ♗g7 4 ♗g5 ♘d7 5 ♘f3 ♘gf6 6 ♗c4 0-0? 7 e5! dxe5 8 dxe5 ♘g4 9 e6! fxe6? 10 ♗xe6+ ♔h8 11 ♗xg4 ♘c5 12 ♗xc8 ♕xc8 13 0-0 and wins.