HiveChess Lecture: Activity can be more important than a piece

Hi there,

We will be looking at a new Hivechess lecture, which says activity can be more important than a piece. It is also possible that in some games you would have the opportunity to gain a piece but it can be way better to go for the activity. I know this sounds tricky and who would not like to take a free piece when they find one. Everyone would love to. But here is the difference between a good player and a better player. It is the understanding of what is needed in a given position. There are certain positions where taking a pawn can be detrimental to your advantage. You simply grab a free pawn and up next, you are in more trouble than you can count.

Understand the workings chess, the game strives on activity. This is why there are sacs in chess. A player can sacrifice a piece in exchange for activity simply because they know this activity will bring something better. Sacs like the classical sac, rook for knight and even rook for bishop, all these and more all strive on the principle that activity will be involved, that means I will control the pace of the game. These and more are what contribute to sacs for activities. In this lecture, we will be using the game between Pranesh M and Pierre-Basile Coiffait from the 42e Open de Cappelle. Also I will be focusing on key areas that employed the use of activity.

It all started from move 11, Nxe5

White didn't hold back when he got the opportunity to sac a piece in exchange for complications in the position. Here is the thing with the complication, there will be activity for white and not just anyone but the one that involves the opponent's king. After 11. Nxg3 12. Bxf7+ Kf8 13. Ng6+ Kxf7 14. Nxh8+, white went ahead to sacrifice a piece in exchange to bring out the black king.

Although the engine is saying the position is even after the sac but what the engine does not tell you is it is way harder for black to defend now that his king is exposed. He has to do the tough work while white keeps on looking for ways to exploit the exposed king.

The significant part about understanding activities and sacing for it is that is can linger. What I mean is the advantage for the sacrifice may not come in immediately but can be built upon like what white did in this game. He built upon his activity by mobilizing his pieces towards the direction of the the exposed black king.

White's biggest blow came in on move 20. f5, closing the eye of the black bishop from coming into the game and what is up next is to bring in the queen by capturing g4.

These simple thing called activity is truly essential especially in blitz games where time is important.

Here is a link to the game:

Game Link

You can use the game PGN as well

[Event "42e Open de Cappelle"]
[Site "https://lichess.org/broadcast/42e-open-international-de-cappelle/round-2/MUitde0b/tl96moiC"]
[Date "2026.02.19"]
[Round "2.1"]
[White "Pranesh M"]
[Black "Coiffait, Pierre-Basile"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2627"]
[BlackElo "2313"]
[BlackTitle "FM"]
[ECO "C54"]
[Opening "Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo, with a6"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 a6 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bh4 d6
8. Nbd2 Ba7 9. a4 g5 10. Bg3 Nh5 11. Nxe5 Nxg3 12. Bxf7+ Kf8 13. Ng6+ Kxf7
14. Nxh8+ Qxh8 15. hxg3 Qf6 16. d4 Kg7 17. O-O Bd7 18. b4 Ne7 19. Qe2 Rh8
20. b5 Bc8 21. f4 g4 22. f5 h5 23. e5 dxe5 24. Ne4 exd4 25. Qc4 dxc3+
26. Kh2 Qe5 27. f6+ Kg6 28. fxe7 Be6 29. Qd3 h4 30. Rf4 Bf5 31. Raf1 hxg3+
32. Kxg3 c2 33. Qxc2 Be3 34. Qc3 Bxf4+ 35. Rxf4 Qxc3+ 36. Nxc3 Re8
37. bxa6 bxa6 38. Nd5 c6 39. Ne3 Bd7 40. Re4 Kf7 41. Nxg4 Rxe7 42. Ne5+ Kf6
43. Kf4 Be8 44. a5 Rb7 45. g4 c5 46. g5+ Kg7 47. Kf5 Rb5 48. Rh4 Rxa5
49. g6 Bxg6+ 50. Nxg6 Ra1 51. Ne5 Rf1+ 52. Ke6 a5 53. Rh2 a4 54. Rg2+ Kh6
55. Ng4+ Kh5 56. Ne3 Re1 57. Kf5 Kh6 58. Kf6 Kh7 59. Kf7 Rh1 60. Ng4 Kh8
61. Nf6 1-0

See you in the next lecture

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_{I am @samostically, a chess player and writer. I love to share the experience I have gained from different battles over the 64 squares and the knowledgeable insights from books I have read. But most importantly, I am a Midnight Owl and I founded the community Midnight Letters.}

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Thanks For Reading!