One of the greatest feeling on a game of chess, is sacrificing your Queen on purpose so that once your opponent captures it, you deliver a devastating tactic to win the game. Of course, we don't want to typically give our Queen away but we must be prepared for anything if it means winning the game.
A queen sacrifice is always worth it if you can force checkmate. Sometimes it's also worthwhile if you have good compensation in the form of other well-coordinated pieces.
In this battle between Grandmasters Vassily Ivanchuk and Magnus Carlsen, with White to move, can you find Ivanchuk's incredible queen sacrifice that clears the way for a pawn to soon promote and win the game?
By sacrificing the Queen to e8, White removes Black's rook from defending the back rank and keep blocking the Queen from reaching the passed pawn on time before it crowns.
Carlsen desperately tries to find counterplay against White's king. But pushing the b6 pawn is inevitable and the crowning is unavoidable.
One last try by Black to complicate the position. Where would you move the White king? Where the white king moves defines who will win this game.
White's king in front of Black's pawn and this way uses it as shield against the black Queen... and Black cannot stop the pawn promotion.