Clearance
A tactic in which a piece moves out of the way to open a square or line for another piece.
A clearance sacrifice deliberately gives up a piece purely to vacate a square or diagonal that a different piece needs in order to deliver a decisive blow.
Etymology
Clearance is attested from the 1560s meaning “action of making clear,” with the concrete sense “a clear space” from 1788; the parent verb clear acquired the sense “to free from obstructions” in the 1520s. The chess sense applies that image to a square or line: a piece steps aside so that a more valuable line of force can operate through the vacated point, and when the vacating move gives up material it is a clearance sacrifice. The German name for the motif is Räumung (“clearing, vacating”). No source consulted documents a first chess use, coiner, or date.
Translations
Translations for this term haven't been added yet.