” Sacrificing a piece in chess is known as a gambit. The idea of a gambit is to sacrifice a piece in order to gain a structural or positional advantage over your opponent.” Check this competition footage of my favorite triangle choke counter.
I always had a good triangle choke defense. One of my favorite tactics in the Brazilian Jiu Jits competition it to baiting the triangle, wear my opponent down, and then slowly pass. Even if the pass itself would fail, I can still wear my opponent down and use it as a triangle choke escape. This triangle choke pass is mechanically the same as the basic double under pass. In this match you see me take the opponent’s collar with my right hand and leaving my left arm low on purpose, knowing fully well my opponent has the option of going for the triangle. Do note that my head stays upright (straight neck). When my opponent goes for the triangle, he gains a POSITIONAL advantage.
But I gain STRUCTURAL advantage. My opponent’s spine and neck are completely bent (broken posture) while my spine and neck stay straight (strong posture). It’s very hard (and unhealthy for your spine) to generate strength with a broken posture (compare it to squatting with a bent spine). Although my opponent has the triangle, he is unable to generate strength cause of his posture and thus unable to finish the choke. Meanwhile, I keep my weight forward and structure intact.
I force my opponent to carry my weight, slowly grinding, breaking his structure even more. The more he resists, the more tired he gets. Until he has to concede the pass or turtle and expose his back (the truck). My opponent did a good job of bending my neck (pulling my head done). If I fix my posture by raising my butt above my shoulders. This makes my neck straight again. This exact system, and other things, is fully explained in great detail in my BJJ Fanatics Instructional “The Hidden and Essential Mechanics of Pressure Passing“
