Chess Tactics: Fundamental Methods of Attack

The following are the fundamental artillery for effective chess attack. During chess lessons we will study some past games played by the great chess masters, and will make continually reference to these core chess tactics.

1) The Fork

One piece attacks 2 pieces simultaneously

2) Discovered attack

This occurs when one of your pieces is blocking an attack. When you move the blocking piece out of the way, the attack is revealed and unleashed.

Discovered Check is a particularly powerful version of this, since the opponent must then defend his king giving you the opportunity to do something else.

3) Double Attack

2 or more pieces attack at once. This can occur when a piece that was blocking adiscovered attack also moves into a separate attack (of another piece) thereby creating 2 attacks at once. It is unlikely that your opponent will be able to protect both pieces so potentially one piece will be lost. Troublesome if he didn’t notice the discovered attack and so didn’t see it coming.

Double Check

Like a double attack, except a piece moves creating,

1) A discovered check, and

2) It moves into a position whereby it also puts the King in check itself.

So now the King has 2 pieces simultaneously putting the King in check. There are 3 ways a King might be able to stop a check:

1) The piece delivering check can be taken

2) The check can be parried

3) The King can move out of check

But both pieces delivering check cannot be taken in one move, and both cannot be parried, so the only option left is for the King to move.

4) Pin

In this situation, one of the opponents (defended) pieces is blocking your line of attack. If your opponent moves this piece, you will be able to take her piece on the next move. Therefore, she cannot move this piece without allowing the defended piece to be taken.

In the diagram below, we see a classic pin. In normal circumstances, Black would now be able to take White's Queen. However, in this instance, Black cannot move her Bishop, since it is protecting her Queen from White's Rook's direct line of attack directed at Black's King. Black's Bishop is therefore 'pinned' to the e5 square.

Skewer

This is a pin where one of the opponent's pieces is blocking your line of attack towards another piece. However, the difference is,

a) In this instance, the 'blocking' piece is not defended.

b) The 'blocking' piece is also more valuable than the defended piece.

Therefore your opponent is forced to move the more valuable piece out of the line of fire, thereby allowing you to take the previously blocked piece.

5) Deflection

This involves luring your opponent's piece away from a particular square. Her piece may have a particular function in that position, e.g. controlling a line or protecting another piece. When you lure it away, it abandons it's function.

Decoy

You sacrifice a piece in order to lure the opponent’s piece onto a square that you can then take – probably using another tactic.

6) Square Clearance

If one of your own pieces is occupying a square where you want another of your pieces, you eliminate the 1st piece in the quickest way possible: exchange, sacrifice. If the opponent accepts the exchange/sacrifice, it may mean they are not able to use this move to protect the square you wanted.

Line opening

Same concept but clears up a line

7) Interference

You force the opponent to move somewhere that messes up it’s own position. e.g. You create check, she is forced to block it but in doing so she removes an existing defence leaving another piece vulnerable.

8) Zwischenzen

This is actually a concept rather than a move – translated ‘in-between’ move. You set up what looks like a standard exchange. But after your opponent takes your piece, instead of exchanging immediately, you do something else first that forces the opponent to defend, thereby in no way interfering with you completing the exchange on the next move.

Less common tactics:

9) Overload

If an opponent's piece is performing 2 functions, then when you force it to do one it may then neglect the second one.

10) X-Ray

A square appears to be covered equally by both players. However, when the opponent moves onto the square, he brings another of your pieces into play.