Introduction To Tactics
Tactics are often confused with Strategies, but there are comparable differences.
Strategies help you plan how you intend to play your army, in battle against the enemy army.
Strategies give you a rough idea of what to do in certain situations, such as dealing with a Material Advantage; helping you determine where best to place your Pieces, to maximize their individual strengths; and creating the conditions that help you to target and capture enemy material.
In contrast, Tactics are used to take advantage of short-term opportunities...
Like a boxer would tactically decide when to jab, or when to use an uppercut to inflict damage on their opponent; the chess player would be vigilant to specific peculiarities that lend themselves to one tactic over another.
Not only are there Tactics for use in attack; some Tactics exist to defend; while others lend themselves to deceiving your opponent into thinking you're going to do one thing, only for you to carry out your real objective.
The 15 Chess Tactics we have here are as follows (in alphabetical order):
Chess Tactic #1: Battery Attack
When thinking of a Battery Attack, imagine a typical household electrical battery... Each battery is a single cell of power. If you want more power, you need to join more cells together.
In Chess, a Battery Attack is formed on the straights (the Ranks and/or Files) by stacking Rooks and Queens; while, on the diagonals, a Bishop and Queen are stacked, or combined, to increase the power directed at the enemy's position.
Both armies can have Batteries pointing at each other...
However, let's assume that White's Battery consists of 2 Rooks, while Black's Battery consists of 2 Rooks and a Queen... Black would have the more-powerful battery and White would be wise to reinforce his 2 Rooks, or avoid attacking Black's Battery, at this point.
Chess Tactic #2: Block
A Block is a defensive tactic, called upon whenever an opposition Bishop, Rook or Queen manages to put your King in Check.
All you're doing is placing an available Pawn or Piece in between your King and the attacking enemy unit - you Block the Check and, temporarily at least, safeguard your King.
Be aware, even if your Blocking unit has back-up from either the King, or another Pawn or Piece, the attacker may decide to capture your Blocker, in a sacrificial maneuver designed to remove part of your King's defenses.
Chess Tactic #3: Clearance
This is also known as a "Clearance Sacrifice", which better describes what's going on here...
Imagine you want to put a Piece on a specific square, which will enhance the attack you're mounting... Trouble is, one of your own Pieces is already on that square.
The trouble is, by moving that Piece, it will result in its capture. However, due to the superior position that you stand to gain by getting your other Piece on that square, you deem it worthwhile to "Clear" that obstructing Piece, accepting its Sacrifice, for the compensation you stand to gain (improved position).
Chess Tactic #4: Decoy
The Decoy involves sending a Pawn or Piece to a specific square, as a sacrifice, in order to get the enemy to capture it...
Upon doing so, your 'real' objective is realized, as your 'waiting' Piece gets to Checkmate the enemy King, or swoop down on to capture another critical Piece of the opposition (typically the Queen).
Chess Tactic #5: Deflection
Imagine throwing a stone that with enough force behind it, at another stone... When it strikes, the less-mighty stone gets 'deflected' away from the position where it had been resting.
In Chess, you can build up an attack, with enough weight behind it (in the shape of supporting Pieces) that you strike the enemy's position at a specific point, which forces your real target, such as the enemy King, to flee its current position... The King gets "Deflected" away, leaving you in a stronger position.
The famous Checkmate sequence known as "Legall's Mate" contains a Deflection. It happens on Move 6, when White's Bishop captures Black's f7-Pawn, which puts Black's King in Check.
Because of the protection from White's Knight, from the 'e5' square, Black's King has no choice but to move - it gets Deflected onto the 'e7' square (and Checkmate follows on White's very next move).
Chess Tactic #6: Discovered Attack
This tactic requires two of your Pieces working together. One will be in front of the other; the one to the rear is considered the hidden unit waiting for its attack to be uncovered - or, "Discovered".
At the chosen moment, the Piece in front will move - usually to attack another enemy Pawn/Piece - and the Piece that was to the rear will be revealed, attacking another enemy Pawn or Piece (but not the enemy King. More on that, in the next Tactic).
The result of the Discovered Attack is your opponent will be forced to choose which attacked Pawn/Piece to rescue... The other, you'll bag!
On a defensive note, before you make your next move, study the board and look at your opponent's Pieces...
If you see two Pieces on neighboring squares (also any sitting on diagonals, next to each other), look first at the one to the rear and follow the line down in the direction of your army...
If it leads to one of your Pawns/Pieces, and if the neighboring enemy Piece is within range of another of your troops, your opponent may be working up to catch you out, with a Discovered Attack.
Chess Tactic #7: Discovered Check
This involves the same principles as the standard Discovered Attack. The only difference is the enemy King is one of the Pieces that gets attacked.
Because the King is attacked, it will be in "Check"... This means the King must be protected, at ALL COST.
Discovered Checks are designed to capture the 'other' enemy victim.
Chess Tactic #8: Fork Attack
When one Pawn or Piece attacks two (or more) enemy units in one maneuver, this is known as a "Fork Attack".
Fork Attacks can be "Relative" or "Absolute".
Relative Forks attack two or more enemy units, but not the enemy King.
Absolute Forks attack two or more enemy units and, this time, one of the Pieces IS the enemy King.
When it's a Relative attack, the player may choose which unit to save and which one to leave at the mercy of the attacker.
When it's an Absolute attack, the player's King must be safeguarded, as it's in Check. The other Pawn(s)/Piece(s) under attack will be left to their own fate.
Chess Tactic #9: Intermezzo / Zwischenzug
In English, both "Intermezzo" and "Zwischenzug" respectively mean "Intermediate Move".
This Tactic involves a bit of deception.
First, you play a sort of bogus move, which makes your opponent react to it - this is the "Intermediate Move"... Then, you play your intended move.
Chess Tactic #10: Pin Attack
Pins involve attacking a less-valuable Pawn or Piece, which is in front of a more-valuable Piece sitting behind.
If that more-valuable Piece happens to be the enemy King, then this is known as an "Absolute Pin" and the less-valuable Pawn/Piece that's sitting in front, CANNOT move to escape the threat - it's "Pinned" against its King.
If the more-valuable Piece behind happens to be just another Piece, then the less-valuable Pawn/Piece CAN move out of the way, but often it remains "Pinned" in place, to prevent the more-valuable Piece from getting captured.
Chess Tactic #11: Sacrifices
Sacrifices are deliberate attempts to play a Pawn or Piece into such a position that it will get captured. But, in return, your compensation is either the capture of one of the enemy Pawns/Pieces, or the ability to gain a lead in development.
Chess Tactic #12: Skewer Attack
The pattern of the Skewer is kind of the reverse of the Pin.
When a Skewer occurs, the attack is against a more-valuable Piece, which is unfortunate enough to be sitting in front of a less-valuable Pawn or Piece.
The idea behind the Skewer is to get the more-valuable Piece to step-aside, so you can capture whatever 'victim' is sitting behind.
Just like the Pin, Skewer Attacks can be either "Relative" or "Absolute".
Chess Tactic #13: Traps
Setting a Trap can be a bit of a gamble...
If your opponent spots your hidden agenda, you will quite possible end up wasting a move.
On the flip side, if your Trap works and your opponent falls it, your reward will be realized - this could be either a material gain; a positional gain; or it'll put you on course for a sweet victory!
Well known Chess Traps include:
- Blackburne Shilling Gambit
- Elephant Trap
- Lasker Trap
- Magnus Smith Trap
Chess Tactic #14: Windmill Attack
Windmill Attacks get their title from one observer, who saw this played in a game and likened it to the rotating blades/sails of a Windmill... and the name was forever applied to this most rare of tactics.
What happens is, due to the positioning of a supporting Piece, the attacking Piece will put the enemy King in Check, which will have to spend a turn to move out of Check...
This will allow our attacking unit to capture one of the enemy... That allows the enemy King to move back... But the attacking Piece then goes on to Check the King again, which has to spend a turn to move to safety, but that allows the attacking unit to capture another of the enemy.
This rotational series of Checks and Captures is the cause of the sequence being referred to as being like a Windmill.
Chess Tactic #15: X-Ray Attack
When we refer to X-Rays, in Chess, we're likening it to the X-Ray vision that Superman had. The term "X-Ray" was coined to describe a Piece's ability to "see-through" objects, in order to focus its sights on whatever happens to be behind.
It's more of a 'threat' than anything else, as the target of an X-Ray cannot be captured, as the object (another Pawn or Piece) is blocking the way.
In total, there are three different forms of X-Ray Attack. Two of them are full-on "Offensive" attacks; while the third incorporates both "Defensive" and "Attacking" elements.
Type 1 is another term for a Skewer Attack.
Type 2 threatens through one or more friendly pieces.
Type 3 defends a friendly Piece through one or more enemy pieces.
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