In chess, a tactic refers to a short sequence of moves which limits the opponent's options and which results in tangible gain. Tactics are usually contrasted to strategy, in which advantages take longer to be realized, and the opponent is less constrained in responding. Chess is a recreational and competitive game for two players. ... This article seems not to be written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia entry. ...

The fundamental building blocks of tactics are two-move sequences in which the first move poses a double threat. The opponent is unable to respond to both threats in one move, so the first player realizes an advantage on the second move. This class of tactic includes forks, skewers, discovered attacks, undermining, overloading, and interference. Pins also fall into this category to some extent, although it is common for a defending player to relieve neither of the two threats posed by a pin, in which case the attacking player commonly maintains the pin for a longer period of time. A pin is therefore sometimes more strategic than tactical. The white knight is forking the black king and rook. ... In chess, a skewer (or thrust) is an attack upon two pieces in a line and is similar to a pin. ... In chess, a discovered attack is an attack revealed when one piece moves out of the way of another. ... Undermining (also known as Removal of the Guard) is a chess tactic in which a defensive piece is captured, leaving one of the opponents pieces undefended or underdefended. ... Overloading is a chess tactic in which a defensive piece is given an additional assignment which it cant complete without abandoning its original assignment. ... Interference is a chess tactic which seldom arises, and is therefore often overlooked. ... Here there is an absolute pin on the black knight because moving it would illegally expose the black king to check from the white bishop. ...

Often tactics of several types are conjoined in a combination. A combination, while still constraining the opponent's responses, takes several moves to obtain advantage, and thus is considered deeper and more spectacular than the basic tactics listed above. In chess, a combination is a relatively long sequence of moves, often initiated by a sacrifice, which leaves the opponent few options and results in tangible gain. ...

The concept of a Zwischenzug ("in-between move") is often listed as a tactic, but might properly be called a counter-tactic instead. During the execution of a tactic one focuses on only a few pieces as relevant, but a Zwischenzug complicates the situation by making a more urgent threat with another piece. The effect of a Zwischenzug is to change the status quo before a tactic can come to fruition. The near ubiquity of the Zwischenzug makes long combinations all the more rare and impressive. In chess, zwischenzug (German for intermediate move) is a common tactic that occurs in almost every game. ...

Chess computers are considered superhuman at tactics and rather weak at strategy. The fact that computers can play on a par with the best humans suggests that chess is primarily a tactical game. On the other hand, it must be noted that computers don't think about tactics in human terms (fork, skewer, etc.); the nuances of human understanding of chess, both tactical and strategic, have not been imitated by computers, only matched in effective playing strength. 1990s Pressure-sensory Chess Computer with LCD screen The idea of creating a chess-playing machine dates back to the eighteenth century. ...

Attacking and defending pieces

A piece is said to attack an opponent's piece if, in the next move, it could capture that piece. A piece is said to defend or to protect a piece of the defender's color if, in case the defended piece were taken by the opponent, the defender could recapture right away. Attacking a piece forces the opponent to respond only if the attacked piece is undefended, or if the attacking piece is of lower value than the attacked one.

Forks

Main article: fork

A fork is a move that uses one piece to attack two of the opponent's pieces at the same time, hoping to achieve material advantage (because the opponent can only counter one of the two threats). Knights are often used for forks: they jump to a position from where they attack two pieces. A quite common situation is a white knight jumping to c7, thereby threatening both the rook at a8 and the king at e8. Such "king forks" are particularly effective, because the opponent is forced by the rules of the game to counter the threat to the king; the opponent cannot choose to defend the other piece, and thus cannot use a zwischenzug (see below) to complicate the situation. Pawns can also fork enemy pieces: by moving a pawn forward, it may attack two pieces: one diagonally to the left and one diagonally to the right. A common situation is the move Pawn d2-d4 forking a black bishop at c5 and a black knight at e5. The white knight is forking the black king and rook. ... In chess, zwischenzug (German for intermediate move) is a common tactic that occurs in almost every game. ...

Kasparov vs. World Team 1999 Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... In 1999, Garry Kasparov agreed to play a game of chess, via the Internet, against the rest of the world in consultation, with the World Team moves to be decided by majority vote. ... Kasparov played 12.Nc7+	A variation of the Three Knights Opening 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Bc5 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.d4

A queen move also often attacks two pieces at the same time, but this is only useful if both pieces are undefended, or if one is undefended and the other is the opposing king. The queen is more valuable than the pieces it is attacking, so it is usually not profitable for it to capture a defended piece.

Pins

Main article: pin

"The defensive power of a pinned piece is only imaginary." - Aron Nimzowitsch Here there is an absolute pin on the black knight because moving it would illegally expose the black king to check from the white bishop. ... Aron Nimzowitsch (also Nimzovich or Niemzowitsch) (November 7, 1886, Riga – March 16, 1935, Denmark) was a chess player of grandmaster strength and a very influential chess writer. ...

A pin is a move which forces one of the opponent's pieces to stay put because moving it would expose a more valuable piece behind it. As they move in a straight line, bishops, rooks, and queens can pin other pieces.

In the left diagram, black can't move the knight without losing the queen, and Black's rook can't be moved at all. In the right diagram, Kramnik pins black's bishop and soon wins it with a4-a5.

Morphy vs. Consultation Team 1858 Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... The Opera Game was a famous chess game played in 1858 between the American chess master Paul Morphy and two strong amateurs, the German noble Karl, Duke of Brunswick and the French aristocrat Count Isouard, who consulted, playing together as partners against Morphy. ... after Morphy's 14th move

Vladimir Kramnik vs. Alexander Morozevich 2002 Rapid Play Vladimir Kramnik at the 2005 Corus chess tournament. ... Alexander Morozevich Alexander Morozevich (Александр Морозе́вич) (born July 18, 1977) is a Russian chess player. ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... Kramnik played 31.Rb1

Skewers

Main article: skewer

A skewer is a move which attacks two pieces in a line, similar to a pin, except that the enemy piece of greater value is in front of the enemy piece of lesser value. After the more valuable piece moves away, the lesser piece can be captured. Queens, rooks, and bishops can skewer. In chess, a skewer (or thrust) is an attack upon two pieces in a line and is similar to a pin. ...

Lasker vs. Bauer 1889 Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Lasker played 33.Qg7+	Tal vs. Botvinnik 1960 Tal played 30.Bc4

Because of possible pins and skewers, one should be extremely cautious if king and queen are located on the same vertical, horizontal or diagonal line, or can be forced into such an arrangement. This is the best technique to capture the rook or the queen.

Discovered attacks

Main article: discovered attack

A discovered attack is a move which unmasks an attack by another piece. A piece is moved away so as to unmask the attack of a friendly bishop, rook or queen on an enemy piece. If the attacked piece is the king, we speak of a discovered check. Discovered attacks are powerful, because if the moving piece manages to pose a second threat, the opponent is in trouble. In chess, a discovered attack is an attack revealed when one piece moves out of the way of another. ...

Torre vs. Lasker 1925 Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Torre played 31.Rg5+	Byrne vs. Fischer 1956 The Game of the Century usually refers to a chess game played between Donald Byrne and 13-year old Bobby Fischer in the Rosenwald Memorial Tournament in New York City on October 17, 1956. ... Fischer played 22...Nc3+

A special case of a discovered check is a double check, where both the piece being unmasked and the piece being moved attack the enemy king. A double check requires that the opponent moves his/her king as the king is under attack from two directions and it is impossible to counter both at the same time in any other way.

Pawns

Pawns are extremely useful in the game and are far more powerful than what meets the eye. When a piece cannot be captured without the attacking piece also being captured, pawns will suffice for that purpose. A single pawn approaching will force a more powerful piece, such as a rook or a knight, to retreat. A simple move of a pawn may reveal a hidden threat (see above) . Also, when pawns are arranged in a diagonal line, with the frontmost pawns guarded by the pawns behind, it forms an almost impenetrable wall capable of protecting any piece directly behind it. Furthermore, a pawn which has progressed all the way to the opposite side of the board may be exchanged for any "power piece," usually a queen.

Zwischenzug

Main article: zwischenzug

The German zwischenzug means "intermediate move"; it is a common tactic that occurs in almost every game: instead of countering a direct threat, which the opponent expects, a move is played which poses an even more devastating threat, often an attack against the queen or the king. The opponent has to counter that threat first, and this will ideally change the situation to a disadvantage. In chess, zwischenzug (German for intermediate move) is a common tactic that occurs in almost every game. ...

When a player plans the tactics, he or she should always watch out for a zwischenzug. Don't assume that the opponent has to counter all threats immediately. It is good practice to always check whether the opponent has a check or a move threatening the player's queen. Conversely, it is good to anticipate the opponent's threats and plan a surprising zwischenzug.

Sacrifices

Main articles: sacrifice gambit

Often it is necessary to throw the opponent's position or tempo out of balance by first sacrificing some material, sometimes to be regained with interest a couple of moves later. Pawn sacrifices in the opening are known as gambits; they are usually not intended for material short-term gain but instead to achieve a more active position. In the game of chess, a sacrifice is the deliberate giving up of a chess piece by a player, allowing or even forcing the opponent to capture it. ... A gambit is a chess opening in which something, usually a pawn, but sometimes even a piece, is sacrificed in order to achieve an advantage. ... In chess, tempo refers to the time taken by a move. ...

Direct attacks against the enemy king are often started by sacrifices; a common example is a bishop sacrificing itself on h7, checking the king on g8 who has to take the bishop, after which the white queen and knight develop a fulminant attack. Staunton chess pieces, left to right: pawn, rook, knight, bishop, queen, and king. ...

Zugzwang

Main article: zugzwang

In chess, zugzwang (German for "compulsion to move") occurs when one player, because it is his turn to move, must make a move but every possible move weakens his position. The player is put at a disadvantage because he would like to pass and make no move, but a move has to be made. Situations involving zugzwang occur uncommonly; when they do occur, it is most commonly in the endgame, where there are fewer choices of available moves. Zugzwang (German for compulsion to move, IPA: ) is a term used in combinatorial game theory and in other types of games (particularly in chess). ...

Attacks against the king

Colle vs. O'Hanlon, 1930 Colle played 12.Bxh7+

Attacks against the castled king are usually justified by some imbalance: the attacker has more firepower on the king's side than the opponent, or the opponent weakened his king's position by moving one of the pawns in front of the king. Example of a bishop sacrifice on h7 in the Colle system File links The following pages link to this file: Chess strategy and tactics Categories: GFDL images ...

Many mating attacks are introduced by sacrifices: if mate is close, then material advantage is irrelevant. The queen is usually the most important piece in a mating attack, because the queen has various ways of mating a king. The most common is a direct "contact check" while being protected by one of her own pieces. For example, white knight g5, black king on g8 and the queen mates at h7, or white bishop at f6 or h6 and the white queen on g7 mates the black king on g8.

Not every move in a mating attack has to be a check. Often, a check only drives the king to a better position, or weakens the attacker's setup. "Quiet" moves often complete the action.

Queens

As the queen is the second most important chess piece, capturing the opponents queen is a worthwhile task. Capturing a queen must either be done by stealth, brute force (such as attacking the king and queen at the same time) or both. A knight is often the best means of capturing a queen. If one uses a bishop or rook, it puts the bishop or rook in danger of capture. However, a knight that is attacking a queen is often unseen by the opponent and is immune to capture by the queen, because the queen cannot jump over pieces or move in an L-shaped motion.

See also

• Chess strategy

This article seems not to be written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia entry. ...

Further reading

•   Yasser Seirawan (2005). Winning Chess Tactics. Everyman Chess. 1-85744-385-3. 

External links

• Practice chess skills
• Chess Tactics Organization
• Chess Tactics for Amateurs
• Chess Tactics Server
• Chess Tactics
• Chess Problem Server - Online chess problems
• Chess Tactics Repository - User-contributed tactical chess problems
• Chess Tutorials - chess tutorials for beginners.
• Chess Tactic - 14 of the most important tactical maneuvers in chess
• Tactics technical papers suite
• Thousands of Chess Puzzles by Grandmasters