Don't think you're going to learn everything you need to know about tactics by reading the few short lessons you'll find here. For the serious chess player, tactics are a lifelong study. Even amateurs (like me) who just want to be able to play in weekend tournaments without embarrassing themselves too badly put many hours into learning and practicing tactics. Consider these lessons to be an introduction to what there is to learn. Of course, you can still have fun playing chess without knowing any of this--at least until your opponents begin beating the crap out of you because they do know it!
There are many advanced tactics that you can use to finish off an opponent (or that she can use to finish you off). The following game, which is Chessmaster 4000 vs. B. King (1997), illustrates a few of the more important ones.
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4 c5 White's advantage in space and his strong center are impressive. Black had better do something about it quickly, or he will be in for a serious beating! Here black uses a simple tactic to hammer at white's center. Notice that black's c-pawn is safe because white's d-pawn is pinned. If 8. dxc5 Bxc3+ and black wins the exchange with a bishop fork. 8. Ne2 O-O 9. Be3 Nc6 10. O-O cxd5 11. cxd5 e6 12. Rc1 Na5 13. Bd3 a6 Intending ...b5 and ...Bb7. This plan will never be actualized. Can you see why not? (Obviously, I didn't until after the fact.) 14. Qd2 b5? 15. Bf4 White threatens a deadly fork with 16. Bc7, winning the knight. Black is already in trouble and must play very aggressively to avoid material loss. 15...e5?! 16. Bxe5 Bxe5 17. dxe5 Nc4 The knight is safe because the white bishop is pinned. Black's knight forks the queen and e5-pawn. White defends by moving the queen to protect the pawn. 18. Qc3 Nxe5 And that brings us to advanced tactic number one.The overloaded (overworked) piece. White's queen is doing two jobs: It defends the d3 bishop as well as the e5 pawn. Always try to find a way to exploit overloaded pieces. White cannot capture the knight without losing the bishop.
19. Qxe5 Qxd3 Advanced tactic number two.
The desperado. I didn't expect this. By capturing the knight, white abandons the bishop, which is now unavoidably lost. Since the bishop is lost, I expected white to play it as a desperado. A desperado is a doomed piece that sells its life as dearly as possible. Thus, I expected 19. Bxb5, the doomed bishop selling its life for a pawn. When a piece is doomed, look to see if it can be played as a desperado. I then expected this continuation: 19...axb5 20. Qxe5 Rxa2 21. Qxb5 and the computer is up a pawn. This is as far as I analyzed in my head. However, the computer looked at least one ply deeper than I did and saw that I then had the skewer 21...Ba6. Thus, the desperado move does not win a pawn, and this explains why the computer didn't play it. The machine had a more dastardly fate in mind for me!
20. Nf4 Qd2?? It took me 15 minutes of concentrated thought to come up with this blunder. 21. Nd5! Advanced tactic number three.
The mating attack. White now threatens checkmate by 22. Ne7++. I cannot save myself except by giving up material. Such an attack is called a mating attack. I missed the danger completely when I played my 20th move. When the enemy's king is exposed or poorly protected, look for a mating attack.
21...Ra7 Everything else loses, too. 22. Nf6+! White could win the exchange by 22. Ne7+ Rxe7 23. Qxe7 Qxa2, and black still has plenty of counterplay with his two connected passed pawns. I didn't expect to be treated so kindly, however. 22...Kh8 Advanced tactic number four, and several subvarieties thereof.
Discovered check. White now gets a free knight move, because after the knight moves away, black's king is in check and must be defended. When an interposed piece moves out of the way to reveal a check, it is called a discovered check. Discovered checks can be devastating, because the knight (in this case) can go anywhere it wants safely. Black cannot defend against any threats made with the knight, because he must save his king. Always look closely at discovered checks; they often decide the game. Here, for example, the only thing saving black's queen is the white pawn on e4. If white could play 23. Ne4+, black's queen would be mince meat.
Discovered checks are a special case of discovered attacks. Consider the position at left. White to move can win by 1. Ne6 attacking the rook and discovering an attack against the black queen. This is also called a double attack, for obvious reasons. Black cannot save both attacked pieces. Actually, white has a much better move in this position. Do you see it? How about 1. Qe6+!! Kh8 2. Nf7+ and now black must give up the queen, because 2...Kg8? leads to the devastating double check: 3. Nh6+ Kh8. Do you see the conclusion? White mates in two. The mate begins with a sacrifice (advanced tactic number five), in which white gives away material in order to achieve some other advantage. 4. Qg8+ Rxg8 5. Nf7++. This classic mating pattern is called a smothered mate. This tactic illustrates why it is often dangerous to leave your king or queen on the same file or rank as an enemy rook, or on the same diagonal as an enemy bishop. If that line suddenly opens, you could end up staring down the barrel of a deadly double attack or discovered check.
Now back to the game. After 22...Kh8, where would you play the white knight in order to discover a check on the black king? 23. Nd7+ Black has a choice of ways to die. He can get out of check by interposing the f-pawn, or he can get out of check by moving his king. If 23...Kg8, black loses in spectacular fashion: 24. Nxf8 Kxf8 25. Rxc8+. The pathetic bishop never got off its home square and into the game. 23...f6 24. Qe7 Rg8 Black's situation is hopeless as white attacks everything in sight. If 24...Qh6 25. Qxf8+ Qxf8 26. Nxf8 wins the rook, and the bishop is still threatened. 25. Qxf6+ And now the poor black rook is overloaded. It cannot save the king and the bishop at the same time. 25...Rg7 26. Rxc8++.
Go to the NEXT LESSON
Return to CHESS CLUB HOME PAGE