Puzzle Terms - A Beginner's Guide
In celebration of our 200th member, @vik-mouse-slip, I am releasing this article early for your enjoyment. Feedback is highly encouraged, since the article is still a work in progress. 
So without further ado....
Have you ever wondered what theme your puzzle contained? Are you still trying to figure out what a certain tactic means? If so, look no further! This guide contains all the puzzle themes and gives some informational and instructional content on each theme. I hope you enjoy it! (Note: Themes are in alphabetical order.)
Here's the list so that you don't have to tire your fingers out by scrolling (I know it's long lol)
Please notify me if the any of the following links don't work. I am still new to blogging and I know I made some mistakes, but mistakes are how we learn.
- Alekhine's Gun
- Back Rank
- Battery
- Bishop Pair
- Clearance Sacrifice
- Decoy/Deflection
- Defense
- Desperado
- Discovered Check
- En Passant
- Exchange Sacrifice
- Forced Mate
- Fork/Double Attack
- Hanging Piece
- Interference
- Mating Net
- Opposition
- Outpost
- Overloading
- Passed Pawns
- Pawn Endgames
- Perpetual Check
- Pin
- Promotion
- Removing the Defender
- Rook Endgames
- Rooks on the Seventh
- Sacrifices
- Simplification
- Skewer
- Smothered Mate
- Stalemate
- Trapped Piece
- Underpromotion
- Vulnerable King
- Windmill
- X-Ray Attack
- Zugzwang
- Zwischenzug
So let’s start….
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The Alekhine’s Gun, named after former world chess champion Alexander Alekhine, is a well-known piece configuration where all of a player’s major pieces are aligned onto the same file, oftentimes putting pressure into one spot. This formation can be used to take advantage of a weak spot in the opponent’s position, or to secure the position with your three major pieces. When using the Alekhine's Gun, you should always be aware of the placement of your pieces. There are times when the Alekhine's Gun can be useful, but at other times it can block up your position. Before utilizing this powerful battery, ask yourself, "Why am I doing this?" If there is nothing to be gained by building up the Alekhine's Gun, then it probably isn't the best idea. Instead, you should develop and centralize your other pieces, and let the major pieces support from behind.
This term originated after Alekhine’s decisive victory against Aron Nimzowitsch in Sanremo, Italy in 1930.
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A back rank mate happens when a player gives checkmate by attacking the back rank of their opponent. In order for this checkmate to happen, the king must be restricted by their own pieces or by the opponent’s pieces. It is particularly useful to spot this kind of mate because it is a very common occurrence in beginner games, usually because the opponent forgets to make luft, or a flight square for the king. In order to instantly recognize a back rank mate, you will want to master the ability to see if the king is restricted or not. Then, you will want to scan the board for any potential pieces that can deliver the mate. Finally, check for any potential defense your opponent has. Not only will mastering this skill help you in games, it will also help in puzzle rush, as the majority of the early puzzles are back rank mate puzzles. (See A Beginner's Guide to Puzzle Rush/Battle)
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Similar to Alekhine’s gun, a battery consists of two or more pieces on the same rank, file, or diagonal. This strategy is often used to put pressure on a certain spot or to solidify the position. Batteries can be extremely useful when attacking the opponent or in the endgame, where the rooks are connected. Utilizing a battery follows the same logic as the Alekhine's Gun. Why are you making a battery? What do you plan to do with it? Very similar to life, batteries are essential for life. What else are you going to power your computer with?
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This deadly duo can be used as a lethal weapon against the opponent’s king. Since there is one light-squared bishop and one dark-squared bishop, they can be tremendously powerful when used together, since they can cover a huge amount of space. One to rule the morning, one to rule the night.
This puzzle is a great example of how effective the bishop pair can be when used together.
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A clearance sacrifice happens when a piece vacates its square to make room for another piece or to open up the lines it was blocking. This is particularly useful for when the piece obstructing your attack can be replaced by a piece that’s useful to the attack. When using a clearance sacrifice, you should calculate a few moves ahead to make sure that you get the desired compensation for your sacrifice. You can think about it like a wounded soldier in battle being replaced by a fresh soldier.
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A decoy is a tactic used to lure a piece to a particular square. This may be used to lead the opposing piece into a trap, and obtain an advantage. If any of you like chocolate, then you know that a free piece lying right there in the middle of the table is irresistible.
While a decoy leads a piece into a desired square, deflection does the opposite. Instead of leading a piece, it deflects it. This is used to distract a piece from an important square it was defending. If the opponent’s piece is successfully deflected, then you can successfully carry out tasks that weren’t possible before the piece was deflected. You can also utilize this vital technique to escape a game of Monopoly. All you need is a fake spider (preferably large), a loud scream, and some quick feet.
Decoys and deflections are used to distract enemy pieces, so when you see an enemy piece that is controlling the position, think about how you can decoy or deflect that piece to a weaker position.
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In order to suppress an attack, you need to know the technique of defense. This may involve protecting key squares, sacrificing material, or making backward moves. They can also deter the opponent from gaining a strategic edge, like suppressing a passed pawn or winning material. It is important to know how to defend because it could decide the game. If you fail to protect yourself from your opponent’s attacks, you will either lose material or even worse, lose the game.
In order to master the technique of defense, you will have to have a good sense of pattern recognition. Oftentimes, defending your king will have you playing backward moves, so always be on the lookout for those. You will also have to support your pawn structure as pawns are the king's primary defense. Always be on the lookout for a counter-attack!
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Desperado is a pseudo-Spanish alteration of the English word "desperate." The reason for this name is because the strategy is exactly what it sounds like. Desperado happens when a player makes one final move, usually a capture, with a piece that cannot be saved. Basically the player kamikaze’s his or her piece with the intent to damage the opponent’s position before that piece is captured. Imagine that you are in possession of a $100 bill. Now losing this dollar bill is inevitable because you made this deal with another gambler and lost. However you can trade this bill in for $50. You would obviously take the $50 instead of losing all of your money, right? (I hope) Desperado is basically that. Taking what you can before you inevitably lose it.
When calculating a desperado, make sure that your opponent doesn't have any in-between moves that they can play with the piece being captured (see zwischenzug).
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A discovered attack occurs when a player moves a piece out of the way to reveal a previously blocked threat by another piece. These types of attacks are extremely powerful, since the piece revealing the attack can also make an attack of its own. GM Hikaru perfectly demonstrates this idea in the game below:
The key to finding powerful discovered attacks lies with two things: open files and active pieces. The key to effectively use a discovered attack is to look for checks, captures, or threats with the piece that is not delivering the check. For example, is you make a threat on your opponent's queen, your opponent cannot save the queen and stop the check in most cases.
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A Discovered Check is like the premium membership of a discovered attack. Following the branch of a discovered attack, a discovered check happens when a piece clears the way for another piece, delivering a check. These are even more powerful than discovered attacks since the opponent has to protect the king by either capturing the checking piece, blocking the check, or moving the king. Meanwhile the piece clearing the way basically has a free move, and has the freedom to go wherever it wants without the fear of being captured.
A Discovered Double Check is like the Exclusive Premium Membership of a discovered check. This is the most forcing move in chess, as a king move is the opponent’s only option. Now add a discovered double check with a capture, and you're officially set for life.
A classic example of a discovered check happens in the French Defense.
This is also one of my personal favorite puzzles featuring 3 piece sacs, a discovered double check, and a double knight mate! What else could you ask for?
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The en passant (French for “in passing”) rule is a special pawn capturing move. I’ve noticed that many beginners don’t know about this rule and often think that their opponent is cheating when they magically capture their pawn! That is why it is of the utmost importance that beginners learn about this pawn move.
Usually, pawns capture pieces that are directly and diagonally positioned in front of them on an adjacent file. With en passant, exceptions are made. This type of capture is unique as it is the only one that doesn’t land on a square as the piece being captured. In order to do this special move, a few requirements must be met. First, the capturing pawn must have advanced exactly three ranks to perform this move. Next, the captured pawn must have moved two squares in one move, landing right next to the captured pawn. Finally, the en passant capture must be performed on the turn immediately after the pawn being captured moves. If the player does not capture en passant on that turn, they can’t do it in the future.
Now that you are equipped with this valuable information, you won't have to report your opponent for cheating when he "magically" takes your pawn with an invisible force.
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An exchange sacrifice happens when a player sacrifices a rook for a minor piece (a knight or a bishop). Typically, pieces are assigned with a common value (Queen is nine points, rooks are 5 points, knights and bishops are 3 points, and pawns are one point). So when you hear someone say that they’re up an exchange, that probably means that they’re up a rook for a minor piece. Likewise, if you hear someone say that they’re down an exchange, it probably means that they’re down a piece for a rook. You wouldn’t want to trade your 5 dollar bill for someone’s 3 dollar bills, right? (I hope)
It is always important to consider the sacrifice before you do it. After all, you are trading 5 points for 3 points. In general, you should ask yourself these questions before you do an exchange sacrifice. Why are you sacrificing? What will you get in return? How will it improve your position? Although there are several types of sacrifices (see sacrifice), the main intent of a sacrifice is to either to improve your position or to obtain the advantage. Good luck sacrificing!
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Having the ability to analyze the board and recognize forced mates is an incredibly important skill to have. A forced mate is when one side is driven into checkmate as a result of having little to no moves to make. The side being checkmated is forced to make his moves into an inevitably losing position. It’s like defending a girl in basketball, except the person mating is the girl.
Occasionally forced mates can involve some pretty deep calculation, so I recommend practicing your calculation skills beforehand. You can do this by solving chess puzzles without moving the pieces.
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Though these terms may seem very similar, there are actually subtle differences between these two terms. First off, a fork occurs when a single piece, usually with a knight, attacks two or more pieces at the same time. This can result in an exchange that wins material or even the game.
A double attack is exactly what it sounds like: a situation where two pieces are attacked at the same time. Although there are some overlapping definitions on this term the general idea is that it creates multiple threats that your opponent has to defend. The difference is, that while a fork can create more than two threats at once, a double attack generally only creates two threats.
Here is a famous example played by former world champions GM Tigran Petrosian and GM Boris Spassky, Petrosian used the threat of a fork to win the game.
Forks and double attacks are extremely powerful when used correctly. However, your opponent may have a sneaky counterattack that he can use if you're not careful. Always make sure that your king is safe and look for any captures and checks your opponent may have.
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A hanging piece is a piece that is undefended and susceptible to attack. In other words, these loose pieces are extremely vulnerable and can easily be captured. It is important to know how to recognize a hanging piece in a game so that you can figure out how to exploit and win it. Here is a famous example that I have fallen for multiple times (no, I'm not proud of that) from the Old Benoni Defense.
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An interference occurs when the line between an attacking piece and its defender is interrupted by sacrificially interposing a piece. This type of tactic rarely occurs in games, resulting in it often being overlooked. Interferences can be useful for obstructing a piece's path to defend or to distract another piece from a certain square.
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A mating net is when your pieces work together to prevent the opposing king from escaping a mating attack. Unlike a forced mate, these moves don’t have to be captures or checks, instead they cover key squares that prevent the king from escaping.
Mating nets are tricky to spot. In fact, I still struggle to find them to this day. There are a few key things to look out for however when looking for a mating net. First, look at the squares your pieces are controlling. How can your opponent defend against them? Second, analyze the protection of the opposing king. Are there any weaknesses? Finally, calculate. Ultimately, calculation comes with practice but when mastered it can become the deciding factor in a game.
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Opposition is a situation where both kings are two squares apart on the same rank or file. Since kings cannot be adjacent to each other, this method prevents the opposing king’s advance, creating a mutual blockade. In this situation, the player that doesn’t have the move is said to have opposition. This is extremely useful in endgames, because you can outflank your opponent’s king and take your opponent's pawns.
Even though king and pawn endgames seem simple, they are often considered the most complex part of the game. One move can make all the difference. Being knowledgable of when to use opposition can decide the game. So when do you use opposition? In short, you should use opposition when you are trying to break through to the other side to eat your opponent's pawns. You want to set a goal for yourself by trying to find a certain square you want your king to get too. Outflanking the king uses this term.
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An outpost is a square protected by another pawn that cannot be attacked by your opponent’s pawn, usually occupied by a knight. Once a piece is centralized on an outpost, its value immediately increases due to the squares it controls and its sheer dominance on the position. You can imagine those annoying base campers in Fortnite that spam (if you still play Fortnite or any other shooting game).
When used correctly, outposts make the opponent suffer. An outpost by definition is a place defended by a pawn that cannot be attacked by an opposing pawn. The general rule for looking for outposts is to pay attention to the opponent's pawns. When a pawn moves, it cannot move back. Likewise, the square beside it is weakened. You also want to see what squares the piece on the outpost is attacking. If it is making substantial threats, you should probably leave it there, unless of course you see a tactical or position resource you can use with that piece to obtain the advantage.
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Overloading happens when a piece is given too many duties to attend to and becomes overloaded with defending key squares. It’s like when you find out that your brother broke his arm, your test is overdue, and the kitchen's on fire all at the same time. (Definitely not known from experience)
The basic idea to spot an overloaded piece is to look at your own threats. Once you identify them, then you can identify the pieces that are withstanding those threats. Finally, survey the board and seek out any potential overloaded pieces.
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Passed pawns are crucial in the endgame as these prove difficult to deal with. A passed pawn is a pawn that has passed all opposing pawns, meaning that no enemy pawn can prevent it from promoting. Think about it like a wide receiver surpassing all the defense players. Passed pawns are particularly powerful when backed up by allied pieces. There is a famous saying talking about passed pawns that my coach always told me and it goes like, "Passed pawns must be pushed!"
In general, passed pawns are even more powerful when something supports them from behind. Connected passed pawns give you a tremendous advantage. Escort your passed pawn to the end of the board, and enjoy the win!
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Pawn endgames are crucial to being a great chess player. You can find more about pawn endgames here. The basics are to prevent any pawn breakthroughs your opponent might have, always maintain opposition with the opposing king, and try to create passed pawns.
Looks can be deceiving. Pawn endgames are one of the most difficult endgames to master. Although I don't have time to explain every single step in mastering a pawn endgame, I can give you the basics. First, it is important to know when to transpose into a pawn endgame. Whenever you have an outside passed pawn and your opponent doesn't, that is a key signal that the pawn endgame is winning. You should also learn about the Rule of the Square. In short, the rule of the square is a visualization tool used to calculate whether or not the king will catch the pawn on its way to the promotion square.
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Perpetual Check is a situation where one player can force a draw by creating a sequence of unending checks. This usually occurs when the player creating the perpetual check is in a worse position and considers a draw his only chances. If a position repeats itself 3 times, the game is a draw. Just imagine a scenario where you go in for a fist bump but the other guy goes in for a handshake. Then you keep alternating from fist bump to handshake until finally at the third change you finally keep your handshake open.
Perpetual checks are generally used by the losing side, in order to generate a draw. Oftentimes, a queen is delivering the perpetual, which means that the king is exposed. Always look for a mating net when doing a perpetual because there might be some hidden tactic you can use to win the game.
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A pin is a chess tactic in which the piece being pinned cannot move without exposing valuable material behind or because of the king being caught in the crossfire. Kings, knights, and pawns cannot pin. Imagine a scenario where your mom asks for your phone to play some music (rip).
Pins are useful because it sidelines an opposing piece from the game. It also makes the opponent waste some time by untangling his piece from the pin. Try to find ways to pressure the pinned piece. If the opponent's pieces can't move but your pieces can, the odds are in your favor.
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A promotion is a special move in chess that allows a pawn to become any piece it wants with the exception of the pawn and the king, once it reaches the last rank. This increases a pawn's value and adds to why a passed pawn is so powerful. You’d want to take a 1 dollar bill and turn it into 10 dollars, right? (I hope so)
Here is a legendary game that perfectly demonstrates the art of pawn promoting. The game occurred in the year 2011 between GM David Anton Guijarro and IM Alejandro Franco Alonso. Each player had three queens on the board at one point!
Nothing much to say here. All you have to do to promote is click the pawn, and click the square. Hopefully, you don't have autoqueen turned on, and if you do, TURN IT OFF. You never know what kind of situation you'll be in, sometimes certain positions require underpromotion (see underpromotion).
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Also known as undermining, removing the defender is a chess tactic that can be used when a defensive piece is captured, leaving one of the opponent’s pieces susceptible to being captured. When this happens, the opponent either has the option to recapture or save the attacked piece.
This is a nice example of a decoy/removing the defender tactic that Peter Leko used against Rustam Mashrukovich Kasim.... I give up.
Removing the defender not only helps to win material, it can also improve your position. If there's a piece on the opponent's team that is extremely powerful and controlling a lot of squares, it's probably a good idea to trade that piece at all costs. Removing the defender can also lead to the creation of outposts (see outpost).
In order to spot this theme in a game, consider all your captures. If there are many captures, you will want to narrow it down to the top options. These include trading for your opponent's active pieces, or pieces that are defending other pieces. Then, identify weak or vulnerable pieces that are not defended or only defended by one piece.
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Rook endgames are the most common endgames that occur. That is why it is important to know the basics. Rooks are generally more powerful behind passed pawns, or on the opponent’s second rank. Cutting the opposing king and pinning the opposing rook down also helps. Always be on the lookout to transpose into a winning king and pawn endgame. You should also almost always support your passed pawns with your rook. The rooks are the batteries in the TV remote. They should always be connected, otherwise you’re dead, literally.
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The rooks on the seventh rank is a very powerful advantage to have, as it threatens the opponent’s unadvanced pawns and hems the enemy king. My organized mom always says, “Always put the cups in the seventh cabinet, don’t put it with the silverware! No, no, not there, here! *Sighs* I’ll do it myself.”
Having the rooks on the seventh rank usually means that the opponent's king is pinned to the back rank, which means that you could have a classic rook roller mate.
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A sacrifice is a move that temporarily gives up a piece with the objective of gaining materialistic or position compensation. There are a few types of sacrifices: a deflection sacrifice (a temporary sacrifice to decoy a piece from another square, see decoy/deflection), a suicide sacrifice (a desperate sacrifice to force a draw), a non-forcing sacrifice (where the opponent has limited moves after the sacrifice is made), a positional sacrifice, and a sacrifice that leads to forced checkmate. A sacrifice can also be defined as giving away a higher valued piece for your opponent’s lower valued piece. (See exchange sacrifice.) It’s like following a diet, but with the taste benefits.
Here is a famous example of a sacrifice found in the Philidor Defense.
It is important to know when to sacrifice. When you're in a rapid game you have more time to calculate more variations. However in blitz and bullet, you have to rely on your intuition when sacrificing. In general, you always want to be on the attacking side in bullet, as it is harder to defend than to attack. Also, if you have more pieces on the kingside than your opponent has on the kingside, that's usually a good sign, especially if your pieces are active.
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Simplification is exactly what it sounds like: simplifying the game by exchanging one or more pieces with the opponent. With fewer pieces on the board, fewer variations need to be calculated and the position becomes more open.
The concept of simplification is essential to know because it changes the nature of the position. If you’re up on material and want to trade down into a winning endgame, you utilize the idea of simplification. It is also important to know how to discern whether you should simplify or not. Bruce Pandolfini once said, "Trade to simplify, shun to keep complex. If winning, clarify; if losing, complicate." If you’re not careful, you might trade into a losing endgame. Spoiler alert, chess is not simple.
You should only simplify the position if a) you are up in material or b) Your king is being attacked. Don't be that boring person that always trades down into a king and pawn endgame.
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One of the most basic tactics in chess, a skewer occurs when a piece attacks a file or diagonal where opposing pieces are lined up. The most valuable piece is attacked first, with less valuable material behind it.
The skewer is very similar to a pin, but there is one decisive difference. In a skewer, the most valuable piece is the one suffering the direct attack, while a weaker piece sits behind it. In a pin, the one being attacked is the piece of lesser value with the higher valued piece in the back. Now think about your dad asking you to listen to your spotify playlist.
This is a game where GM Hikaru Nakamura displayed a deep understanding of this theme when he played Stephen Muhammad.
Kings are the most susceptible to a skewer, as they must avoid the check. That is why you must always look for any available checks when searching for skewers. Check for aligned and hanging pieces as well.
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A smothered mate is a checkmate that happens when a king is almost or completely covered by its own pieces. Most of the time, a knight delivers a smothered mate, as it is a piece that can jump over pieces. There are special positions however, where another piece can deliver this powerful checkmate. One of those special positions is when you’re going camping and you’re in the back seat.
The key to spotting this amazing checkmating pattern is to pay attention to the placement of the opposing king. How many pieces are surrounding it? Do you have any knights around the area?
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A stalemate takes place when the player who has to move has no legal moves available to play. When this happens, the game is a draw. This is a great rule to have in mind, because it can save you the game. Here is an example of a famous game between chess master Alfred Ehrhardt Post and famous GM Aron Nimzowitsch.
In general, if you're the person trying to be stalemated you will want to lose all your pieces. Try to trap your king on the corner or the edge of the board and make sure all your pawns are blockaded. On the other hand, if you're the person trying to avoid stalemate, just follow some simple rules. For example, if you have two queens on the board make sure to retreat them as far away from the king as possible, and then proceed to do the ladder mate. If you have a manageable amount of time, then you can also make all your moves a check. After all, if you check the king you can't stalemate it.
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Trapped pieces are just as vulnerable as hanging pieces that can be exploited resulting in a loss of material for your opponent. To detect a trapped piece, check to see what squares that piece can go to. If the squares are extremely limited, there’s a good chance that the piece can be trapped. There are a few ways that you can trap and win a piece. First, limit the piece’s mobility, chasing it to the edge of the board where there are fewer squares. Luring the piece into your own territory can also be useful, as you have better chances of cutting off its escape squares. You can also become a trapped piece yourself if you’re caught lurking out at 3 am in the morning with no good explanation. (I was trying to find a new pillow, but I knew that my parents wouldn’t accept that story)
This is a common trap found in the Caro-Kann Defense.
There is a simple formula for finding and exploiting trapped pieces. First, you usually want to attack the piece with a piece of lesser value (ex. a pawn attacking a bishop). That way the opponent cannot exchange the trapped piece for the piece you are attacking with. Next, check the mobility of the opposing piece. How many squares does it control? If the piece is trapped at the edges or the corner of the board, the chances of that piece being trapped go up.
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Underpromotion stems off the theme of promotion. The general idea of promotion is to promote a pawn to the most powerful piece: a queen. However, underpromotion utilizes other pieces that have abilities that a queen doesn’t have, usually with a knight. Underpromotion can also be used to avoid stalemating the opponent, since pieces of lesser value cover less squares. It’s like turning your measly Benjamin into a 1933 St. Gaudens Gold Double Eagle! You would do that, right? (Definitely didn’t copy and paste that from Google. No, go look it up yourself. Why are you still reading?!??)
In general, this tactic will not come up often, so seize the opportunity when the chance comes! A rule of thumb to follow is that if your opponent has pieces on the board, then it's probably a good idea to promote to a queen. If your opponent just has a king on the board then make sure that when you promote to a queen that it either comes with check or the king has squares to move to. When promotion is necessary, a knight is the most common choice. That is because the knight possesses the only power the queen does have. It can move in the shape of an L and hope over pieces. Because of this ability, the knight is sometimes chosen over the queen. Before you use this special rule ask yourself, why am I underpromoting?
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A vulnerable king is a king that is susceptible to attack, with little to no pieces defending it. When attacking a vulnerable king, be on the lookout for forcing moves such as checks, captures, and any tactical maneuvers.
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A windmill (sometimes called a seesaw), is a tactic in which a piece repeatedly gains material while simultaneously creating an inescapable series of alternating and direct discovered checks. Because the opponent has to deal with the piece checking the king rather than the piece capturing material, windmills can be extremely powerful as a result.
In the game below, Torre Repetto is playing Emmanuel Lasker. The move 25.Bf6! sets white up with an unstoppable windmill pattern that would eventually win the game for Torre.
In some rare cases, a windmill can also be delivered by a knight. The famous Game of the Century featured a windmill involving a knight and a bishop.
The most common pieces to deliver a windmill attack are the rook and the bishop. Always be on the lookout for a potential windmill tactic. The general pattern windmills follow is a king in the corner, trapped by a rook aligned with a bishop. Windmills are technically just a bunch of forced discovered checks and captures, but when used correctly it can wipe out a whole army.
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An X-Ray attack is a term used when a piece indirectly attacks an enemy piece through another piece (or pieces), or defends an ally piece through an enemy piece. This is a great defense method as it can protect both of your pieces in a single move.
Some people struggle to see the difference between an X-Ray attack. While a skewer is a direct attack on an enemy piece, an X-Ray attack indirectly attacks an enemy piece through another piece. Here's a key thing to remember: if your piece is is behind the attack, then it's an X-Ray. If the opponent's piece is behind the attack, it's a skewer. For more clarification on the difference, see the positions below.
In this position, white's bishop is defending the white queen through the black queen. This is an example of a X-Ray Defense.
Now in this position, instead of a white queen we have replaced it with a black rook. This is a skewer by definition because the most valuable piece is attacked first (see skewer).
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Zugzwwang is a German word that basically means, “It is your turn to move, but all of your moves are bad!” Since there are no skips in chess, whoever is in zugzwang is in big trouble.
Here is a very simple example of this theme.
In this position, black wants to skip his turn, as moving his king would allow white to promote. However, he must move to d2, as it is his only legal move. White can then play Kf2, followed by e1=Q, winning the game.
This is another instance of zugzwang with many pieces on the board.
The ability to put your opponent into zugzwang is an important skill to have. Cutting off key pieces of defense and forcing your opponent's pieces back increase the likelihood of a potential zugzwang. Usually you want an extra move but with zugzwang, an extra move can lose the game.
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The final term of this guide, Zwischenzug is another German word that quite simply means, “in-between move.” Very similar to a desperado, a zwischenzug can be used to develop initiative or to win material. While a desperado move makes the most out of a lost piece, this “intermezzo” move can be a subtle move. This action might catch you off guard, so always be on the lookout for these tricky moves!
Zwischenzugs are hard to spot. Even famous world champion Vishwanathan Anand missed a would be game-winning zwischenzug against Magnus Carlson!
Zwischenzugs are similar to desperados and are usually forcing moves like checks and captures. When calculating a zwischenzug, try to find a defense for your opponent. Does he have any counterattack? If not, what are you threatening? Have fun using this tactic, and zwisch your way to victory!
I hope that you enjoyed this guide and that you learned something from it. I also hope that you’ve made some smart financial decisions along the way. Comment if I missed anything, and enjoy the rest of your day! *The look on my face when I realize that I’m a poet*
This list is a simplified version of an even longer list. Any details in this article that may represent scenes from your life are completely coincidental. The creator of this content is not responsible for any cause of death or injury related to this article.
My sources included chess.com, lichess.org, masterclass.com, my siblings, and *sighs* Wikipedia. 
I will be actively editing this article until it is perfect. Thanks for reading!
-Tyler
