Improving Your Tactics
"Great. Tactics. So boring." Exactly. I know how much everyone hates tactics. But they are a very crucial part of the game. In fact, there is a saying: “Chess is 99% tactics.”
How to Spot Tactics
If you see a tactic, take time to do the tactic. If you see a simple king and queen fork, look even more carefully and see if there is an even better solution. Here is one:
My guess is: you didn't solve it correctly first try. It's ok, but don't make that mistake in the future.
The tactics when you are below 400 are usually basic tactics, like back rank mates and forks, pins, skewers, etc. You will most likely spot the pin or a skewer, etc. Even if you see those tactics, look at the board carefully. Ask yourself this: Do I have a better move? Am I sure I am doing the best move?
Stalemates are also very important. In this next one, don't think about promoting your pawn too much.
What to look for when spotting tactics
There are five main things to look for when solving tactics. Look for FORCING moves. What is a forced move? Any check, capture, sacrifice or attack is a forced move. This is one of the most important. Here is one example of a FORCING move.
In that puzzle, h5+ was the forcing move that won for white. Here is another example.
Another thing to look for is SACRIFICES. Many people can't even think about sacrificing pieces, but it is really important and you must be able to spot them. In the previous position, you had to sac your queen for checkmate. You can't be scared to sacrifice any of your pieces. If you see a forced checkmate that involves sacrificing your queen, just do it without hesitation. Here is one that involves a surprising sacrifice and a cute checkmate
Before you sacrifice, make sure it is forced. You don't want to end up sacrificing for a threat that can be blocked.
This is your final exam for sacrificing for checkmate.
Another thing you need to do is LOOK AT THE WHOLE board. You could possibly miss a forced checkmate and instead you go for basic tactics that could win the queen. You will eventually get tactics like these. This will take time, so focus on taking time to solve the problem instead of trying to solve it in a quick amount of time. Also, practice tactics as much as possible. After you are used to solving tactics, it will be easier for you to spot tactics in a game and when you are solving tactics on the tactics trainer.
Here are all the tactical motifs:
- Attacking f7/f2
- Attacking Castled King
- Back Rank
- Basic Checkmates
- Clearance Sacrifice
- Decoy/ Deflection
- Defense
- Desperado
- Discovered Attack/ Check
- Double Check
- En Passant
- Endgame Tactics
- Exchange Sacrifice
- Forks
- Hanging Piece
- Interference
- Mate in 1
- Mate in 2
- Mate in 3+
- Mating Net
- Overloading
- Pawn Promotion
- Perpetual Check
- Pin
- Queen Sacrifice
- Remove the Defender
- Sacrifice
- Simplification
- Skewer
- Smothered Mate
- Stalemate
- Trapped Piece
- Underpromotion
- Vulnerable King
- Windmill
- X-Ray Attack
- Zugzwang/ Zwischenug
Attacking f7/f2
This means a tactic/threat that attacks your opponent's two weakest squares: f7 and f2. This includes the Scholar's Mate (f7), Legal's Mate (f7), etc.
Attacking Castled King
Attacking a castled king basically means pawn storms, sacrificing minor pieces to blow up your opponent's king's cover. After these sacrifices, it makes it easier for you to checkmate an exposed king.
Back Rank
Back rank checkmates are very simple. It means the king is trapped on the back rank (1st and 8th ranks) by his own pawns. Here is an example of a back rank mate.
Basic Checkmates are very simple checkmates that pretty much everyone knows. These include two rooks, queen and rook, queen and king, rook and king, etc.
Clearance Sacrifice
Clearance Sacrifice (or just Clearance) is basically just sacrificing pieces to clear up a square, diagonal, rank, or file. My example is a sacrifice to clear up the h-file for the queen to deliver a checkmate to a castled king.
Decoy/ Deflection
A decoy is a distraction that is used to make their opponent think about something completely different from what you intend to do. A deflection can be a sacrifice to "deflect" an opponent's piece from doing its job, like blocking an important file or diagonal, or defending an important square. They are both very similar, so that is why they are classified as one theme.
Defense
Defense is just what it sounds like, to defend against an opponent's threat, like trying to checkmate you or trying to win your queen. Often this means to force stalemate, or to guard an important piece or square.
A desperado tactic can be a sacrifice depending on the position. This tactic is usually used when you are anyway going to lose material, and when you are "desperate." These situations present a rare opportunity to be "reckless" and take out an enemy piece along the way. It can also be considered a type of Zwischenzug tactic.
Discovered Attack/ Check
This is an attack when one piece moves out of the way for another attacking piece to threaten something (checkmate or material). A discovered check is the same thing, except it reveals a check. Here is an example where the queen and checkmate is threatened.
Double Check
A double check is similar to discovered attack/check, but a piece moves out of the way for an attacking piece to give a check, and gives a check itself. This powerful play leaves your opponent unable to capture or block the check, the king must always move to safety.
En Passant
For those who don't know what en passant is, here is a demonstration of the rule that confuses many.
En passant is especially difficult to find, because it's one thing to know the en passant rule and it is another thing to use it in tactics.
Endgame Tactics
Any tactic that occurs in the endgame (pawn promotion, skewer, etc.) is an endgame tactic. The endgame is the last part of the game, when most pieces are off the board.
Exchange Sacrifice
...would be a simplified version of a double attack, while a fork would be seen here
An exchange sacrifice is a small sacrifice to achieve greater material. A common example is a rook for knight or bishop, then makes up for the lost material and achieves something greater. Here is an example from one of my games.
Fork/ Double Attack
A double attack is an attack or threat on two things at once. The advantage of a double attack is that it is hard to defend two things with one move. We use the term fork to describe a double attack by a single unit, usually a Knight, Queen or pawn.
Hanging Piece
"Hanging" is another way of saying "undefended" or "loose" in chess. A tactic that involves simply taking or exposing undefended pieces in some way would qualify. Under this theme, one might also consider a forcing combination that climaxes with a double attack, with one or more of the targets being undefended.
...which is an example of multiple hanging pieces (similar to a fork)
Interference
To move a piece between two other attacking pieces when at least one of those attacking pieces is an opponent's piece. Sometimes a piece will interfere with two attacking pieces, thus creating confusion and often overloading (see "overloading") those pieces.
Mate in 1
Any puzzle/position that has a checkmate in one move.
Mate in 2
Any puzzle/position that has checkmate in 2 moves
Mate in 3+
Any puzzle/position that has checkmate in 3 or more moves
Smothered MateMating Net
A position where the King is trapped & will soon be checkmated. The area of the board where the King is tied down is often like a "net" closing tighter & tighter. A player might create a mating net by cutting off all escapes for the enemy king, often by relatively quiet, non-checking moves -- but once the net is created, a forcing sequence of moves will lead to checkmate inevitably.
...and another example of a mating net.
Overloading
A piece that has too many things to do is "overloaded." For example, a bishop which has to both stop a passed pawn from Queening and guard against a checkmate is overloaded. By carrying out one threat (for example, queening the pawn) the opponent could force the overworked bishop to leave its post, allowing the checkmate threat to succeed.
Pawn Promotion
A tactic that involves promoting a pawn. Often this involves other tactics along the way, all of them being single parts of an overall goal to promote the pawn. That pawn would usually deliver decisive results. (See also "underpromotion").
Perpetual Check
A situation where one player can check the opponent's King forever, but cannot checkmate it. Perpetual check is a type of drawn position. When perpetual check happens, the players usually either agree to a draw or the same position is repeated three times, resulting in a draw by the rule of "Threefold Repetition".
Pin
A situation where one player can check the opponent's King forever, but cannot checkmate it. Perpetual check is a type of drawn position. When perpetual check happens, the players usually either agree to a draw or the same position is repeated three times, resulting in a draw by the rule of "Threefold Repetition".
When a piece cannot move because it is blocking/guarding a more valuable piece behind it from being captured, that piece is "pinned". A pinning piece is a long-range piece (a Rook, Queen, or Bishop) which is aimed at one of the opponent's valuable pieces, with a less valuable opponent's piece in the way or blocking the Rook, Queen or Bishop from attacking the more valuable piece. An absolute pin is when a piece is pinned to the King, thus making it absolutely illegal to move the pinned piece.
Queen Sacrifice
A sacrifice (see "sacrifice") of the Queen with the distinct purpose of achieving something more valuable. Most often, a Queen Sacrifice is just one part (a single move among others) of an attempt to checkmate the enemy King or eventually win back material at the end of the combination.
Removal of the Defender
A tactic that involves eliminating the critical defensive piece that otherwise stands in the way of achieving a much greater goal (most often checkmate or the winning of large amounts of material). A player looks to remove the defender as a destructive means to achieve their goal.
Sacrifice
A tactic that involves eliminating the critical defensive piece that otherwise stands in the way of achieving a much greater goal (most often checkmate or the winning of large amounts of material). A player looks to remove the defender as a destructive means to achieve their goal.
The act of giving up material (either making a trade that loses points or simply losing a piece or pawn for nothing) with the goal of getting something else in return. For example, a player may sacrifice the Queen in order to open up a square for a Knight where it can then checkmate the opponent. A player may also make more strategic sacrifices, such as sacrificing a pawn to gain time to develop, or sacrificing a piece to destroy the opponent's King's pawn cover.
Simplification
A simplification tactic is a forcing sequence of moves that converts an advantage into a more easily winning position. A player tries to simplify a winning position as an act of good technique, which is the skill of converting an advantage into a victory.
Skewer
A move which threatens a valuable piece (such as the King or Queen), forcing that piece to move away and allowing the attacking piece to take a less valuable piece behind the valuable one. A skeweris the opposite of a pin in many ways, since in the skewer the more valuable piece is in front. (See "pin").
A move which threatens a valuable piece (such as the King or Queen), forcing that piece to move away and allowing the attacking piece to take a less valuable piece behind the valuable one. A skeweris the opposite of a pin in many ways, since in the skewer the more valuable piece is in front. (See "pin").
A checkmate by a Knight against an enemy King which has no way out because all of its escape squares are blocked by its own pieces. The King's own pieces keep it from moving, while the enemy knight puts it in check. A Smothered Mate can only occur when a King is immediately surrounded by its own pieces, with no enemy piece directly touching it by occupying a nearby square; this is why only the Knight can give Smothered Mate.
Zugzwang
Stalemate
When a player whose turn it is has no legal moves by any of his/her pieces, but is not in check. A stalemate is a draw. A stalemate tactic would occur when the objective/goal of the puzzle was to force a stalemate from an otherwise lost or unfavorable position.
Trapped Piece
A piece that finds itself with either no moves at all, or at least no moves that avoid the loss of material. Often, a piece might be trapped at the end of a forced sequence of moves.
Underpromotion
Promoting (see "promotion") a pawn to a piece less than a Queen (in other words, promoting a pawn to a Knight, Rook, or Bishop). Since the Queen is the strongest piece, players almost always choose to promote their pawns to Queens. An underpromotion tactic occurs when there are special reasons that a player needs a weaker piece rather than a Queen (almost always a Knight, since it is the only piece whose move is not already reflected by the Queen's abilities) - whether to stop an opponent's threat or achieve something even better than what a Queen could offer.
Vulnerable King
A position/puzzle where tactics are arise from the exposed position of the enemy King. A "vulnerable" King's position may often lead to that King being put in a "mating net" of some kind.
Windmill
A rare tactic in which a repeated discovered check (see "discovered attack/check") allows one piece to go on a rampage, capturing multiple enemy pieces.
X-Ray Attack
An x-ray tactic in chess occurs when one of your long-range pieces (a Rook, Bishop, or Queen) attacks "through" one of your opponent's pieces to indirectly attack/threaten or defend beyond it. An x-ray tactic often occurs along with the theme of back rank mate.
A German word that literally translates to "move compulsion." This is a situation where every move a player could make causes him/her to lose the game (or at least significantly worsen the position).
Zwischenzug
A German word meaning "in-between move". An often unexpected move inserted in between an otherwise forcing sequence of moves. The zwischenzug generally changes the result of the sequence. A "desperado" is a powerful example of a zwischenzug tactic.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed!
