Tactic: Forks are Awesome!
#queensgambit #slavdefense
Forks, where one of your pieces attacks two or more of your opponent’s pieces simultaneously, are a great tactic in chess. As we can only usually move one piece per turn, making two or more threats with a single move can mean that we potentially force the opponent to making a concession, for instance, losing a piece. I played this game as a rapid 10 min + 5 sec bonus game on Lichess, which is what I sometimes do when I don’t have time to play my preferred format of 30 min rapid on chess.com. Unexpectedly, my opponent was likely much lower rated than me, in fact, a complete novice. This game thus gives many examples of different types of forks. I think there may have been six forks! And also some pins and a skewer! This is also an example of the sorts of mistakes that beginner players make which is useful for reflection.
Some insights from this game. I’ve mentioned quite a few times before that our visual biases tend to be such that we can miss threats along diagonals. So, look explicitly at the diagonal attacking pieces – the bishop pair and the queen. My opponent made many moves which can be described as fairly superficial one move attacks. It’s critical to consider how your opponent is likely to respond to your threat in such a situation. Many of the forks in this game came as a result from the knight – the tricky trappy knights. When I was earlier in my chess journey, I would often use the platform to mark out where the knights could go, you can do this with a right mouse click on squares, to help me visualise potential traps. Over time, it becomes easier to recognise problems to avoid. And lastly, rather than immediately playing gambits as a beginner, it might be more solid to learn a basic opening first – for instance, the Italian, the Scotch, or maybe even the English openings. This can help you learn the basic principles of chess.
I hope you enjoyed this video, and thanks for watching!
Originally published: https://adventuresofachessnoob.com/2022/02/10/tactic-forks-are-awesome/
