why did I get the first wrong wrong lmao
Deflection with IM Jeremy Silman
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I don't think I've ever gotten a deflection tactic in my games. Maybe I just need to look more lol
Viznik wrote:
3point14159too wrote:
I don't think I've ever gotten a deflection tactic in my games. Maybe I just need to look more lol
If I’m being honest, I never even looked for it. 8 don’t even think I knew about it, although once learning about it, it seems simple. I guess this is the benefits of reading chess books lol
Yeah, but it's easier said than done. That's the benefit of doing puzzles (;
This is an interesting puzzle that comes from IM Jeremy Silman’s “Complete Book of Chess Strategy” that I just started reading (finally, after buying it a month ago).
It comes from the chapter on “Deflection”, where Silman describes the concept of deflection as a pieces ability to “pull away a defender from its duties.”
”Quite often a defender manages to hold life and limb together with one brave piece.” Silman writes. “To break down this kind of heroic defensive posture, the attacker needs to chase away this key unit. At times, the displacement of this one critical piece can completely ruin the defender’s game and reduce his position to ashes. Pulling this kind of defensive piece away from its duties is what deflection is all about.” (Complete Book of Chess Strategy, pg. 124, IM Jeremy Silman)
According to Silman, this position in the puzzle (above) may be considered “drawish” by some. However, a brilliant sequence (!) of moves can win material, and win the game.
If you thought the puzzle was too easy, give this one (below) a try. Using the same concept of deflection, try to see if you can find the moves of what could’ve happened in a game from 1920 between Adams-Torre in New Orleans.
As we see, in a convoluted and rather closed position, deflection was used to achieve a seemingly beginner-esque back rank mate! But, even GM’s are susceptible to deflection tactics. Qg4 simply looks like a free queen, yet is a blunder (??) for black to take, since it leads to mate.
I’ll spare you more puzzles, rather simply show you the other possible deflection tactics Silman outlines in the game:
Qc4!! acts as a brilliant (!!) deflection to sacrifice the queen for a back rank mate.
Of course, in the actual game between the two GM’s, it went much deeper than that. However, the use of tactics is evident and fantastic to watch. Do you think you have what it takes to figure out the moves in the 1920 game to win for white?
In the words of Jeremy Silman: “it may seem like magic, but once you learn about deflection, you can do it too!”
I, for one, will be looking at my chess games with a different scope from now on. Instead of simply trading or taking, using the idea of deflection to get a winning position will be on my mind … and so should it be on yours!