The tactical device of removing the guard is also known as removing the defender. The name of the tactic is almost sufficient in itself to describe how it works.
The opponent has a piece which is defending another piece, or …
Read moreTwo bishops, or a bishop and another piece, can work together to cut off the king’s escape squares, protect the mating piece and deliver mate. The long-range impact of the bishop is often the key to these patterns.
The mating …
Read moreThis problem presented itself recently while I was doing tactics training on ChessTempo.
The three features which jumped out were the semi-exposed king on the g-file, the unprotected knight and the awkwardly placed queen. I quickly dismissed the opportunities …
Read moreThe first game in Zenón Franco’s Morphy: Move by Move
From a king’s gambit opening, Morphy sacrificed a piece to expose Black’s king and then opened the centre to launch …
Read moreThis position arose in one of my recent games. White is better here to the tune of about +6, partly because of the knight on the great c6-outpost, the pressure on the backward c-pawn and the superior dark squared bishop.…
Read moreFocussing on patterns in chess is a good idea. Depending on who you listen to, the number of patterns a chess player knows could be the difference between being mediocre and good, or between being a master and a grandmaster.…
Read moreWhen Amy Lee moved to our school and walked into class for the first time, my legs turned to jelly in seconds. I immediately knew I had to ask her out. Over the next few days I scripted and practiced …
Read moreRichard Teichmann famously declared that “Chess is 99% tactics”. Some players and authors disagree though. In a recent article on GM Nigel Davies’ site, The Chess Improver, contributor Hugh Patterson eloquently challenged the view that tactics should be studied at …
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