Basic Tactical Motifs - Core Chess Tactics
Fork
Definition
A fork is a single move that simultaneously attacks (threatens to capture) two or more enemy pieces or key squares. Knights are the most celebrated “fork–meisters,” but any piece—including the king and pawns—can fork.
Usage in Play
- To win material outright (e.g., forking a king and queen).
- To gain tempi by forcing the opponent to respond to multiple threats.
- To create mating nets when one of the forking targets is the king.
Strategic & Historical Notes
The fork is as old as chess itself. The term became popular in English-language literature through Howard Staunton’s 19th-century writings. Because knights jump, their forks are hardest to parry.
Example
Position after 10…Re8? in the French Defense: White plays 11. Nf7! forking the queen on d8 and the rook on h8. The motif also appears in the famous game Pillsbury – Tarrasch, Hastings 1895, where Pillsbury’s 22. Nxf7!! forked queen and rook, securing a brilliancy-prize win.
Interesting Fact
World Champion Emanuel Lasker once joked that a knight on f7 is worth “at least a rook and a handshake.”
Pin
Definition
A pin occurs when a piece cannot—or should not—move because doing so would expose a more valuable piece or the king to attack along the same line. Pins are generated by long-range pieces: bishops, rooks, and queens.
Types of Pins
- Absolute pin: the pinned piece shields its own king and therefore cannot legally move.
- Relative pin: the pinned piece guards a more valuable piece (usually the queen); moving it is legal but costly.
Strategic Significance
Pins restrict mobility and often set up further tactics such as pile-ups or breakthroughs. In endgames, pinning a pawn can fix it as a weakness.
Example
After 18…Bg4 in Capablanca – Tartakower, New York 1924, Black pinned the white queen’s defender. Capablanca calmly sidestepped, later proving that the pin was only temporary.
Interesting Anecdote
The term “pin” comes from the idea of literally pinning a garment to a board— the victim is stuck!
Skewer
Definition
A skewer is the “reverse pin.” A more valuable piece is attacked first; when it moves, a lesser piece behind it is lost. Again, only bishops, rooks, or queens can execute a skewer because the motif requires a straight line.
Usage
Skewers frequently appear on long diagonals in opposite-side castling battles, or on ranks/files when a king flees a check.
Classic Example
In the miniature Legall – St. Brie, Paris 1750, after the famous sacrifice 7. Bxf7+!! Kxf7 8. Nxe5+, the final position 9. Qe6# would have been a skewer if Black’s king had escaped—illustrating how skewers and pins intertwine.
Trivia
A skewer often follows a check: the king steps aside, only to discover his queen is toast.
Double Attack
Definition
A broad term covering any move that makes two threats at once. Forks are a subset; so are simultaneous mate threats and captures.
Strategic Significance
Double attacks are the backbone of tactical calculation—forcing an opponent to address multiple problems with one move is the surest path to advantage.
Example
In the celebrated Fischer – Byrne, “Game of the Century,” 1956, Fischer’s 17…Be6!! attacked both the queen on d3 and the knight on b3, initiating a sacrificial sequence.
Discovered Attack & Discovered Check
Definition
A discovered attack occurs when a piece moves away, revealing an attack by a long-range piece on the same line. If that revealed attack is a check, it’s a discovered check.
Power & Usage
Because two threats materialize—one from the moving piece, one from the “discovering” piece—the opponent often cannot parry both.
Famous Illustration
Tal – Smyslov, Candidates 1959: 16. Bg5!! unleashed a discovered attack on Black’s queen while simultaneously hitting the knight on f6, winning material in Tal’s inimitable style.
Double Check
Definition
When both the moving piece and the revealed piece give check simultaneously. Only the king’s move can escape—blocking or capturing one checker still leaves the other.
Historical Moment
In Kasparov – Topalov, Wijk aan Zee 1999, the immortal 24. Rxd4!! introduced a cascading double check a few moves later, culminating in a legendary mate.
Overload (Over-worked Piece)
Definition
An overloaded piece is tasked with defending two or more important points. Forcing it to choose one duty allows the other to fall.
Typical Pattern
A queen simultaneously guards a rook and a back-rank mate square; a forcing move (like a capture) makes her abandon one duty.
Example
In Karpov – Unzicker, Nice Olympiad 1974, Karpov’s 26. Rxe6!! exploited an overloaded queen that had to protect g7 and e6.
Deflection (Distraction)
Definition
Deflection lures a defending piece away from a critical square, often by sacrifice.
Illustrative Game
Alekhine – Yates, London 1922: Alekhine’s 25. Rxa7!! deflected Black’s queen from the back rank, enabling mate.
Decoy (Attraction)
Definition
A decoy forces an enemy piece—commonly the king—onto a square where it will be vulnerable to a follow-up tactic.
Example
Classic puzzle: 1. Qxh7+! Kxh7 2. Rh3#—the queen sacrifice decoys the king to h7 for a mating net.
Removing the Defender
Definition
Also called “elimination of the defender,” this motif captures (or otherwise neutralizes) a piece that guards an important square or piece.
Application
Typical in endgames: exchanging the last minor piece guarding a passed pawn’s queening square.
Clearance
Definition
A clearance sacrifices or moves a piece to vacate a line, square, or diagonal for another piece or pawn.
Textbook Moment
Fischer’s 11…Na4!! in the “Game of the Century” was a clearance that opened c5 for his queen’s decisive entry.
Interference
Definition
A move that blocks the communication between two enemy pieces, usually by interposing your own piece to break a defensive line.
Example
In many Queen’s Gambit positions White plays 15. c6! to cut the queenside rook from defending the c-file.
Zwischenzug (Intermezzo)
Definition
A surprising “in-between” move inserted before an expected recapture, typically posing a more urgent threat and altering the line’s evaluation.
Famous Case
Bronstein – Boleslavsky, Candidates 1950: Bronstein’s 20. Bb5+! was a zwischenzug that flipped the assessment from equal to winning.
Underpromotion (Tactical)
Definition
Promoting a pawn to a knight, bishop, or rook instead of a queen to achieve a specific tactical aim—usually avoiding stalemate or delivering a fork.
Classic Example
Saavedra Study, 1895: 6. c8=R!! avoids stalemate and wins the rook endgame.
Back-Rank Mate
Definition
Checkmate delivered on the first (or eighth) rank when the king is trapped behind its own pawns.
Practical Importance
Back-rank weaknesses dominate club play; prophylactic pawn moves (h3, h6, g3) are known as “luft.”
Smothered Mate
Definition
A knight delivers mate to a king surrounded (smothered) by its own pieces, usually culminating with a double check.
Famous Line
"Philidor’s Legacy": 1. … Qg1+! 2. Rxg1 Nf2# — demonstrated by François-André Danican Philidor in the 18th century.
Windmill (See-Saw)
Definition
A repeating sequence of alternating double checks or discovered checks that allow one side to pick off material “at leisure.”
Iconic Example
Nimzowitsch – Tarrasch, St. Petersburg 1914: White’s rook-bishop battery on the seventh rank produced a dazzling windmill, winning a queen.