Decoy: chess tactic
Decoy
Definition
A decoy (sometimes called an “attraction sacrifice”) is a tactical motif in which a player deliberately lures an enemy piece—most frequently the king or queen—onto a specific square where that piece will be vulnerable to a subsequent tactic such as a fork, pin, skewer, or mating net. Whereas a deflection aims to pull a defender away from a key square, a decoy draws the targeted piece onto a square that is tactically unfavorable for the opponent.
How It Is Used in Chess
Decoys arise in all phases of the game but most often in the middlegame during tactical complications or in endgames where forcing techniques are paramount. Typical patterns include:
- Sacrificing a heavy piece (often the queen) to draw the enemy king to a square where it can be checkmated in a predetermined pattern.
- Offering material to force the opponent’s queen or rook onto a square where it can be forked or pinned.
- Endgame decoys that compel the opposing king to capture a pawn on a poisoned square, allowing the attacker to win a race of passed pawns or obtain the opposition.
Strategic Significance
Mastering decoys trains a player to think one move deeper—to imagine not just where a piece is now, but where it could be forced to go. Because a successful decoy often starts with an eye-catching sacrifice, it has an outsized psychological impact: the opponent may accept the bait impulsively, only to realize too late that the destination square is a death trap.
Classic Example – Lasker vs Bauer, Amsterdam 1889
Emanuel Lasker delivered a textbook queen-sacrifice decoy: [[Pgn| 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Bc4 Qh4+ 4. Kf1 b5 5. Bxb5 Nf6 6. Nf3 Qh6 7. d3 Nh5 8. Nh4 Qg5 9. Nf5 c6 10. g4 Nf6 11. Rg1 cxb5 12. h4 Qg6 13. h5 Qg5 14. Qf3 Ng8 15. Bxf4 Qf6 16. Nc3 Bc5 17. Nd5 Qxb2 18. Bd6 Qxa1+ 19. Ke2 Qxg1 20. Nxg7+ Kd8 21. Bc7# |fen|8/ppp2Npp/3Pd3/4N3/8/5Q2/q4q1P/R3K2R b KQ - 0 22]]
The critical decoy occurs in the final phase: 24. Qxh7+ lures Black’s king to h7; after 24…Kxh7, the king is fatally placed on a square where White’s rook swing 25. Rh3+ sets up 26. Ne7#. Without the decoy, the mating net would not exist.
Modern Example – Carlsen vs Karjakin, WCh 2016 (Rapid Tiebreak, Game 4)
In the title-clinching game, Magnus Carlsen used a stunning queen decoy: …Qh6!! forced Karjakin’s king to h6, enabling the famous back-rank knight mate 42. Qg4+ Nxg4 43. Nf7#. The move became an instant classic and highlighted how a well-timed decoy can decide a world championship.
Additional Tactical Patterns Involving Decoys
- Decoy into a Fork: Sacrifice a rook to draw the enemy queen onto a square where it can be forked by a knight.
- Decoy into a Skewer: Attract the king onto a file so that a subsequent rook check skewers the king and queen.
- Pawn Endgame Decoy: Force the enemy king to capture a pawn, abandoning the key path to stop a passed pawn.
Interesting Facts & Anecdotes
- Because the queen sacrifice is the most theatrical form of decoy, many of the “Immortal” and “Evergreen” games in chess literature feature this tactic. Fans often remember the sacrifice long after the precise moves.
- In Russian chess literature, the motif is called “zavleka͡nie” (завлечение) – literally “enticing.”
- Beginners sometimes confuse decoys with deflections; grandmasters emphasize the difference with the mnemonic “Decoy draws in, Deflection drives off.”
- Computer engines spot decoy sacrifices almost instantly, but human players still find them psychologically difficult to accept, leading to spectacular over-the-board upsets.
Quick Diagnostic Question
When you consider a sacrifice, ask: “If my opponent must recapture, where will that piece land, and can I exploit it?” If the answer is “on a poisoned square,” you may have a decoy in the making!