Category Archives: Chess lessons

12 chess tactics and how to use those to gain advantage – Part 7

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Posted by ChessMaster on June 25, 2010 – 6:16 pm
Filed under Attacking tactics, Chess Basics, Chess Tutorials, Chess lessons, Chess tactics
Tagged as attacking chess, attacking chess tactics, Attacking tactics, Chess tactics, Chess Tutorials

7. Attacking along the back rank or the seventh rank

Though possibility of such attacking tactics may arise in middle game also, these opportuities are more frequently possible during the end of middle game when many of the pieces and pawns have been taken off the board. In such situations, the heavy pieces (Queen and Rooks) have more freedom of movement and can combine to deliver winning attack along the seventh and eighth ranks (opponent’s base rank and second rank).

A situation which frequently occurs and is fraught with danger when the King stands at its Knight’s square with three pawns (BP, NP and RP) in front of it. The following diagram shows such a position for Black.

This defensive formation is strong in middle games in the sense that attacks from various directions can be met by advancing one of these pawns. But in the end game with opponent’s Rook or Queen present, the King risks mate by a Rook or Queen check along the base rank. In the position shown above, White could play Rc7 to win Black’s KBP or QNP. If Black tried to capture White’e Bishop with his Rook, Rc8+ leads to mate!

Such mating attacks are often initiated through some sacrifices to get opponent’s defensive pieces away for getting the way clear for a base rank check. From a defensive point of view, it may be prudent to keep an escape hole for the King by advancing one of these pawns, usually the NP or RP. to avoid such bolts from the blue!

But one has to think carefully before creating an escape hole as suggested above. In the following position, had the NP been advanced, White would be safe but the hole at h2 did not serve its purpose.

Black played 1… Bd6 and White had to resign. If White played 2. Qxc6, Black can mate by 2… Rxe1# whereas 2. Qxe8 makes him lose his Queen.

In the following situation, White tried to gain control of the seventh rank by his Queen move. This move backfired because of his failure to see the weakness in his King’s position.

It went as follows:

27. Qd7? Rd8!
28. Qxd8+ Nxd8 White had to lose his Queen or face checkmate.

White gave up the unequal fight after another 7 moves.

The King standing in the corner (Rook’s square) is even more susceptible as only the NP and RP in front can hem it in. Even a player of the caliber of Karpov failed to see the vulnerability of his King’s position and the move by Black to exploit the situation.

Position after 36 moves

37. b6 Ra1
38. Rb1 Ng3+ 38. Qe2 only helps to prolong the fight but with ultimate win for Black e.g. 38. Qe2 Qc5 39. b7 Qc2 40. Qa6 Rxf1+ 41. Qxf1 Qxb3 after which Black should win with his Q and N against White’s Q.
39. hxg3 Ra8
40. Resigns There is no way to avoid 40. … Rh8#

 

Opportunity for attack along the seventh rank (opponent’s second rank) does not occur frequently as the opponent will try to spoil your attempts immediately if he can realize what you are up to. Such attack involves positioning two or more heavy pieces on the seventh rank and you will appreciate that such a line up can act as a battering ram against your opponent’s castle to expose the King to a mating attack.

In the position shown below, White makes a sacrifice as a prelude to penetrate Black’s second rank by his Rooks and the power of two Rooks on the seventh rank is demonstrated amply thereafter. No comments are felt necessary as these recently concluded World Championship games have been analyzed by experts to the maximum extent possible!

Position after 23 moves in the first game:

24. Nxf6 Kxf6
25. Rh3 Rg8
26. Rh6+ Kf7
27. Rh7+ Ke8
28. Rcc7 Kd8
29. Bb5 Qxe4
30. Rxc8+ Resigns

 

12 chess tactics and how to use those to gain advantage – Part 6

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Posted by ChessMaster on May 29, 2010 – 5:44 am
Filed under Attacking tactics, Chess Basics, Chess Tutorials, Chess lessons, Chess tactics
Tagged as attacking chess, attacking chess tactics, Attacking tactics, Chess tactics, Chess Tutorials

6. Fork

A fork is a fairly common chess tactics. This arises when one piece comes to attack two (or more) pieces simultaneously. Since the defender can make only one move, he cannot eliminate both the threats unless he is able to capture the attacking piece! It does not need saying that the fork can gain

  • if all the attacked pieces are of higher value than the attacking piece

    • or

  • if one of the attacked pieces, even though of equal or lower value, is lying undefended

In certain cases, the defender can possibly capture the attacking piece, but only at the cost of exposing his other valuable pieces to capture by the opponent.

A fork can be created by anything from a pawn to a queen, but the most common ones are those made by a knight.

The following diagram shows the different types of fork including the so-called family fork where a knight attacks the King, Queen and Rook.

You can see different forks in actual play in example 1 through example 12 discussed earlier.

If you check master games involving forks, you will often find that the fork motif is not always apparent, but exists none the less in a subtle form to bring significant advantage to the attacker. Can you see a knight fork in the following position?

The game went:

1. Qxh6+ Kxh6 1. … Rxh6 2. Rxd7+ creates a Rook fork to capture the Black Bishop, giving a winning position.
2. Rxd6+ Qxd6
3. Nf5+ The ultimate Knight fork which captures the Queen and with two connected passed pawns, White’s win is a matter of routine.

 

In the following position after 37 moves, White won by maneuvering to create not one but three knight forks in three different squares!

38. Rxf7 Bxf7
39. Qf3 Black can neither bring his Queen to defend the Bishop nor retreat the Bishop to g8. For example:
39. … Qe6 40. Nxc7+
39. … Qd7 40. Nf6+
39. … Bg8 40. Qf8+ Kd7 41. Qg7+ Kc6 42. Ne7+
the Knight forks catching the Black Queen in all these variations.
39. … Bxd5
40. cxd5 Resigns Black is helpless against the threatened mate after 41. Qf8+ as the Black King’s escape route via c6 has been cut off.

 

The following example shows a knight fork of opponent’s Queen and an empty square (h6) where that same Queen needed to come to defend his King!

26. Re7 Qxe7 The Queen could not afford to move away without leaving his Bishop at the White Knight’s mercy!
 
27. Nxf5 Resigns 27. … Qf8 28. Rxh7+ Kxh7 29. Qh5+ Qh6 30. Qxh6#

 

In the diagram shown below, the Knight fork is only a measure to force Black to capture it, giving White an opportunity to play some other moves that would ensure a winning advantage.

After White played Ne8+ forking Black King and Queen, Black resigned. To save the Queen, Black would have to capture the Knight with Rook (Rxe8) whereupon White could use a Queen fork with Qxf7+ to capture the Black Rook on next move for an easy win.

12 chess tactics and how to use those to gain advantage – Part 5

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Posted by ChessMaster on March 2, 2010 – 1:55 am
Filed under Attacking tactics, Chess Basics, Chess Tutorials, Chess lessons, Chess tactics
Tagged as attacking chess, attacking chess tactics, Attacking tactics, Chess tactics, Chess Tutorials

If you have understood the concepts of Pin as a chess tactic, discussed in the previous lesson in this series, the ideas of Skewer will be clear to you even though the working and threats posed are slightly different.

5. Skewer

The structure of a Skewer is similar to that of a Pin, but here the interposing piece has higher value than the target and there is no bind on its movement. It is therefore natural for the defender to move the interposing piece away from the line of attack. But this exposes the target to capture by the attacking piece, which is basically the idea of this chess tactics. This may be considered as a reverse pin and as in a pin, the attacking piece has to be Queen, Rook, or Bishop. In the following diagram, the White Bishop attacks the Black Rook behind the Queen.

If the interposing piece happens to be the King which is obviously under check, the resulting skewer is sometimes referred as “through check”. The following diagram shows an example where Black is going to lose his Rook.

Because of the pressure on the valuable interposing piece, it is hardly possible for the defender to save the target piece in a skewer – unless the interposing piece can move to a position to create a check or an equally forcing thrust against the attacking player.