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Chess Tactics

Explained

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Index of 25 Tactics

• Back Rank Mate

• Battery

• Blocking

• Clearance

• Decoy

• Deflection

• Desperado

• Discovered Attack

• Discovered Check

• Double Attack

• Double Check

• Fork

• Interference

• King Hunt

• Mating Attack

• Overloaded Defender

• Pawn Storm

• Pin

• Skewer Attack

• Triangulation

• Under-Promotion

• Windmill

• X-Ray Attack

• Zugzwang

• Zwischenzug

 

Tactical Demonstration:

Pin

Example 1. White to move
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

Example 2. White to move
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

 
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Tactical Demonstration:

Fork

Example 3. White to move
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

Example 4. White to move
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

 
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Tactical Demonstration:

X-Ray Attack

Example 5. Black to move
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

Example 6. Black to move
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

 
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Tactical Demonstration:

Double Check

Example 7. White to move
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

Example 8. White to move
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

 
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Tactical Demonstration:

King Hunt

Example 9. White to move
Honn-Orozco, corres 1967
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

Example 10. Black to move
Smyslov-Florian, Moscow 1949
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

 
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Tactical Demonstration:

Battery

Example 11. Black to move
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

Example 12. White to move
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

 
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Tactical Demonstration:

Interference

Example 13. White to move
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

Example 14. White to move
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

 
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Tactical Demonstration:

Skewer Attack

Example 15. White to move
Short - Vaganian, Barcelona 1989
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

Example 16. Black to move
Solomons - Rogule, Dresden 2008
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

 
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Tactical Demonstration:

Double Attack

Example 17. Black to move
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

Example 18. White to move
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

 
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Tactical Demonstration:

Mating Attack

Example 19. White to move
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

Example 20. White to move
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

 
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Tactical Demonstration:

Blocking

Example 21. White to move
Alekhine-Ostrogsky, Moscow Simul 1910
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

Example 22. Black to move
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

 
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Tactical Demonstration:

Discovered

Attack

Example 23. Black to move
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

Example 24. White to move
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

 
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Tactical Demonstration:

Overloaded

Defender

Example 25. White to move
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

Example 26. White to move
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

 
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Tactical Demonstration:

Pawn Storm

Example 27. White to move
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

Example 28. Black to move
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

 
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Tactical Demonstration:

Back Rank

Mate

or

Corridor Mate

Example 29. Black to move
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

Example 30. White to move
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

 
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Tactical Demonstration:

Clearance

Sacrifice

Example 31. White to move
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

Example 32. Black to move
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

 
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Tactical Demonstration:

Decoy

Example 33. White to move
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

Example 34. Black to move
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

 
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Tactical Demonstration:

Discovered

Check

Example 35. White to move
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

Example 36. Black to move
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

 
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Tactical Demonstration:

Deflection

Example 37. Black to move
Yermolinsky-Tate, Reno 2001
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

Example 38. Black to move
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

 
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Tactical Demonstration:

Triangulation

Example 39. White to move
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

Example 40. Black to move
Pranitchi-Florea, corres 2008
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

 
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Tactical Demonstration:

Under-Promotion

Example 41. Black to move
Korody-Balogh, corr 1933
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

Tactical Demonstration:

Windmill

Example 42. White to move
Torre-Em. Lasker, Moscow 1925
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

Example 43. White to move
Alekhine-Fletcher, London Simul 1928
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

Example 44. Black to move
D. Byrne-R. Fischer, New York 1956 - "Game of the Century"
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

 
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Tactical Demonstration:

Desperado

(Trapped Piece)

Example 45. Black to move
T. Petrosian-R. Fischer, Portoroz 1958
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

Example 46. White to move
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

 
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Tactical Demonstration:

"Zugzwang"

German "compulsion to move"

Example 47. White to move
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

Example 48. White to move
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

 
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Tactical Demonstration:

"Zwischenzug"

German "in-between move"

Example 49. Black to move
Tartakower-Capablanca, NY 1924
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

Example 50. White to move
Romanishin-Ivanchuk, Irkutsk 1986
PGN Viewer courtesy of ChessTempo.

 
 
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