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See it before you play it

How to calculate, and the patterns that decide games.

Three candidate moves listed under the board, each a capture

Guide · 6 min

How to calculate without moving a piece

The four steps strong players run before every critical move, and six rules that keep a line honest.

Double attacks

Two threats at once. They can only answer one.

ForkOne piece attacks two or more enemy pieces at once.

Discovered attackMoving one piece uncovers an attack by the piece behind it.

Double checkTwo pieces give check at once, so the king has to move.

Discovered checkMoving one piece uncovers check from the piece behind it.

On a line

Files, ranks and diagonals, and what stands on them.

PinA piece can’t move without exposing a bigger one behind it.

SkewerA valuable piece is attacked, moves, and the one behind it falls.

InterferencePut a piece between an enemy piece and what it defends.

X-rayA line piece attacks or defends through another piece.

Beating the defender

Take away what holds the position together.

DeflectionForce a defender away from what it guards.

AttractionLure an enemy piece, often the king, onto a square where it’s hit.

Capturing the defenderRemove the piece that guards a key square or piece.

Winning material

Pieces that are loose, or have nowhere to go.

Hanging pieceAn undefended piece that can simply be taken.

Trapped pieceA piece with no safe squares, ready to be won.

Timing

The right move at the right moment.

ClearanceMove a piece out of the way so another can use its square or line.

IntermezzoAn in-between check or threat before the expected reply.

Quiet moveA calm move that sets up a threat that can’t be stopped.

SacrificeGive up material for mate, more material, or a winning attack.

ZugzwangEvery move makes the position worse. They would rather pass.

Special moves

The rules that catch players out.

PromotionA pawn reaches the last rank and becomes a queen, or any piece.

En passantTake a pawn that just moved two squares, as if it moved one.

Mates

Patterns that end the game.

Back-rank mateA rook or queen mates a king trapped behind its own pawns.

Smothered mateA knight mates a king hemmed in by its own pieces.

Arabian mateA rook beside the cornered king, guarded by a knight: mate.

Hook mateA rook mates, guarded by a knight that a pawn guards in turn.

Boden’s mateTwo bishops on crossing diagonals mate a boxed-in king.

Morphy’s mateA bishop mates on the long diagonal; a rook holds the next file.

Swallow’s tail mateThe queen mates face to face, the king boxed in by its own pieces.

Vuković mateA guarded rook mates on the edge; a knight covers the escape.

Opera mateA rook mates on the edge, guarded by a bishop from afar.

Epaulette mateThe king is mated between two of its own pieces.

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