Decoy and Destroy

How often have you said to yourself “If only?”   “If only that piece wasn’t there. Then I could mate him”.   “If only his Queen was over there.   Then I could FORK his King and Queen”.   There’s no place for wishful thinking in chess, but sometimes, if you work hard enough at the position, you can make your dreams come true. 

We have two ideas, for which we use words that rhyme: DECOY and DESTROY.

DESTROY is easier to understand: if you don’t like an enemy piece because it stops you doing something perhaps you can just capture it.   DESTROY. 

If you force a piece to go somewhere it doesn’t want to do, by attacking it or by forcing it to do something else, then you DECOY it.   (Some books use DECOY when the square it goes TO is important and DIVERSION when the square it goes FROM is important.) 

Now we’ll set up the pieces and have a look at a short game.

1. e2-e4 d7-d5

This is called the CENTRE COUNTER or SCANDINAVIAN DEFENCE.   Black has to be very careful what he does with his Queen. 

2. e4xd5 Qd8xd5

3. d2-d4

White usually plays Nb1-c3 here to gain TIME by attacking the Black Queen.

3... Nb8-c6

4. Ng1-f3 Bc8-g4

5. Bf1-e2

Now Black sees his chance.   He can DESTROY the defender and win the d-pawn.   Or can he?

5... Bg4xf3

6. Be2xf3 (Diagram)

Imagine you’re Black here.   Is it a good idea to take the pawn on d4?   Start calculating.

Obviously not Nc6xd4 because of Bf3xd5.   But what about Qd5xd4?   Did you start analysing Qd1xd4 Nc6xd4, Bf3xb7 and wonder whether Black should play Ra8-b8 or Nd4xc2+?   If so you were wasting your time?   Go back to the position after Qd5xd4 and do a CCT.   Seen it yet?   White just plays Bf3xc6+ (DESTROY!) followed by Qd1xd4, with an extra Queen! 

That’s why it’s CCT - CHECKS, CAPTURES, THREATS in that order!   Checks are the most forcing moves so you must look at them first. 

Now, another quick game featuring an OVERWORKED PIECE and an opening you should definitely NEVER play! 

1. e2-e4 e7-e5

2. Ng1-f3 f7-f6?

This is called DAMIANO’S DEFENCE, for what it’s worth. 

Think DCK.   Does it help your development?   Far from it: it sticks a Pawn where the Knight belongs.   Does it help your centre control?   A little bit, but not as much as Nb8-c6 or Ng8-f6.   Does it help your King safety?   Again, far from it.   We know how dangerous it can be to move Freddie in the opening.   This move weakens the a2-g8 and h5-e8 diagonals.   Remember the FATAL DIAGONAL?   Anyway, what would you play for White here? 

3. Bf1-c4 is logical and strong, but perhaps even better is...

3. Nf3xe5!

It’s well worth a Knight here to get in a Queen check on h5. Black should now play Qd8-e7 but instead decides to eat the Knight. 

3... f6xe5

4. Qd1-h5+

What happens now if Black plays g7-g6? Qh5-e5+ is a QUEEN FORK, winning the Rook on h8.   So the King has to go for a walk. 

4... Ke8-e7

5. Qh5xe5+ Ke7-f7

6. Bf1-c4+ d7-d5

Desperately trying to make some room for his pieces.

7. Bc4xd5+ Kf7-g6

8. h2-h4

Harry threatens a nasty check on h5 so Black makes room for his King on h7.

8... h7-h6

Can you find the OVERWORKED PIECE here and try to DECOY it?  White might think “I’d love to play Qe5-f5#, but that pesky Bishop on c8 is stopping me”. He might also think “I’d love to play Bd5xb7, but again that pesky Bishop is stopping me”.   Then he realises the Bishop is OVERWORKED and cannot do both jobs at once, so he plays... 

9. Bd5xb7 (DECOY!)

when the best Black can do is...

9... Bf8-d6

10. Qe5-a5 Bd6-b4

11. Qa5xb4 Bc8xb7

12. Qb4xb7 Nb8-d7

White is four pawns ahead and should win easily.

                     Helpful Hints

1. Look out for chances to play DECOY and DESTROY moves in your games.

2. You can find them by thinking CCT.

3. You can also find them by thinking “If only...”.   You’ll be surprised how many chances you’ll have to use these ideas in your games.   You just have to stop and look for them. 

4. Oh, and, whatever you do, DON’T play Damiano’s Defence.