Chess, like war, like football, is a game of ATTACK and DEFENCE.

In this lesson we look at three words, ATTACK, DEFENCE and THREAT and see how they apply to a game of chess.

If a piece is in a position to CAPTURE another piece this is an ATTACK.

You'll learn later that sometimes you might want to attack SQUARES as well as pieces.

But in this lesson we look at ATTACKS ON PIECES.

Suppose I ATTACK one of your pieces and you have a piece which can TAKE ME BACK if I take you.

This piece is a DEFENDER.

ATTACK and DEFENCE is what chess is all about.

An ATTACK on an UNDEFENDED PIECE is a THREAT.

An ATTACK on a piece which is not defended enough is a THREAT.

An ATTACK on a STRONGER PIECE by a WEAKER PIECE is a THREAT.

If your opponent's move creates a THREAT you MUST do something about it.

If you play a few moves you'll see how it works.

If you like, get out a chess set and play through the moves yourself.

Both players start by putting a Pawn in the center.

Then White DEVELOPS a Knight, THREATENING a Pawn.

Black MUST do something about this THREAT. He can't move the Pawn but he has several ways to DEFEND the Pawn.

How many can you find?

Black DEFENDS his THREATENED Pawn by DEVELOPING a Knight, and White moves up his other center pawn.

We now have a complicated position in the center.

White is now ATTACKING Black's center Pawn TWICE while Black is only DEFENDING it ONCE.

Black MUST do something about this THREAT.

Now look at the position again, but this time focus on the Pawn White's just moved.

Black is ATTACKING this Pawn TWICE, with a Pawn and with a Knight.

White is DEFENDING it TWICE, with a Knight and with a Queen.

Black can now make some EXCHANGES.

Black CAPTURES White's Pawn with his Pawn and White TAKES BACK with his Knight (THE ONLY GOOD MOVE!).

It would have been a bad mistake for White to take back with the Queen instead. Do you see why?

(If you have a choice of two or more CAPTURES on the same square it's almost always right to start with the weaker piece.

Now Black could, if he chooses EXCHANGE KNIGHTS.

(EXCHANGES LIKE THIS HAPPEN IN EVERY GAME OF CHESS.)

Black decides not to EXCHANGE KNIGHTS. Instead he DEVLOPS a Bishop.

This move creates a THREAT. White's Knight is ATTACKED TWICE but only DEFENDED ONCE.

White MUST do something about this.

He can EXCHANGE KNIGHTS himself.

He can MOVE his KNIGHT to a SAFE SQUARE.

He can DEFEND his KNIGHT again. Do you see how he can do this with either a Bishop or a Pawn?

Now look at this position.

White's just moved his Queen.

The Queen's ATTACKING THREE Pawns. Two of them are DEFENDED.

The other one isn't so Black should DEFEND that Pawn on his next move.

In this position, White has just moved his Queen.

This move creates TWO THREATS.

The Black Pawn in the center is ATTACKED by the White Queen but not DEFENDED.

The Pawn in front of the BISHOP is ATTACKED TWICE, by the Queen and Bishop, but only DEFENDED once, by the King.

Black MUST defend BOTH THREATS. He has two ways of doing this with his Queen. Can you find them both?

Finally, what's happening here?

White's ATTACKING the same Black Pawn with his Bishop and his Knight. The Pawn is only DEFENDED once.

This time Black CANNOT use his Queen as a DEFENDER because it is more valuable than the White ATTACKERS.

The only way to DEFEND is to BLOCK the White Bishop by moving the Pawn in front of the Queen two squares.

You've now reached the end of the lesson.

To return to the main menu press "finish"

To repeat the lesson press "start"

VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY

In a game of chess THREATS are happening all the time. One player makes a THREAT, the other player meets it and the game goes on. What's better than making a THREAT? Making two THREATS at once. You've probably seen many examples of this. If we THREATEN two things with the same piece in DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS what do we have? A FORK! And if we threaten two things with the same piece in THE SAME DIRECTION we have a PIN, or if the pieces are the other way round, a SKEWER.

But we can also THREATEN two things with TWO DIFFERENT PIECES at the same time by using a DISCOVERED ATTACK, which, if it discovers an attack on the King, is a DISCOVERED CHECK.

Think for a moment about BISHOPS, ROOKS and QUEENS. Pieces that move in straight lines, which we call LINE PIECES. If you have a piece in front of a LINE PIECE and move it out of the way you are OPENING A LINE. And there might be a nice tasty enemy piece at the end of the line.

A simple example:

1. e2-e4 e7-e5

2. Bf1-c4 Nb8-c6

3. Qd1-g4?? (Diagram)

A seriously bad move. DON'T BRING YOUR QUEEN OUT TOO SOON!

How can you punish White for his foolishness?

LOOK DOWN THE LINES OF YOUR LINE PIECES. That Bishop on c8 might not seem much use at the moment but if you use your EYES and LOOK at the board you'll see that it stands on the same diagonal as the White Queen. What's in the way? Why, Danny the d-pawn. So why not move him? We could move him one square, but so what? If we move him two squares he'll THREATEN the Bishop on c4. So the winning move is:

3... d7-d5!

If White moves his Queen what happens? He loses the Bishop on c4. If he plays, for instance, e4xd5 or Bc4xd5, what happens? He loses his Queen. I suspect most of your opponents would not notice the DISCOVERED ATTACK and would take the Pawn.

Now have a look at this.

1. e2-e4 e7-e5

2. Ng1-f3 Nb8-c6

3. d2-d4

The SCOTCH GAME

3... e5xd4

4. Nf3xd4 Bf8-c5

Black attacks the Knight a second time.

5. Bc1-e3

And White defends it a second time. Black, suspecting nothing, plays...

5... Ng8-f6? (Diagram)

Over to you for White's plan to win a piece.

Look along the diagonal of the Bishop on e3 and you see an undefended Black Bishop on c5. Remember: LOOSE PIECES DROP OFF. There's a Knight in the way, on d4, so we look for a forcing Knight move and find...

6. Nd4xc6 b7xc6

What would have happened had Black played Bc5xe3? Why, Nc6xd8, of course. And now? Just Be3xc5 and White has an extra Bishop. By the way, the usual 5th move for Black is Qd8-f6.

Even strong players fall for this one if they haven't seen it before. DISCOVERED ATTACKS are often difficult to see.

Here's another trap which claims hundreds of victims every year.

1. e2-e4 e7-e6

2. d2-d4 d7-d5

3. e4-e5 c7-c5

4. c2-c3 Nb8-c6

5. Ng1-f3 Qd8-b6

This is one of the most popular variations of the FRENCH DEFENCE. White's next move sets a trap.

6. Bf1-d3 (Diagram)

Black now notices that the white d-pawn is attacked three times and only defended twice. Is it safe to take it?

6... c5xd4

7. c3xd4 Nc6xd4?

8. Nf3xd4 Qb6xd4?? (Diagram)

Well, he's gone for it. How can you show him the error of his ways?

Again, look down the lines of your LINE PIECES. What do you see on the d-file: White Queen, White Bishop, Black Queen. The Black Queen is UNDEFENDED (LPDO - Loose Pieces Drop Off). If we move the Bishop with check we'll win the Queen. How can we do it? By playing...

9. Bd3-b5+

Black has to get out of check, giving White time to take the Queen.

Here's another example.

1. e2-e4 e7-e5

2. Ng1-f3 Nb8-c6

3. Nb1-c3 Bf8-c5

4. Nf3xe5

White plays a FORK TRICK.

4... Nc6xe5

5. d2-d4

Winning back the piece with a PAWN FORK! Black should now play Bc5-d6.

5... Bc5xd4

6. Qd1xd4 Qd8-f6?!

Setting a trap. Nc3-b5 is now very strong for White, but instead he misses the point of Black's last move.

7. Nc3-d5?? (Diagram)

It looks good for White, doesn't it? He's attacking the Queen. He's THREATENING a KNIGHT FORK on c7. And if the Queen goes back to d8 to prevent the fork he'll win the Knight.

But he's got a nasty shock coming. Can you find it?

Look down the lines of the line pieces. The Queens are on the same diagonal, with a Black Knight in between them. The White Queen is undefended (which is why White should have played his Knight to b5). Think CCT and you'll find the answer, which is...

7... Ne5-f3+

and White's been robbed of his Queen in broad daylight. Daylight robbery indeed.

We can also do this sort of thing the other way round. If your LINE PIECE is in line with the enemy King and you have a piece in the way, you will give DISCOVERED CHECK by moving that piece out of the way. What you look for is the move that does the most damage. DISCOVERED CHECKS early in the game usually happen on the e-file. If you look at the lesson called TROUBLE ON THE E-FILE you'll find some examples. Here's another one.

1. e2-e4 e7-e5

2. Ng1-f3 Ng8-f6

3. Nf3xe5 Qd8-e7

Black's correct third move in the PETROFF DEFENCE is d7-d6. This move sets a trap but brings the Queen out too soon.

4. Ne5-f3 Nf6xe4

5. d2-d3?? (Diagram)

He should block the e-file with Bf1-e2 before doing this.

You probably know what Black should do here.

Look down the e-file: Black Queen, Black Knight, White King. If we move the Knight it's DISCOVERED CHECK so let's attack something big at the same time. What could be bigger than the Queen? We don't play Ne4xf2+ because of Ke1xf2. What we do play is Ne4-c3+ and it's goodbye to the Black Queen. If she goes to e2 to block the check, the Knight will still take her.

As you see, DISCOVERED CHECKS are pretty cool. But there's something even better than a DISCOVERED CHECK. Do you know what that is? It's a DOUBLE CHECK. CHECK by two pieces at the same time. YOU CAN ONLY GET OUT OF A DOUBLE CHECK BY MOVING YOUR KING! Here's a quick example.

1. e2-e4 e7-e5

2. f2-f4

The KING'S GAMBIT

2... e5xf4

3. Ng1-f3 d7-d5

4. Nb1-c3 d5xe4

5. Nc3xe4 Bc8-g4

Black would do better to develop his King-side pieces and castle quickly in this OPEN POSITION.

6. Qd1-e2

Setting a trap.

6... Bg4xf3?? (Diagram)

He should block the e-file instead, but assumes that White will recapture on f3.

Sometimes when you're playing chess you have to look beyond the obvious. Think CCT and you'll see that a Knight move is DISCOVERED CHECK. Any old discovered check and Black will take the Queen, but try a DOUBLE CHECK instead.

7. Ne4-f6#

Can Black take the Queen? No, he's in check from the Knight. Can he take the Knight? No, he's in check from the Queen. Can he move his King anywhere? No! It's CHECKMATE!

DOUBLE CHECK means DOUBLE TROUBLE for Black.

HELPFUL HINTS

1. When your opponent makes a move don't just look at the piece he moved. He might be opening up a DISCOVERED ATTACK.

2. Look along the lines of your LINE PIECES - Queens, Rooks, Bishops. If you have a piece between one of your LINE PIECES and an enemy target you will have a DISCOVERED ATTACK, or, if the target is the King, a DISCOVERED CHECK.

3. Learn to look beyond the obvious, to look for surprise moves. Don't make assumptions or jump to conclusions. Think CCT all the time.

4. Remember that LOOSE PIECES DROP OFF - try to keep all your pieces defended if you can.