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Chess Tactics
David MacEnulty
2015
Russell Enterprises, Inc.
Milford, CT USA
My First Book of Check Tactics
by David MacEnulty
© Copyright 2015
David MacEnulty
For
All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be used, reproduced, stored Elizabeth and Edward
in a retrieval system or transmitted in any manner or form whatsoever
or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, photocopying,
recording or otherwise, without the express written permission from the
publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles
or reviews.
ISBN: 978-1-941270-1-41
Published by:
Russell Enterprises, Inc.
PO Box 3131
Milford, CT 06460 USA
http://www.russell-enterprises.com
info@russell-enterprises.com
I am also grateful to Mitchell Fitzko, Alex Beltre, Fritz Gaspard and 4 En Prise. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Elizabeth Vicary Spiegel, all of whom made important suggestions that 5 Take a More Valuable Piece . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
have been incorporated into this book. I am also deeply indebted to
Grandmaster Miron Sher and National Master Bruce Pandolfini for lending 6 More (or Better) Attackers than Defenders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
their wisdom to this project. 7 Fork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Most importantly, I thank my students at C.E.S. 70; they taught me a lot 8 Pin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
about how and why people learn. They were the inspiration for this book,
and I have used many positions from their tournament games in this work. 9 Skewer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Several years have passed since the first version of this book appeared. I 1 0 Discovery and Discovered Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
have made several additions and, I hope, improvements in this edition. I am 1 1 Double Check. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
further indebted to Mitchell Fitzko for his proofreading of this edition. He
saved me from many embarrassing errors. Those that remain are entirely 1 2 Overload or Overworked Piece . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
my fault. 1 3 Remove the Guard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
1 4 Deflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
1 5 Decoy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
1 6 Trapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
1 7 Four More Tactical Ideas: X-Ray, Interference,
Clearance, and the Windmill. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
6 Introduction 7
rppp A Relative Pin is a pin against any piece other than the king.
cuuuuuuuuC
CHAP TER 8
{qdwdwiwd}
8 What to do:
Pin {dwdwdwdw}
7 1) Look for enemy pieces lined up on
the same rank, file, or diagonal.
Hold an enemy piece in place. {wdwdwdwd}
6
2) Find one of your pieces that
{dwdndwdw}
5 can attack the front piece and,
{wdwdwdwd}
4
attacking through it like an X-ray,
hit the second piece.
WHA T ’ S T H E B IG ID E A ? {dwdwdBdP}
3
3) Attack!
A pin keeps a piece from moving. A piece that can’t move has lost its {wdwdw)Pd}
2
power. A pin occurs when a queen, rook, or bishop attacks an enemy piece,
and if that piece were to move, there would be an attack on another piece
{dwdwdRIw}
1
{wdwdwdwd}
2 three pieces the power to Pin. {dwdwdp0p}
7
{dwdRdwdK}
1 {wdwdwdwd}
6
vllllllll
a b c d e f g h
{dwdndwdw}
5
{wdwdwdwd}
4
In the diagram above the d1-rook attacks the d5-knight, and if the knight {dwdwdwdP}
3
This is called an Absolute Pin, because the pin is against the king. Moving {dwdRdwdK}
1
out of an absolute pin is illegal, since it puts the king in check. vllllllll
a b c d e f g h
A pin can even be against an empty square, as in the diagram above. Here
the knight is pinned to d8. Moving the knight would allow 1 Rd8#.
68 8 Pin 69
Pins are a very important part of chess. This chapter is divided into
cuuuuuuuuCcuuuuuuuuC
six parts: {wdwiwdw4}
8 {wdwdwdwd}
8
Part 2 Piling On the Pinned Piece. Since a pinned piece can’t (or shouldn’t) {wdwdwdwd}
6 {qdwdwdpd}
6
move, a good thing to do is to attack it again. We call this “piling on.” {dPdwdwdw}
5 {dwdwdwdw}
5
Part 3 A Pinned Piece Does Not Protect. A pinned piece, having lost the {Pdwhwdwd}
4 {wdRdwdw)}
4
power to move, is often not effective in protecting other pieces. {dwdwdwdP}
3 {dwdwdw)w}
3
Part 4 Breaking a Pin, Avoiding a Pin, and Nullifying the Danger of a Pin {KGwdwdPd}
2 {wdPdwdwd}
2
Part 5 Illusory Pins. Sometimes a pinned piece does protect. To make that {dwdwdwdw}
1 {dwdwdKdw}
1
point, we have included a couple of famous examples when a pinned unit
will move, allowing the loss of the queen but winning the game.
vllllllll
a b c d e f g h vllllllll
a b c d e f g h
The white b2-bishop pins the black The black a6-queen pins the white
Part 6 Escape from a Pin. Not all pins render the piece powerless. knight to the rook. rook to the king.
Sometimes there are clever ways to escape.
Pin Examples
cuuuuuuuuCcuuuuuuuuC
{wdwdkdwd}
8 {wdwdwdkd}
8
{dwdwdwdw}
7 {dpdwdp0w}
7
{wdwdwdwd}
6 {pgwdpdw0}
6
{dwdw1wdw}
5 {dwHwdwdw}
5
{wdwdwdwd}
4 {wdwdwdwd}
4
{dwdwdwdw}
3 {)w)wdwdw}
3
{wdwdw)P)}
2 {wdwdwdw)}
2
{dwdQ$wIw}
1 {dKdwdw$w}
1
vllllllll
a b c d e f g h vllllllll
a b c d e f g h
The white e1-rook pins the black The black b6-bishop pins the white
queen to the king. knight to the rook.
70 Pin 8 8 Pin 71
PA R T 1 FIN D T H E P IN Rook Pins
cuuuuuuuuCcuuuuuuuuC
Bishop Pins
cuuuuuuuuCcuuuuuuuuC {wdwdwdkd}
8 {wdwdwdwi}
8
{wdwdwdwi}
8 {wdkdwdwd}
8 {dwdw4wdw}
7 {dwdwdpdw}
7
{dwdwdwdw}
7 {dwdwdwdw}
7 {wdwdwdwd}
6 {rdwdwdw0}
6
{wdwdwdwd}
6 {wdwdrdwd}
6 {dwdwdwdw}
5 {dwdwdwdw}
5
{dwdw4wdw}
5 {dwdwdwdw}
5 {wdwdwdBd}
4 {wdwdNdwI}
4
{wdwdwdwd}
4 {wdKdwdwd}
4 {dwdwdwdw}
3 {dwdwdw)w}
3
{dwdwdwdw}
3 {dwdwdwdw}
3 {wdwdwdwd}
2 {wdwdwdw)}
2
{wdwdwGwd}
2 {wdwdwdwd}
2 {dwdwdwIw}
1 {dwdwdwdw}
1
{dwdwdwdK}
1 {dwdBdwdw}
1 vllllllll
a b c d e f g h vllllllll
a b c d e f g h
vllllllll
a b c d e f g h vllllllll
a b c d e f g h
5. Black to move.
cuuuuuuuuCcuuuuuuuuC
6. Black to move.
1. White to move.
cuuuuuuuuCcuuuuuuuuC
2. White to move.
{wdwdwdwd}
8 {wdwdkdwd}
8
{wdkdbdwd}
8 {wdwdbdwd}
8
{dwdwdwdw}
7 {dwdwdwdw}
7
{dwdwdwdw}
7 {dwiwdwdw}
7
{w$Kdwdwd}
6 {wdwdqdwd}
6
{wdwdwdwd}
6 {wdwdwdwd}
6
{dwdpiwdw}
5 {dwdwdwdw}
5
{dwdwdNdw}
5 {dwdwdwdw}
5
{wdwdwdwd}
4 {wdwdwdw$}
4
{wdwdwdwd}
4 {wdwdQdwd}
4
{dwdwdwdw}
3 {dwdwdBdP}
3
{dwdwdwdw}
3 {dwdwdwdw}
3
{wdwdwdwd}
2 {wdwdwdPI}
2
{wdKdwdwd}
2 {wdwdwdwd}
2
{dwdwdwdw}
1 {dwdwdwdw}
1
{dwdwdwdw}
1 {dwdwdwdK}
1
vllllllll
a b c d e f g h vllllllll
a b c d e f g h
7. White to move. 8. White to move.
vllllllll
a b c d e f g h vllllllll
a b c d e f g h
3. Black to move. 4. Black to move.
Answers: Answers:
1. 1 Bd4 pins the rook to the king. 5. 1... Rg7 pins the bishop to the king.
2. 1 Bg4 pins the rook to the king. 6. 1... Ra4 pins the knight to the king.
3. 1... Bg6 pins the knight to the king. 7. 1 Rb5 pins the pawn to the king.
4. 1... Bc6 pins the queen to the king. 8. 1 Re4 pins the queen to the king.
72 Pin 8 8 Pin 73
Queen Pins Mixed Pins: Find the Pin
cuuuuuuuuCcuuuuuuuuC This is a mixture of pins with the bishop, rook and queen.
{wdwdwdQd}
8 {wdqdwdwd}
8 cuuuuuuuuCcuuuuuuuuC
{dwdwdwdw}
7 {dkdwdwdw}
7 {wdwdkdwd}
8 {Rdwdwdwd}
8
{wdwdwdwd}
6 {wdwdwdwd}
6 {dwdwdwdw}
7 {dw0wdw0k}
7
{dwdwdwdw}
5 {dwdNdwdK}
5 {wdqdwdwd}
6 {PdNdwdb0}
6
{wdwdwdwd}
4 {PdwdwdPd}
4 {dwdwdwdw}
5 {dwdwdwdw}
5
{dwdwdwdw}
3 {dwdwdwdw}
3 {wdwdwdRd}
4 {wdwdwdwd}
4
{wIpdwdwd}
2 {wdwdwdwd}
2 {dwdwdwdK}
3 {4wdwdwdP}
3
{dwdkdwdw}
1 {dwdwdwdw}
1 {wdwdwdwd}
2 {wdwdwdPI}
2
vllllllll
a b c d e f g h vllllllll
a b c d e f g h {dwdBdwdw}
1 {dwdwdwdw}
1
9. White to move. 10. Black to move. vllllllll
a b c d e f g h vllllllll
a b c d e f g h
cuuuuuuuuCcuuuuuuuuC 13. White to move. 14. Black to move.
{wdwdwdwd}
8 {wdwdwdkd}
8 cuuuuuuuuCcuuuuuuuuC
{dpiwdwdw}
7 {dwdwdp0p}
7 {rdbdkgw4}
8 {wdwdwdqd}
8
{qdwdwdwd}
6 {p4wdpdwd}
6 {dp0wdp0p}
7 {dwdwdwdw}
7
{dwdwdwdw}
5 {dwdw)wdw}
5 {pdpdwhwd}
6 {w)kdwdwd}
6
{wdwdNdw)}
4 {wdwhw)Qd}
4 {dwdwdwdw}
5 {)wdwdwdp}
5
{)wdwdw)w}
3 {)wdwdwdP}
3 {wdwdqdwd}
4 {wdwdwHwd}
4
{w)wdwGwd}
2 {K)wdwdwd}
2 {dwdwdNdw}
3 {dwdwdw)P}
3
{dwdwIwdw}
1 {dwdwdwdw}
1 {P)P)w)P)}
2 {wdBdwdKd}
2
vllllllll
a b c d e f g h vllllllll
a b c d e f g h {$NGQdRIw}
1 {dwdwdwdw}
1
11. Black to move. 12. White to move. vllllllll
a b c d e f g h vllllllll
a b c d e f g h
15. White to move. 16. Black to move.
Answers:
9. 1 Qb3 pins the pawn to the king. Black’s c2-pawn was about to promote, but now White Answers:
will take the pawn next move. 13. 1 Ba4 pins the queen to the king.
10. 1... Qc5 pins the knight to the king. 14. 1... Be4 pins the knight to the rook.
11. 1... Qe6 pins the knight to the king. 15. 1 Re1 pins the queen to the king.
12. 1 Qg1 pins the knight to the rook. 16. 1... Qa2 pins the bishop to the king.
74 Pin 8 8 Pin 75