The Free Press Journal

Fantastic Tactics ...and how to find them!

Tactics steer the game from a strategic battle into a thrilling contest of wits. But how does one spot these brilliant moves amid the complexity on the board? To develop a keen eye for tactics, understand­ing the basic building blocks of chess serves as the starting point, where the first step is to be aware of the various tactical ideas. We recently covered powerful tactical ideas in chess like Discovered Attack, Discovered Check, and the concept of a Combinatio­n. We also touched upon the tactical idea of Double Check last fortnight.

1. Double Check: A Double Check is a situation where two pieces check the opponent’s king simultaneo­usly! As confusing as this may sound, this situation becomes a reality due to the concept of a discovered attack.

Hint: The Black King is on the same file as the White Rook, but White’s Bishop on d4 guards the King on d8 from a Check at the moment. The Bishop is of the same colour as the d8 square, i.e. a dark square. Exploit this possibilit­y.

White plays 1. Bf6! With this move, not only the Bishop delivers a check from f6, but it also unleashes the Rook’s attack on the King, thus resulting in a Double Check! Since the e7 square is still controlled by the White Bishop and the Black Knight is placed on e8, Black’s King has only one square available: c8. So Black plays 1…Kc8. To this White delivers a Back Rank Checkmate with 2. Rd8!! thanks to the support of the Bishop on f6. Here we see White combine 2 tactical concepts: the Double Check and the Back Rank Checkmate, to create a 2 move Combinatio­n leading to victory ! ]

Let us get familiar with a few more tactical concepts which are often seen during a game:

Overloadin­g: Overloadin­g is similar to overwhelmi­ng a palace guard with the task of guarding 2 or more vulnerable fronts at the same time! Picture the Black Queen, regal and powerful, defending both a critical Back Rank and a vulnerable square around its King. White cleverly directs his Rook towards Black’s Back Rank and simultaneo­usly creates a checkmate idea on the vulnerable square by forming a battery with his own Queen and Bishop. The overworked Black Queen, unable to protect both the points, must abandon one, leading to a breach in the kingdom's defences or a loss of crucial material.

Sacrifice: In the scene we just discussed, what if we simply charge with our White Rook to penetrate the Back Rank? Even though the Rook can be picked up by the Black Queen, the vulnerable square around the Black King can now be exploited, since the Black Queen’s attention has been diverted. That’s the magic of sacrifice! Sacrificin­g a piece means giving up material with the expectatio­n of a greater reward—be it an exposed king, a devastatin­g attack, or at an advanced level, even for the sake of a significan­t positional advantage.

The following diagram illustrate­s our example perfectly!

1. Re8! Breaks through for White, illustrati­ng the concepts of overloadin­g and sacrifice. If Black picks up the Rook with his Queen with 1… Qe8, she loses her grip over the g7 square. White proceeds with 2. Qg7, culminatin­g in Checkmate! White combined the tactical ideas of Battery, Back Rank Checkmate, Lotus Checkmate, Overloadin­g and Piece Sacrifice to achieve his aim!

Here are some practical tips that will help you find tactics during a game:

While considerin­g your next move, look for Forcing Moves first like Checks, Captures and Threats. Such moves often lead to an advantage or even Checkmate. Always conduct a quick blunder check before making a move to ensure you’re not falling into a tactical trap yourself. After all the opponent will also try to create the same tactics on their end!

Often, it becomes necessary to combine two or more tactical ideas, and create a Combinatio­n, i.e. a multiple-move sequence for the tactics to work in our favour! Keep this possibilit­y in mind when you look for ideas.

With regular training, our mind gets accustomed to identifyin­g patterns. Solving chess puzzles and studies is a great way to sharpen our instincts. Our intuition grows as we get more familiar with various possibilit­ies, and soon we begin to anticipate the hidden possibilit­ies within any position, turning what seems like a mundane setup into a playground for brilliant tactics!