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ATTACKS AND THREATS We start by looking again at something from the last lesson. This really is important: do try to make sure you LEARN, REMEMBER and UNDERSTAND it. White starts off by moving his Pawn from e2 to e4. Black replies by moving his Pawn from e7 to e5. You should be getting used to these moves by now. These are the best moves for beginners to play at the start of the game so try to play them yourself. Now White, as in the last lesson, moves his Queen out all the way from d1 to h5. Let's look at this position more closely. Let's first suppose that Black decides he ought to ATTACK the White Queen. You never know, White might not notice! So he chooses to move his Pawn from g7 to g6, giving our next diagram. Stop here and choose a move for White. Your Queen is ATTACKED so it would be a good idea to move it, but what is the best square? If you remember the last two lessons you should have found the right answer. Can you CAPTURE something for nothing? You probably saw that it wasn't safe to CAPTURE either the Pawn on g6 or the Pawn on h7. But it is safe to CAPTURE the Pawn on e5. It's also CHECK. So we'll take the Black Pawn on e5. Have a look and see how Black can get out of CHECK. Can he CAPTURE the Queen? NO! Can he move his King to a safe square? NO! But he can BLOCK the check by moving his Queen, his Bishop on f8, or his Knight on g8 to e7. The Queen move is best, but, to keep things simple, let's suppose he puts the Bishop in the way. Stop again and choose a move for White. Did you remember to look to see if you could take something for nothing? If so you should have seen that the Queen could CAPTURE the Rook in the corner on h8. After that move White is already a Pawn and a Rook ahead after just four moves. An advantage of six points! So let's go back and see what Black did wrong. Set up your pieces and once again move the White Pawn from e2 to e4 and the Black Pawn from e7 to e5. Now again move the White Queen from d1 to h5. Here's the position again for you. Once again, look at the White Queen. How many Pawns is she ATTACKING? Count them all. Remember that she is ATTACKING any Pawn she could CAPTURE NEXT MOVE. The answer is THREE: the Pawns on e5, f7 and h7. But which one does White really WANT to play next move? Which of them would be a SAFE capture? Would it be safe to take the Pawn on h7? NO! - the Rook on h8 would take the Queen. Would it be safe to take the Pawn on f7? NO! - the King would take the Queen - she's not defended at the moment! Would it be safe to take the Pawn on e5? YES! - as we've just seen. Now we have a new word for you to learn: THREAT. An ATTACK is something that COULD be done next move. A THREAT is something that you WANT to play next move. So in this position which of White's ATTACKS is also a THREAT? The ATTACK on the Pawn on e5! Chess is a game of ATTACK and DEFENCE. If you make a THREAT I usually have to DEFEND against it. If I make a THREAT, you usually have to DEFEND against it. Let's see if we can find a DEFENCE to White's THREAT. Can we CAPTURE the piece making the THREAT? NO! Can we MOVE the THREATENED Pawn? NO - it's blocked by the Pawn on e4! Can we BLOCK the THREAT by putting something in the way? Yes - we could move our Pawn from g7 to g5, but as you'll learn in the next lesson it's not especially good. We could also move the Queen from d8 to g5, but that certainly wouldn't be good. Do you see why? Yes - the White Queen could just take it off. Do you see why we cannot BLOCK the THREAT by moving the Pawn from f7 to f5? We can also DEFEND against a THREAT by MOVING another piece so that, if our opponent captures our piece we can take him back. How many different ways can you find for Black to DEFEND the Pawn on e5? He can DEFEND by moving his Knight from b8 to c6. He can DEFEND by moving his Bishop from f8 to d6. He can DEFEND by moving his Queen from d8 to either e7 or f6. He can DEFEND by moving his Pawn from d7 to d6. But he CANNOT defend by moving his Pawn from f7 to f6! Do you see why? Because it will leave him in CHECK from the Queen on h5. We say that the Pawn on f7 is PINNED. So - lots of ways for Black to DEFEND. You'll learn more in the next lesson about how to choose between these moves. For the moment, we'll tell you that the Knight move from b8 to c6 is best, so play that move on your board. Do you remember what White played here in the last lesson? He moved his Bishop from f1 to c4, so we'll play that move and stop and look at the position. It's always a good idea to STOP and LOOK at your opponent's last move before you do anything. So take a close look at White's Bishop on c4? Why did White play this move? Is there a THREAT? The Bishop is ATTACKING the Pawn on f7 which is DEFENDED by the King. But hang on a minute, the Queen is also ATTACKING the Pawn on f7. So, how many White pieces are ATTACKING the Pawn on f7? Two! And how many Black pieces are DEFENDING the Pawn on f7? Only one! So we need to do something about it. If you remember the last lesson Black played his Knight from g8 to f6 here, and White's Queen CAPTURED the Pawn on f7, which was CHECKMATE! What can we do about it? Can we MOVE the Pawn? NO - it's PINNED! Can we CAPTURE either of the ATTACKING pieces, Sadly, NO! Can we BLOCK either of the ATTACKING pieces? Yes - we can move our Pawn from g7 to g6, to BLOCK - and THREATEN - the Queen. This is a good move. Or we can BLOCK and THREATEN the Bishop by moving our Pawn from d7 to d5. Is this move safe? No: White can CAPTURE it: he has TWO pieces ATTACKING d5 and Black has only ONE piece DEFENDING it. Can we DEFEND the Pawn on f7? Yes: there are several moves. We could move the Queen from d8 to either e7 or f6. We could also move the Knight from g8 to h6 (which, as it happens, isn't a good move). If Black plays any of these moves, he will be able to RECAPTURE should White CAPTURE on f7. There you are: that's how to stop SCHOLAR'S MATE. Make sure you remember it! Sometimes White tries for SCHOLAR'S MATE a different way. Set the pieces up and start again. White moves his Pawn from e2 to e4 and Black moves his Pawn from e7 to e5. This time White moves his Bishop from f1 to c4, giving our next diagram. If you reach this position with Black I would recommend you to play your Knight from g8 to f6. Now if White moves his Queen to h5, what would you do? You'd take it, of course! And if White tries to ATTACK f7 in a different direction, by moving his Queen to f3, you're still safe as long as you keep your Knight on f6. But there's also nothing wrong with copying White and moving your Bishop from f8 to c5. Now suppose White moves his Queen from d1 to h5. Stop and think of a move for Black here? Remember to look carefully at White's last move. The White Queen is ATTACKING the Pawn on h7? Is it a THREAT? NO! The White Queen is also ATTACKING the Pawn on e5? Is it a THREAT? YES! The White Queen is also ATTACKING the Pawn on f7? It is a THREAT? YES! - it's a THREAT of CHECKMATE. So, White's Queen is making TWO THREATS at the same time. A move like this, where one piece makes TWO OR MORE THREATS at the same time is called a FORK! Can we find a move which DEFENDS both e5 and f7 at once? Yes - there are two to choose from. Black can move his Queen to either e7 or f6, so the FORK was not dangerous. But suppose Black was foolish enough to move his Pawn from g7 to g6. Then, the White Queen would be able to CAPTURE the Pawn on e5, CHECKING Black and THREATENING the Rook on h8 at the same time. Another FORK, and this time Black has no way out. Next move White will take the Rook in the corner. Our HELPFUL HINTS for this lesson: 1. When your opponent makes a move, STOP and LOOK for his THREATS. 2. Look for moves you can play which make a THREAT. You might, for example, THREATEN MATE, THREATEN your opponent's Queen, or play a FORK THREATENING two or more pieces at once. |
XABCDEFGHY 8rsnlwqkvlntr( 7zppzpp+pzpp' 6-+-+-+-+& 5+-+-zp-+Q% 4-+-+P+-+$ 3+-+-+-+-# 2PzPPzP-zPPzP" 1tRNvL-mKLsNR! xabcdefghy Black to move XABCDEFGHY 8rsnlwqkvlntr( 7zppzpp+p+p' 6-+-+-+p+& 5+-+-zp-+Q% 4-+-+P+-+$ 3+-+-+-+-# 2PzPPzP-zPPzP" 1tRNvL-mKLsNR! xabcdefghy White to move XABCDEFGHY 8rsnlwqkvlntr( 7zppzpp+p+p' 6-+-+-+p+& 5+-+-wQ-+-% 4-+-+P+-+$ 3+-+-+-+-# 2PzPPzP-zPPzP" 1tRNvL-mKLsNR! xabcdefghy Black to move XABCDEFGHY 8rsnlwqk+ntr( 7zppzppvlp+p' 6-+-+-+p+& 5+-+-wQ-+-% 4-+-+P+-+$ 3+-+-+-+-# 2PzPPzP-zPPzP" 1tRNvL-mKLsNR! xabcdefghy White to move XABCDEFGHY 8rsnlwqkvlntr( 7zppzpp+pzpp' 6-+-+-+-+& 5+-+-zp-+Q% 4-+-+P+-+$ 3+-+-+-+-# 2PzPPzP-zPPzP" 1tRNvL-mKLsNR! xabcdefghy Black to move XABCDEFGHY 8r+lwqkvlntr( 7zppzpp+pzpp' 6-+n+-+-+& 5+-+-zp-+Q% 4-+-+P+-+$ 3+-+-+-+-# 2PzPPzP-zPPzP" 1tRNvL-mKLsNR! xabcdefghy White to move XABCDEFGHY 8r+lwqkvlntr( 7zppzpp+pzpp' 6-+n+-+-+& 5+-+-zp-+Q% 4-+L+P+-+$ 3+-+-+-+-# 2PzPPzP-zPPzP" 1tRNvL-mK-sNR! xabcdefghy Black to move r XABCDEFGHY 8rsnlwqkvlntr( 7zppzpp+pzpp' 6-+-+-+-+& 5+-+-zp-+-% 4-+L+P+-+$ 3+-+-+-+-# 2PzPPzP-zPPzP" 1tRNvLQmK-sNR! xabcdefghy Black to move XABCDEFGHY 8rsnlwqk+ntr( 7zppzpp+pzpp' 6-+-+-+-+& 5+-vl-zp-+Q% 4-+L+P+-+$ 3+-+-+-+-# 2PzPPzP-zPPzP" 1tRNvL-mK-sNR! xabcdefghy Black to move |