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 TacticsI would really appreciate if someone could help me with chess tactics, because that is a point i need to grow very strong in, please help me, I'd really really appreciate it! Thanks, Ardin |
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dungeonking 15-Nov-09, 13:25 |
Tactics |
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Ok Tactics - That Position is more important then the tactics. - That tactics played are a result of the position. - That the tactic is to play the position to out position the opponent so he cant use tactics So learn to play positional first before you learn the tactics. if you learn the first the second will emerge. The Big tip: Do not run forward guns blazing trying to blow your opponent out of the water. But relax sit back and look for ways to improve your position. |
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Ok |
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just get chessmaster (you can download it) |
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dungeonking 17-Nov-09, 13:48 |
I agree |
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Another suggestion - The slight downside is that they are all mating attacks, and not all tactics have to do with checkmating the King. But don't let that stop you. Building up a kind of repertoire of mating combinations can lead to the discovery of combinations that, whilst threatening to deliver mate, will induce your opponent into some other weakening concession in order to avoid mate. Possibly the likeliest example is one you may know already: Philidor's mate. w The relevant things to note are White's Q and N; and Black's K stuck behind the pawns in the corner. Fortunately, f7 is unprotected. That White's Q is under attack and Black's material edge give a kind of urgency to the situation. 1.Nf7+ Kg8 So far, so forced. What now? White needs another forcing move, and here it is: 2.Nh6++ ... Double check: the K must move. But not to f8! 2...Kf8 3.Qf7#. 2...Kh8 What has changed? Only the position of the N. That it can now reach f7 and g8 both is the critical point of the plot so far. 3.Qg8+!! ... How crazy is this?? 3... Rxg8 Forced 4.Nf7# This whole sequence is absolutely forced. Black cannot avoid the mate. Now, you won't get too many mates with this sort of thing, but you will surprised how often the idea presents itself. Sometimes a rook might be defendingg the f7 (or f2) square, but the threat of mate will force the win of the exchange. Or the h-pawn might have advanced, leading to interesting other features being called in. An example of this comes from a Blitz game I played nearly a year after I joined Gameknot. My very strong opponent (2200+ rating) had earlier got a strong attack against my K but then slipped and dropped a piece. Eventually this position arrived with Black (me) to play: b How would knowing the Philidor mate help win here? First off, the h-pawn has moved 2 squares forward, there can't be any question of trapping the K, surely? Well, there is another little tactical feature that answers that question: 1...g3+ And now Black dared not advance to h3 owing to 2.Kh3 Qf5#. So it's 'Ho for the back rank.' Which square? 2.Kg1 ... This was White's choice, and it becomes clear that no better is 2.Kh1 Nf2+ and if 3.Rxf2 gxf2 threaten mate on g2 and/or promotion (or worse) at e1 and f1. So 3.Kg1 Nxd1 and at the very best, White will be a whole rook short in the endgame. Black could try 3...Nh3+ in this line with the idea 4.gxh3 Qe3+ 5.Kh1 (5.Kg2 Qe2+) 5...g2+ 6.Kh2 gxf2=N+ 7.Rxf1 Qg3+ 8.Kh1 Qg2#. But White would spoil that and go back to 4.Kh1 whereupon Black will probably have to retract: 4...Nf2+ 5.Kg1 Nxd1 etc. 2...Qd4+ 3.Kh1 ... Niow the elements of the Philidor mate have been set up, with just the slight problem of the rook defending f2. But complicating that for White is that from d4 (note that I didn't play ...Qe3 for this very reason) the Q has a potential attack on the other rook at d1 that might tend to discourage White from taking the knight at f2. 3...Nf2+ 4.Kg1 ... Unplayable is 4.Rxf2 Qxd1+ 5.Rf1 Qxf1# 4...Nh3+ 5.Kh1 Qg1+ 6.Rxg1 Nf2# Without I recognised the Philidor mate lurking in the diagram position, I would never have found this combination. Cheers, Ion |
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Pin. It is easy to overestimate the power of the pin, as many beginners do who will play a rook-pawn forward one square to prevent a bishop arriving to pin a knight against K or Q. Occasionally such pins really are awkward, but usually they are fairly harmless and soon dealt with. But pins can be deadly. A piece pinned against the King is completely immobilised for the duration of the pin. A pieced pinned against the queen is in almost as dire a situation. In the other thread I mentioned a position I once composed that featured a series of pin and counter pin: b Black to play and win. This is designed for beginners who might not be so familiar with the concept. Black plays 1...Bc5 and pins the Knight against the King. The Knight can not move, nor has White any direct way to defend it. Nor can the bishop be taken. Does that mean he must lose a piece then? Well, there is one defence, immobilise the Bishop: 2.Rc1 ... Suddenly it is Black who has to apprehend the loss of a piece as the rook can't be taken, the bishop can not be defended (2...Rc3?? 3.Rxc3), nor may it move. {Just as aside here, some players will ask, why can the bishop not take the knight, as it will be giving check. The reason is that in making the move, Black will be exposing his own King to check, which is illegal under the rules. Look at it this way. Supposing the game allowed taking Kings - as you do in Blitz games. Then after 2...Bxd4+ 3.Rxc8 would win for White. Even though White's King is in check, Black's was exposed to check first, by the bishop's moving. You would surprised how often beginners make this mistake} At any rate, has White turned the tables on Black? Not... quite! Black still has a shot in his ammo pouch: 2...Ra1!! That's not a pin, I hear the cry. Actually it is, although not such as to deprive White of all mobility even though the pin is against the King. This sort of thing is often called a half-pin, and even half-pins can be lethal. The rook may not leave the rank, but it can move along it, even take the pinning piece: 3.Rxa1 And now comes the crusher. Black had lured the WR onto a1 for a purpose: 3...Bxd4+ a fork. 4.Kf1 Bxa1 and wins: 5.Ke1 a3 6.Kd1 a2 7.Kc2 Bd4 8.Kb3 a1=Q etc. Cheers, Ion |
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Nice :) |
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dungeonking 19-Nov-09, 08:04 |
Good job ion! |
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kendo-ka... Now Endgame Studies are like puzzles, but they are not the same as the White to play and mate in x moves that appear when you sign on to this site. Rather, from the given position you are to establish beyond doubt that it is a draw or win. Here is a simple example (simple in the sense there is hardly anything on the board) that I posted in the other thread. It is a Study by Richard Reti. w White to play and draw. It is clear that White ain't going to win this. Black will snap up the pawn v. soon, end of story. The thing is, how on earth is White to draw this? Black's King is within easy reach of White's pawn, but if White's king even twitches towards the Black pawn, off he runs, straight for h1 and promotion. Clearly moving the pawn is completely useless (1.c7 Kb7 etc), so: 1.Kg7! Making the best of his chances, moving closer to BOTH pawns. 1...h4 2.Kf6 ... Now Black has to choose: run with his own pawn, or go after the White pawn? [A] 2...h3 3.Ke6 h2 4.c7 Kb7 5.Kd7 h1=Q 6.c8=Q+ with a dead level position; [B] 2...Kb6 3.Ke5! and now if 3...Kxc6 4.Kf4 reels in the h-pawn, else 3...h3 4.Kd6 and White shepherds home his pawn whilst Black promotes his, as in [A]. At any rate, I think it might be best to keep this thread as it began, about tactics, and begin a new one (unless there's one already begun), about endgames. |
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Short range tactics Consider this position: w White to play, finds he has two pieces attacking Black's d-pawn. However, he dare not take with the rook as 1.Rxd6 Bxd6 2.Nxd6 and Black, material ahead, has the advantage. (OK, this is elementary, but these things are often worth considering, because, just very occasionally, the 'wrong' move order proves a game-winner). Very well: let's try 1.Nxd6 Bxd6 2.Rxd6. White wins a pawn and has all the winning chances going. End of story... isn't it? No. Always consider the possibility that your opponent will do something different from what you anticipate. 1.Nxd6?? Rd8! Suddenly White discovers his knight attacked twice and defended once. No further defence is possible, but nor can the knight move away on account of 2.Nf5 (say, attacking the e7-bishop) 2...Rxd1+ and Black is well on the way to winning (some more tactics: 3.Kg2 Bg5 (exploiting the pin on the c1-bishop) 4.e3 Rc8 and White will lose even more material. Such are the dire consequences of an injudicious capture. Before leaving this position, what should White play then? At the moment, Black's d-pawn is lagging. White might try to maintain that situation, before Black's central majority becomes dangerous. 1.Nc3 ,,, prevents the d-pawn's advance for the moment, and later, White will consider bringing the knight in to d5 to blockade this pawn. One of my favorite short range tactics is the double attack - in particular, the double attacks that appear with the unmasking of a 'battery'. Check this out: w White sees that Black's isolated d-pawn is defended by the enemy Queen. Does that mean he ought not take it with his knight? After all there is no White piece available to defend the knight after the capture! In fact the d-pawn is free for White to take: 1.Nxd4! Actually, you will probably see that this position is more complicated than first meets the eye. The knight's move has 'unmasked' an attack on the knight at c5, but also an attack on his own b-pawn by the bishop at f6. But Black sees that the knight is 'undefended', and if 1...Qxd5, the c5-knight will be protected. So: 1...Qxd5?? 2.Bxh7+! ... What?? White has 'unmasked' his real battery: the attack on the loose Black Queen, and Black can't do a blind thing about it. He has to deal with the check first, so the Q is lost: 2...Kxh7 3.Qxd5 White wins. Instead, Black could have had a good game by 1.Nxd4 Nxd3 2.Qxd3 Bxb2 etc. The fork is another double attack tactic that can have devastating results. All beginners understand the potential for knight forks at c2/c7 and f2/f7. But any piece - even a pawn - can fork. Here's an old club game that features interesting forks. I had the White pieces... The game began: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Bc5 4.d4!? exd4 5.Nd5 Nf6 6.Bg5 0-0 7.Bd3 Bb4+?! 8.c3 dxc3 9.bxc3 Ba5 Maintaining the pin on the c-pawn. 10.0-0 Re8 11.Re1 Ne5 White's development has been very rapid, and the pressure on Black's game very strong. Black tries for exchanges to relieve some of the tension. But hasn't he overlooked something? 12.Nxe5 Rxe5 13.f4! ... Now Black is faced with 14.e5 when the rook retreats, picking up the pinned bishop at f6. But Black had a combination in mind. 13...Rxg5! 14.fxg5 Nxd5 15.exd5 Bxc3 w At this point I glanced up at my opponent, and saw the faint grin of satisfaction at realising 'the point' of his combination: the fork at its conclusion of his imaginative sequence of moves. It doesn't look so good for White, does it? But Black had overlooked something - or maybe just hoped I wouldn't see it: 16.Bxh7+! This must have come as a shock. Black decided retaking was best, 16...Kxh7 17.Qd3+ ... The counter-fork. 17...g6?! 18.Qxc3 d6 19.Qf6+ Another fork, in a very real sense, though its effect is to invite the exchange of the forking piece, after which I really fancied my chances in the ensuing ending. But Black declined to exchange! 19...Bf5? 20.Re7 Kg8?? 21.Qf7+ 1-0. Black was obviously shell-shocked after 16.Bxh7+ and just fell apart. Suppose Black hadn't taken the bishop, playing 16...Kh8 or ...Kf8 instead? That will be the topic for another posting. This one's long enough... |
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A bit confused. 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Bc5 4. d4 exd4 5. Nd5 Nf6 6. Bg5 O-O 7. Bd3 Bb4+ 8. c3 dxc3 9. bxc3 Ba5 10. O-O Re8 11. Re1 Ne5 12. Nxe5 Rxe5 13. f4 Rxg5 14. fxg5 Nxd5 15. exd5 Bxc3 16. Bxh7+ Kxh7 17. Qd3+ g6 18. Qxc3 d6 |
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short range tactics |
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I do check these diagrams... Thanks for the clarification, kendo-ra. Yes, 19.Qf6 is a fork (doible attack). The move attacks both the unprotected f-pawn and the (unprotected) Queen on d8. Sure, the latter can take the forking piece. That, I would have welcomed as in my view the endgame was very favorable to White: 19.Qf6 Qxf6!? 20.gxf6 Bf5 (say) 21.Re7 (another fork: two pawns attacked on the 7th rank). Cheers, Ion |
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