Battery / Alekhine’s GunĪlekhine’s gun is a special case of a battery where two rooks are stacked one behind another and the queen at the rear. Battery / Queen and Bishopĭiagram above: 1.Qxg7# The queen is supported by the bishop on b2. Two rooks can dominate an open rank or file if they manage to form an unopposed battery on it.ĭiagram above: 1.Rd8+ Rxd8 2.Rxd8# The back-up provided by the second rook delivers the checkmate. The queen, of course, can be part of a battery on a rank, file or diagonal. The rooks can form a battery on a rank or file whilst the bishops can be part of a battery on a diagonal. Only queens, rooks and bishops can form a battery. In chess, a battery refers to lining up two or more pieces on the same diagonal, rank or file. The point is that after 1… Kxf6, white will play 2.Bc3+, a skewer that wins the black rook on h8. AttractionĪttraction tactics occur when you lure (or force) an enemy piece onto a square where it will become vulnerable to another tactical ideas:ĭiagram above: 1.Rxf6 attracts the black king to the f6-square. If you want to make an in-depth study of all the tactical ideas I illustrate on this page, then check out my Tactical Patterns Bundle Deal. For the sake of completeness I’ll add examples of all the common terms, even if they are sometimes essentially the same thing as another term. For example: attraction, deflection, decoy and removing the defender can in some situations appear to be the same thing. When you study the examples, you will note that some of the patterns share similar features. The above list of chess tactics is quite long. List of Chess Tacticsįor easy reference the tactical patterns are listed in alphabetical order:
But on this page you will find a fairly comprehensive list of chess tactics, 56 in total, with simplified examples of how they work. Many tactical patterns share similar ideas with other named patterns and because of this overlap it’s difficult to say exactly how many unique tactics exist. Here’s a quick overview of the names of the tactical patterns you will learn about on this page: List of Chess Tactics.
It’s a good idea to review this lesson from time to time in order to reinforce your understanding of all the tactical patterns. On this page you will find a list of 56 tactical ideas (and an example of each).