Defense: capturing

If one of your pieces is under attack, you will want to defend it.
You can defend a piece by moving it or by protecting it.
But there is another way: capturing!

Look at the examples
Example 1: It is White’s turn to move. His bishop is under attack from the black bishop.
White can’t protect his bishop.
Moving away is not an option either. Look at the red squares: the bishop has nowhere safe to flee to.
What can White do?
The white bishop takes the black bishop!
Black recapures with a pawn. That’s okay.
White was to lose his bishop anyway. Now at least, he trades it for the black bishop.

Example 2: The black knight threatens the white queen.
The queen can’t jump like a knight. So she cannot take the knight herself.
Moving away doesn’t offer her safety either. If she moves, the other knight will take her. White has to save the queen with another piece. The white bishop captures the knight!

To sum up, there are two ways to defend by capturing.
You take the attacker with the piece that is under attack.
Or you use another piece to capture the attacker.

What do you have to do?
Defend a piece by capturing.
Think about which piece to use for taking.