Defense: smart protection (1)

You already know that you can protect a piece by defending it. You’ve had some good practise with this, so you are probably quite good at it by now.

In this lesson, we will teach you an extra smart way of protecting: by clearance. One piece steps aside in order to clear a file, rank or diagonal.

Now another piece can defend along that file, rank or diagonal. Feeling overwhelmed? Don’t worry. Studying the examples will help you understand.

Example 1 is a simple recap of normal protection.

The fun starts in example 2. This example shows you how clearance is done. White’s knight seems beyond saving. Yet, White does manages to save it, by cleverly clearing a rank.

To sum up, it is possible to protect a piece by playing a third. Pretty smart, huh?

What do you have to do?
Protect your piece by moving a piece out of the way.