Threaten & attack (1)
Sometimes you have a nice attack. You threaten to capture. But this seems to be of no use because your opponent also attacks one of your pieces. Well, too bad... or is it?
Sometimes you can wriggle out of this situation with a smart move.
Just look how that is done in the example.
First you bring your own attacked piece to safety. You move it away in such a way that it immediately attacks an important piece of your opponent. He has to defend this piece first. So he doesn't have time to do anything about your looming attack. When it's your turn again, you can take this piece. You have solved your problem with an attack!
Sounds difficult? Not if you follow these steps in solving the puzzles:
- Find the piece that you can capture;
- Find the piece that your opponent can capture;
- Think of a clever way to save your own piece and attack at the same time;
- Capture the opponent's piece.
If you follow these steps, you will succeed in this exercise. Good luck!
Chess fact
An attack by which you force your opponent to react to what you do is called a ‘tempo move’. Tempo is Italian for time. You take time away from your opponent by letting him do something he would rather not do.
What do you have to do?
Win material by moving an attacked piece to a safe square from where it attacks an enemy piece. After that you can capture an unprotected/valuable enemy piece. Don't forget to use the step-by-step plan.
Both White and Black can capture a piece. Can you spot them?
White can capture the knight. But then Black takes the bishop. An equal exchange, but White wants more!
If White moves away the bishop, the threat (taking the knight) holds and Black can't take the bishop.
White has to do this cleverly.
By playing the bishop to c5, white attacks the queen.
This means that Black has no time move away his threatened knight! He has to save his queen first, because she is way more valuable.
After the black queen has moved away, White captures the knight.
Three points in the pocket!
