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Threaten & attack (3)

If both players can capture pieces, you need to be clever. You should come up with a plan that allows you to capture, but not your opponent. How? With a smart additional attack!

In one move, you defend your piece AND attack a second enemy piece… one that is even more valuable than the piece you are already threatening.
Your opponent doesn't have time to save both pieces and defends his strongest piece.
You can then take the other piece.

You have already practiced this with two defensive techniques: by moving away and attacking in the same move and by a counter-attack that blocks a threat.

In this lesson you will use another defensive move to place an attack: protecting your piece.

Take a look at the example to see how this works.

 

Use the step-by-step plan you already know:

  1. Find the piece that you can capture;
  2. Find the piece that your opponent can capture;
  3. Create a clever way to save your own piece and attack at the same time;
  4. Capture the opponent's piece.

 

What do you have to do?

Win material by combining protecting and attacking in one move. Then capture the unprotected/valuable enemy piece.


White and Black can both take a piece. First see if you can find them. Did you succeed?

White wants to capture the knight. But that doesn't make sense yet: his own bishop can also be taken. (Chess players say 'the bishop is hanging'). 

Moving the bishop doesn't help. White can't counter-attack the bishop, so Black has time to save his knight. 

Yet there is a solution!
White moves his king to d3 (Kd2-d3) and kills three birds with one stone! Do you see which?

  • The king protects the bishop (problem solved);
  • The king attacks the rook;
  • The pawn is still threatening to capture the knight.

Black now has to choose which piece he wants to save: the rook or the knight. Saving them both is not possible.
Of course he chooses the rook, which is worth more points. 

This way, white can take the knight. Nice!