Threaten & stop checkmate
It is fun to capture a piece. But it will not get you anywhere if you get checkmated immediately after.
That is what is going on in this lesson: you have a nice threat with an attack on a piece, but your opponent threatens checkmate.
Luckily, it is not checkmate yet. You can still save yourself and even capture a piece in the next move.
You do this by means of in-between move that gives check.
Study the example to see how this works.
Chess fact
The chess term for an in-between move is zwischenzug (that is German for 'in-between move'). This unexpected move is often a check, a zwischenschach (German for in-between check).
What do you have to do?
Defend against mate by counter checking. Then, capture the unprotected/valuable enemy piece.
Follow these steps:
- Find the piece you can capture;
- Figure out how your opponent threatens checkmate;
- Prevent checkmate by an in-between check.
White has a nice threat: he wants to take the unprotected black knight.
Go ahead, Black thinks, for I can checkmate with my queen: Qb5-f1#.
Luckily, White is aware of this danger.
White plays the queen to a1: there she gives check AND guards the mating square f1.
Black now has to do something about the check and therefore has no time to save his knight.
