Discovered attack & skewer
The discovered attack is a strong weapon. Let alone if you combine it with another powerful attacking trick. In this lesson, you'll combine the discovered attack with a skewer.
Do you remember what a skewer is?
A skewer is an attack that goes right through another piece.
Skewers are similar to pins, but just the other way around.
In a pin, the piece of higher value is behind a piece of lesser value.
In a skewer, the more valuable piece is in front of the lesser piece.
If the other player saves the valuable front piece, you can take the back piece.
In the example, you see how a skewer is combined with a discovered attack to create an ultra-smart chess trick.
Chess fact
Another word for skewer is X-ray attack. An X-ray is a machine that can see through things. In an X-ray attack a chess piece sees trough an enemy piece to attack a piece beyond it.
What do you have to do?
Win material by combining a skewer with a discovered attack.
The white knight and the rook are nicely lined-up in a battery.
If White moves the knight out of the way (discovered attack), two things happen:
- the white rook is attacking the black queen
- the white rook is also attacking the black bishop behind the queen (X-ray attack/skewer)
White must keep in mind that the rook on e1 is not defended.
Therefore he moves the knight to g2, frowm where it can guard the rook.
Black saves his queen (for example with Qe4-c2) and White wins the bishop: Re1xe7.
Could White have moved the knight to c2 as well?
No, because then the queen can take the knight and White does not win material.
