Tactics are the exciting, brain-crunching moves that can quickly decide the outcome of a game. These are moves (or a move) that bring about some kind of advantage – such as winning a piece or getting a checkmate. Think of it as a clever trick or strategy that catches your opponent off-guard.

Tactics can also be seen as patterns. With the evolution of chess, we have come to name these patterns which allow our brains to work on them individually so that we can immediately recognize them in our games. Some of the most essential tactics for beginners to know are: pins, forks, skewers, discovered attacks, double checks, and basic checkmates such as in one or two moves.

Let’s take a closer look at each kind of tactic:

• Basic Tactics
  • Hanging Pieces
  • Forks
  • Pins
  • Skewers
  • Discovered Attack
  • Double Check
  • Mate in 1 & 2
• Tactics Books for Beginners
  • Everyone’s First Chess Workbook by Peter Giannatos
  • Winning Chess Tactics by Yasser Seirawan
  • 1001 Chess Exercises for Beginners by Franco Masetti and Roberto Messa
  • CCT for Kids & Club Players – Level 1 by Romain Edouard
  • Simple Attacking Plans by Fred Wilson

Basic Chess Tactics

Hanging Pieces

This is not usually classified as a tactic, but I think that it is an important concept to understand as it enables most tactics.

A hanging piece is a piece that is either:

1. Undefended
2. Defended but is attacked by a less valuable piece
3. Defended, but has more pieces attacking it than it has defending it

Undefended Hanging Piece

Defended but More Valuable Hanging Piece

Underdefended Hanging Piece

In chess, hanging pieces can be the key to the best move in the position. When your opponent has a hanging piece (or more) on the board, you can look for ways to attack it, and the best way to do so is with a tactic!

Forks

The most common double attack where you use one piece to execute two or more attacks at the same time.

This means that you have a piece (such as a Knight) that attacks two (or more) pieces at the same time allowing you to win one of these pieces. However, it is not always about the pieces – you can also fork a piece and a checkmate square.

Forking Two Pieces

Forking a Piece and Checkmate

Pins

A pin is a move that immobilizes an opponent’s piece.

When you pin a piece, you stop it from moving as there is a more valuable piece “behind” it. This can be a king, which is called an absolute pin, or it can be any other piece of higher value, making it a relative pin.

Absolute Pin

The Knight can absolutely not move because the King is behind it.

Relative Pin

The Knight can move, but should not move as the Rook, which is more valuable, is behind it.

Pins are used to gain material, but moreover, they create pressure. Think of it as essentially freezing your opponent’s piece, and because the piece is frozen, it can’t do things like defend other pieces or move to safety. After understanding the basics of pins, you will also need to understand how to take advantage of pinned pieces.

Skewers

Similar to a pin but with a more valuable piece in front.

Think of it as an inverse pin – but this time, the piece that is directly attacked should move as it is more valuable.

Discovered Attacks

Moving a piece to reveal an attack by another piece.

This is like a surprise attack, and can be very dangerous as the moving piece can be executing its own attack, which paired with the attack from the discovered piece, makes it another type of double attack.

P.S: Think of a “Double Attack” as an umbrella term for any move that creates two or more attacks at the same time.

After 1.Nf6+, White employs a discovered attack as by the Knight moving, it discovers an attack from the Rook onto the Queen. At the same time, the Knight attacks the black King with a check.

Double Checks

Checking the opponent’s king with two pieces simultaneously.

I like to think of this as the most forcing move in chess.

And many more! But don’t be daunted; the key is to start with understanding these basics before diving deeper.

The Knight has just moved from e4, unleashing a double check on the white King.

Mate in One and Two

Quick checkmates are essential to tactics training, and are all about escape squares – look at where your opponent’s king can escape to, make sure it is covered, and then checkmate!

Mate in One

Often, basic tactics are also used to checkmate. Look at this example using a pin:

White plays 1.Rg1 checkmate, as the Knight can’t capture because it is pinned.

Chess Books for Beginners: Tactics Books

Practice makes perfect when it comes to tactics. It is one thing to know what the different concepts are, and it is another to be able to use them in games and recognize the patterns. To do this, you need to regularly solve tactical puzzles covering all themes.

Here is a suggestion list of books for beginners that explain tactical concepts, and also provide more than enough exercises for each theme:

Everyone’s First Chess Workbook

As the name suggests, this workbook is a must-have for any beginner. It offers a comprehensive introduction to tactics, covering all the foundational themes. Exercises start off as “guided practices” which means that you are nudged in the direction of the solution so that you know what to look for. Thereafter, test positions are given to apply your skills.

Book Examples

HINT: Use a Knight fork to win a rook

HINT: The Queen on g3 has its eyes on the black Queen on d6. Give away your Knight to win the queen.

Table of Contents

Winning Chess Tactics

Dive into the tactics with Seirawan as your guide. His methodical approach ensures a clear understanding of key tactics that pave the way to winning. The book covers all basic and intermediate tactics, but takes it a step further by showcasing “Great Tacticians and Their Games.” From Paul Morphy to Garry Kasparov, take a look at how some of the greatest players implemented these tactics in their games. The final chapter consists of test positions, ranging in difficulty.

Book Examples

White is down an exchange. Find two ways they can win back the exchange.

White to play. (Look at what is “hanging”.)

Table of Contents

1001 Chess Exercises for Beginners

Practice makes perfect! With over a thousand exercises, this book gives you plenty of tactical exercises. All the basics are covered with dedicated chapters, and the beginning of each chapter presents a few example positions so that the reader can understand the concept and see how it is executed in a position. Each position is also titled, giving a (sometimes very subliminal) clue to the solution, or what the reader should be looking for.

Book Examples

White to move. Can you utilize the pin?

Black is pinning your Queen. Is this over or does White have something up their sleeve to save the day?

Table of Contents

CCT for Kids & Club Players – Level 1

A perfect starting point, this book introduces tactics in a fun, engaging manner, suitable for kids and club players alike. The content is mostly based on checkmates and learning to trap your opponent’s king.

Book Examples

I like the idea of having to look for a check and then checkmate, it makes the reader carefully look at the whole board for checks.

Table of Contents

Simple Attacking Plans

Apply your knowledge of tactics and learn how to launch straightforward yet effective attacks. Through game examples, Wilson beautifully illustrates how a solid understanding of tactics can lead to successful attacking strategies. This book serves as a practical approach to learning tactics, and helps you know what to look for.

Book Example

Table of Contents

Have any questions, or opening suggestions? Let us know in the comments!

Puzzle Solutions

Everyone’s First Chess Workbook

Exercise 1: 1.Nf5+! forking the Rook and King

Exercise 2: 1.Ng6+! with a discovered attack on the Queen.

Winning Chess Tactics

Exercise 3: 1.Be8 winning one of the rooks

Exercise 4: 1.Bh7+ giving up the Bishop for a discovered attack on the black Queen.

1001 Chess Exercises for Beginners

Exercise 5: 1.Nd5+ forking the King and the Rook. Black cannot capture the Knight as the c-pawn is pinned.

Exercise 6: 1.Rg1! Pinning the Black Bishop back!

CCT for Kids & Club Players – Level 1

Exercise 7: Mate in 2

What does the Woodpecker Method mean?

The term “Woodpecker Method” is based on the rhythmic pecking of woodpeckers. Just as a woodpecker repetitively strikes the same spot, this method entails repetitive solving of the same set of chess problems until patterns are deeply ingrained in the player’s memory.

However, the name also has a more personal meaning for the authors, and stated in their introduction:

The Core Principle of the Woodpecker Method

The primary essence of the Woodpecker Method lies in its cyclical nature. Instead of solving countless new puzzles every day, players work through a set selection of problems multiple times. By doing so, they internalize the patterns, tactics, and strategies within these puzzles, gradually reducing the time needed to solve them. The method is based on three “cycles”:

1. Initial Cycle: Players start by solving a set of chess problems, marking the time taken for each one. This initial round is more about understanding the puzzle and less about speed.
2. Subsequent Cycles: Once the set is complete, players begin again, attempting to solve the puzzles more quickly than in the initial cycle. The goal is to recognize patterns faster and increase calculation speed.
3. Final Cycle: By the time players reach their last cycle, they should be able to solve the puzzles significantly faster than their first attempt, demonstrating a deep internalization of the patterns.

The book gives the reader three difficulty levels; easy, intermediate, and advanced exercises. This means that no matter your level, there is something for you, and moreover, you can aim to “climb” up and progress to the advanced level.

Woodpecker Method Exercise Examples

Let’s take a look at example exercises from each level:

Easy Exercises

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Intermediate Exercises

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Advanced Exercises

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Benefits of the Woodpecker Method & Expected Results

Pattern Recognition: Regular exposure to the same set of problems reinforces the patterns and tactical motifs in a player’s mind. Over time, these patterns become second nature, allowing for quicker recognition during actual games.

Enhanced Calculation Skills: As players work through the puzzles repetitively, they begin to calculate variations faster and with more accuracy.

Focus on Quality: Instead of jumping from one random puzzle to the next, players focus on a select set, ensuring quality over quantity in their training.

The authors exemplify the achievable results from using the Woodpecker method; Hans Tikkanen trained with the method in the Spring of 2010 and achieved three GM norms as well as +2500 rating that Summer! He elaborates on his successful training with the following:

Such quick results from any type of chess training are rare in my experience, but for me the Woodpecker Method seemed to be just what the doctor ordered! The increased tactical acuity and consistency that came from working so hard with the method significantly decreased my blunders and made me more confident at the board.
Would I have made the same improvement with some other type of training? It’s not impossible – but my playing strength had not taken any significant leap in years, so I had been at a loss as to what to do differently to succeed. Although the Woodpecker Method probably wasn’t the only way for me to raise my play, it certainly proved to be a way.

Just with any training method, the secret ingredient will always be consistency, and the Woodpecker Method’s foundation lies on just that.

Implementing the Method

For those intrigued by the Woodpecker Method, starting is straightforward. Smith and Tikkanen’s book provides over 1000 puzzles, all carefully selected for this approach. However, players can also compile their own set of puzzles The key is consistency in revisiting the same set of problems and continually striving to improve speed and accuracy.

Ultimately, the Woodpecker Method by Axel Smith and Hans Tikkanen offers a fresh perspective on chess training. By emphasizing repetition, pattern recognition, and quality of practice, it presents a systematic approach to enhancing one’s skills. While not every method works equally well for every player, the Woodpecker Method is certainly worth a try for those looking to take their game to the next level.

Take a look at the wide range of tactics books available on Forward Chess. Happy solving!

Exercise Solutions

Easy 1:

Easy 2:

Easy 3:

Intermediate 1:

Intermediate 2:

Intermediate 3:

Advanced 1:

Advanced 2:

Advanced 3:

1. The Importance of Tactics in Chess
2. Beginner’s Delight – Easy Puzzles
3. Intermediate Intrigue – Medium Difficulty Puzzles
4. Master’s Challenge – Difficult Puzzles
5. Benefits of Regular Tactical Training
6. Solutions

The Importance of Tactics in Chess

Every chess player, whether a beginner or a grandmaster, knows that tactics are the heartbeat of the game. They’re those moments when you spot an opportunity, lay a trap, or unveil a hidden attack. Understanding and mastering tactics not only sharpens your skills but also boosts your confidence on the board.

Beginner’s Delight

Easy Puzzles: For those just starting out or needing a warm-up, we begin with some delightful, yet simpler tactical challenges.

Puzzle 1

In this first puzzle, there are two major things to take note of; firstly, the position of the black king who is stuck in the corner, with only one escape square (g8) because of our menacing dark-squared bishop. Secondly, there is a lot of tension on the board – the queens are facing off and the black queen is pinned and cannot move off of the a1-h8 diagonal. How can White take advantage of this?

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Puzzle 2

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Black must calculate if the knight on e2 can be captured. Remember, it takes two to tango in chess – you always need to consider your opponent’s (best) responses. In this case, what will happen if White responds by capturing our “freebie” bishop?

Puzzle 3

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Let’s understand this position a little better: White is a pawn down but has much better piece activity. In fact, Black’s pieces are all pretty much passive except for the lone queen doing her own thing on the second rank. Sometimes having an opponent’s queen impose on our position like this can be a little scary, but let’s flip the script: Is the queen a dangerous threat or is she actually surrounded by our pieces and in danger of being trapped?

White to play and find the move that immobilizes the black queen by taking all of her escape squares away.

Puzzle 4

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Removing the Defender is a tactical theme that comes up in a lot of chess puzzles. Step 1: Look at what you are attacking and what you want to achieve. Step 2: Look at how your opponent is defending this piece or threat. Step 3: Remove the defender! (using a little force if necessary)

Intermediate Intrigue

Medium Difficulty Puzzles: Stepping up the ladder, we have puzzles that require a tad more foresight and deeper calculations.

Puzzle 5

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There is chaos on the board! Take note of the hanging black queen and the white forces that are aimed at the black king.

Puzzle 6

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A key idea to remember when solving tactics is that sometimes there is a necessity to open up lines (ranks, files, diagonals) and more often than not, this is done explosively!

Puzzle 7

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This might be a tiny explosion…

Puzzle 8

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The power of a queen and bishop pair should not be underestimated!

Puzzle 9

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It looks like White is a million pawns up, but Black’s e3-pawn is a force to be reckoned with. White only has one way to save this position and maintain equality.

Master’s Challenge

Difficult Puzzles: For the audacious among you, we present puzzles of a higher pedigree. These are the ones that have stumped many a seasoned player and require intricate combinations and deep insights. Are you up for the challenge?

Puzzle 10

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The first move might seem obvious to tactical aficionados, but it is what comes next (and what Alekhine missed) that is the real beauty.

Puzzle 11

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What does your instinct tell you?

Puzzle 12

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At first glance, this might seem like there should be an easy solution here – the black king is alienated on the kingside after all. However, things are not as simple as Black will always look for counterattacking chances. White has one insane idea for the advantage – warning: this requires some mega-brain thinking.

Puzzle 13

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This final one is quite a tricky one. Black is ready to go for the white king, but White is ready to retaliate and has the advantage of open lines. What can you do about that?

Benefits of Regular Tactical Training

Consistent tactical training doesn’t just make you better at solving puzzles—it shapes your intuition, helps you spot patterns quickly in real games, and can even improve your concentration and patience. As the saying goes, “Tactics is knowing what to do when there is something to do; strategy is knowing what to do when there is nothing to do.”

We hope these puzzles have tickled your brain and stirred your passion for the beautiful game of chess. Remember, as with anything, practice makes perfect. Dive into the vast collection of books at Forward Chess to continue sharpening your tactical mind. Happy puzzling!

Solutions

Puzzle 1

The Power of Tactics Vol 1 (Exercise 1.1)

Puzzle 2

The Power of Tactics Vol 1 (Exercise 134)

Puzzle 3

The Power of Tactics Vol 1 (Exercise 2.6)

Puzzle 4

1001 Chess Exercises for Club Players (1)

Puzzle 5

1001 Chess Exercises for Club Players (850)

Puzzle 6

The Woodpecker Method (451)

Puzzle 7

The Woodpecker Method (230)

Puzzle 8

Think Like a Super GM (2)

Puzzle 9

Think Like a Super GM (20)

Puzzle 10

The Woodpecker Method (1004)

Puzzle 11

The Woodpecker Method (985)

Puzzle 12

Chess Tests (Tasty Tactics 1)

Puzzle 13

Chess Tests (Attack 1)

When I think about multitasking in the Chess context, I find that giving multiple responsibilities to a piece is not always advantageous to us. Let’s admit it. Bishops and Rooks are not as good as humans when it comes to multitasking. Or even their royal highness, the Queen; Or their guards, the fearsome knights. In this blog, we’ll review a simple Chess Tactics concept called “Overloaded Pieces” and how we can exploit this to our advantage.

Identifying over-worked or overloaded pieces: Identifying pieces that are doing too many things is the first step to imagining a possible combination. Take the below position for example. Can you identify the overloaded piece?

In the above position, the black queen on e7 prevents the checkmate by controlling the f6 square and also protects the bishop on a3. This leads to a simple tactic Rxa3.

In the below position, Nd7 and Qh7 are two potential threats that are prevented by a single piece – The knight on f6. The overburdened knight easily breaks with the move Nd7!

The above positions are handpicked from the chapter “Crucial Defender/Overloaded defender” in the book “Chess Tactics Antenna” by Emmanuel Neiman.

The Fischer game example is from the chapter “Overloading” in the book “Chess Tactics from Scratch” by Martin Weteschnik.

Zwischenzug or Intermediate move simply means delivering an unexpected move in a series of otherwise forced sequence of moves, changing the outcome of the game.

Answers to the above positions in case you haven’t figured out yet:

Position 1:

Two of my favorite books that cover the concept of Zwischenzug are Forcing Chess Moves by Charles Hertan and Invisible Chess Moves by Yochanan Afek & Emmanuel Neiman.

Below are a few examples from each of the books. Happy solving!

(Click the image above to open a free sample of the book)

Exercise 1: Clue: h7 can be a potential target. Don’t worry about your a3 Bishop.

Exercise 2: Clue: f7 and c5 are critical points with one attacker and one defender each.

Exercise 3:White to play and win material. Simple answer.

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(Click the image above to open a free sample of the book)

Exercise 4: Black just played Rg6 hoping for an easy win. White crushes black’s hope and draws the game with a simple intermediate move.

Exercise 5: Qg7 check doesn’t seem to help much. But White managed to find an intermediate game that changed the fate of the game.

Thank you for reading! Has an intermediate move ever happened in your game? Feel free to share the positions from your games. We’ll be happy to check them out and add the creative ones to the end of this blog as an update.

Until next time,

Arun

Puzzle 2:

Let’s take an example. White to play and checkmate in two moves using a queen sacrifice! Don’t worry, you can move the pieces on the board.

Sacrificing takes courage, but sacrificing in a situation where you cannot fully calculate to the end takes more than courage – it takes an iron will!

It’s like firing away your last bullet against an invisible enemy hiding in a dark corner on a foggy chessboard, or walking on the thin blade of a sharp sword. One slip and you’ll be ripped to pieces.

Chess history is littered with thousands of sacrifices gone wrong, And yet, we continue to see such beautiful sacrifices that are perfectly wrapped up and finished with a win! These are the bravest sacrifices we can ever see in chess. To illustrate this, We will start with a not-so-famous example, from the games of our favorite chess commentator Grandmaster Maurice Ashley.

“I do not know from what associations the hippopotamus got into the chess board, but although the spectators were convinced that I was continuing to study the position, I, despite my humanitarian education, was trying at this time to work out: just how WOULD you drag a hippopotamus out of the marsh? I remember how jacks figured in my thoughts, as well as levers, helicopters, and even a rope ladder. After a lengthy consideration I admitted defeat as an engineer, and thought spitefully to myself: “Well, just let it drown!” And suddenly the hippopotamus disappeared. Went right off the chessboard just as he had come on… of his own accord! And straightaway the position did not appear to be so complicated.”

~ Mikhail Tal

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Book recommendations:

The Art of Sacrifice in Chess by Austrian Grandmaster Rudolf Spielmann. [View Book Sample]

2. Sacrifice and Initiative in Chess by Grandmaster Ivan Sokolov. [View Book Sample]

Breaking down the Chess combination soup! 

Take a minute to think about the position below. What do you notice? Are you able to spot the tactical ideas that are hidden inside the position?

There are three tactical ideas hiding in the combination above – A Pin, a deflection and a double attack,

A Pin is when a piece cannot move away without exposing a more valuable piece to an attack. In the given example, based on the alignment of pieces, it is possible to imagine a pin in the following way.

 Double Attack: A double attack is said to happen when an enemy pieces attack two targets or create two threats at the same time.

Deflection: Forcing an enemy piece to leave its defending position thereby leaving a target vulnerable.

Answer:

Before we jump into more action, let’s review one more tactical idea – The Decoy.

Decoy: Let’s quickly grab one more veggie for our soup – the decoy! Decoy originally means the toy duck (Or pigeons) used by hunters to attract other ducks.

[Notice what’s wrong with this duck?]

In Chess terms, it denotes the sacrifice of some piece or pawn in order to bring a piece of larger value (King or Queen) into a trap (Checkmate or Loss of material).

Here’s a quick example:

Exercises: It’s your turn now! Time for solving

PIN + DECOY:

DECOY + FORK (Double attack by a knight):

DECOY + DEFLECTION:

Improve Your Chess Tactics by Yakov Neishtadt  ( New In Chess) is a fantastic book to study Tactics based on the different ideas and their combinations.

Thank you for reading! If you like this blog, feel free to share your comments below or share this blog with your friends.

Until next time,

Arun, from Team Forward Chess.