Winning Chess Tactics - The Decoy

A decoy in chess is the tactic of forcing a piece, usually a major piece, to move to a square (considered a poisoned square) that it would not normally go to with the use of a sacrifice, in an effort to win material or possibly the game.

Here's a great chess tactic video covering the use of the decoy. It contains several decoy tactics which cover the winning of material in some examples and the winning of the game in others.

Winning Chess Tactics - Alekhine's Defense

The Alekhine's defense has never held the respect that has been given to the Sicilian defense and the Ruy Lopez because most masters feel is it a bit too chancy. The idea is for black to provoke an advance in the center at the expense of a tempo (lost by black's king's knight) giving black targets to attack with the idea that white's center may become overextended and collapse.


If you decide to play the Alekhine's defense, the main thing to remember is that after your knight has been chased around the board, you have to play aggressively and begin to attack center that white has built up or you run the risk of losing due to white's strong control of the center.

Here's a great video that shows some of the basic ideas of the Alekhine's Defense.

Winning Chess Tactics - Benoni Defense

The Benoni defense is a modern opening against white queen pawn openings and is known for it's aggressive, tactical and almost reckless nature. Black obtains active pieces and a queen-side pawn majority at the cost of allowing white to expand.

The Dutch Defense - Stonewall Variation

One of the better fighting defenses that black has at its disposal against 1. d4 is the Dutch Defense.
When white starts the game by playing d4, it is many times signaling that it is looking to play a more positional game than if it began with a move like e4.

Black has an opening like the Sicilian Defense (a variation of it will be discussed in the post below) to try to play a more tactical game against a player beginning the game with e4. And it has a opening like the Dutch Defense to try to play a more tactical game against a player beginning the game with d4.



Here is a video that shows the Stonewall variation of the Dutch Defense.

Sicilian Defense - Najdorf, English Attack

One of the best defenses black has against e4 is the Sicilian defense. It also happens to be one the most complicated and tactical variations of all of the defenses that black could choose. Some of the many variations of this defense are the Najdorf, Dragon, Classical, Scheveningen and the Accelerated dragon variations, just to name a few.

Here is a terrific video that explains the Najdorf variation of Sicilian defense. (The ECO code for the Sicilian Defense Najdorf is B90.)

Winning Chess Tactics Leading To Checkmate

Speaking with many beginner to intermediate level players, I hear the area they want the most help with is chess tactics. One can memorize an opening and study the reasons behind the opening moves but once a players gets into the middle game they are more, "on their own" than they are in the opening. And coming up with a plan or finding winning moves such as tactics are not something one can memorize.

This is why studying chess puzzles is often seen as one of the most helpful things a player can do to improve their ability to see tactics for themselves. Puzzles help with pattern recognition, meaning that even though you probably won't see a position in one of your games that will match a tactic or puzzle you studied, it will look familiar enough that it will help you determine what to play.

Here is a very nice chess tactics video that show a number of ways this particular game could have been won. Can you find the combinations that win?

The Power Of Opposition - Chess Endgame Study

Here is another great chess video, this time covering the power of opposition in the endgame. Understanding this key tactic can help you win the closest king and pawn endgames or maybe even pull a draw from a seemingly lost position. This video covers simple opposition when the kings are a square apart as well as how to determine the opposition when the kings are separated by six or seven squares across the board.