Chess tactics
A tactic is a short sequence that wins something by force — usually material, sometimes the game. Most rest on one idea: one move makes two threats, and your opponent can answer only one.
Fork
One piece attacks two enemy pieces at once. Knights are good at it: their attacks cannot be blocked, and a queen or rook they attack cannot hit back.
Nc7+ checks the king and attacks the rook. Whatever Black plays, Nxa8 follows.Pawns fork too: push a pawn between two pieces and it attacks both.
Pin
A pinned piece cannot move without exposing something more valuable behind it. If that is the king, the pin is absolute and moving the piece is illegal. If it is another piece, the pin is relative: the move is legal but loses material.
Attack a pinned piece again, ideally with a pawn. It cannot step away.
Skewer
A skewer is a pin the other way round: the more valuable piece stands in front. When it moves off the line, the piece behind it falls.
Bb2+ checks the king on e5. The king must leave the diagonal, and Bxh8 takes the queen.Discovered attack
One piece moves out of the way and uncovers an attack from the piece behind it, while making a threat of its own. If the uncovered attack is on the king, it is a discovered check: your opponent has to answer the check first.
Nxc5+ takes the queen and uncovers check from the rook in the same move.Double check
If the piece that moves also gives check, the king is attacked twice. No single capture or block stops both, so the king has to move.
Nf6+ checks from the knight and from the rook on e1. …Rxf6 would leave the rook's check, so only king moves remain.Removing the defender
If one piece guards an important square, capture it, chase it, or lure it away — the last is called a deflection. The square it guarded is then open.
Bxf6 gxf6, Qh7# is mate, with the bishop on d3 protecting the queen.How to spot them
- Before each move, list every check, capture and threat — yours and your opponent's.
- Look for pieces nobody defends. They are the usual targets.
- Look for two enemy pieces on the same line, or a knight's jump from the same square.
To practise spotting them, try the puzzles here. For puzzles sorted by pattern, lichess has a free practice section under the same names.