10 Tactical Patterns That Will Make You a Dangerous Player

Tactics win games. Here are the ten patterns every serious chess player must know cold.

1. Fork A single piece attacks two enemy pieces simultaneously. Knights are the best forking pieces due to their unique movement. Watch for knight forks on f7, c7, and e6.

2. Pin A piece cannot move because moving it would expose a more valuable piece (or the king) to capture. Absolute pins (pinned to the king) are most powerful.

3. Skewer The reverse of a pin — a valuable piece is attacked and must move, exposing a less valuable piece behind it to capture.

4. Discovered Attack Moving one piece reveals an attack by a piece behind it. Discovered checks are especially devastating since the opponent must respond to check while also dealing with the moved piece's threat.

5. Double Check Both the moved piece and the revealed piece give check simultaneously. The only way to escape a double check is to move the king — blocking or capturing is impossible.

6. Deflection Force an important defending piece away from its defensive duty with a sacrifice or strong threat.

7. Decoy Lure an enemy piece onto a square where it can be exploited. Often a queen decoy sacrifice leads to checkmate.

8. Zwischenzug (In-Between Move) Instead of a seemingly forced recapture, play an unexpected intermediate move that changes the position's evaluation.

9. Overloading A defending piece is given too many defensive tasks. Attack multiple things simultaneously to overwhelm one guardian piece.

10. Back Rank Weakness A king trapped behind its own pawns with no escape square is vulnerable to rook or queen back-rank checkmates.

Drill each pattern with 20 puzzles per pattern. In 10 weeks you'll have transformed your tactical vision.