In this lesson you're going to learn how to do this.
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To win a game of chess you have to ATTACK your opponent. In this lesson you're going to learn how to do this.
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An ATTACK in chess is when a piece would be able to CAPTURE an enemy piece next move. Here, the White Queen is ATTACKING the Black Pawn. If it's White's move his Queen could CAPTURE the Black Pawn. It would be a good idea to do this because the move would be SAFE. The Black Pawn is not DEFENDED.
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In this position the White Queen is ATTACKING the Black Pawn on c6. But look! If the White Queen CAPTURES the Black Pawn the Pawn on b7 would be able to CAPTURE her in return. So in this position it would NOT be a good idea for White to CAPTURE the Black Pawn.
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An ATTACK in which you want to make the capture next move if your opponent does nothing about it is called a THREAT.
There are two sorts of THREATS. Read on and find out what they are. |
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The first sort of THREAT is an ATTACK on an UNDEFENDED PIECE.
Here the White Knight is ATTACKING the Black Pawn on e5. The Pawn is not at the moment DEFENDED. So if White CAPTURED the Pawn he'd get a free pawn. |
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The second sort of THREAT is an ATTACK by a weaker piece on a stronger piece.
Here, the White Knight is ATTACKING the Black Rook, which is DEFENDED by the Black King. How much is the KNIGHT worth? 3 points! How much is the ROOK worth? 5 points! |
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Which piece is worth more? The ROOK or the KNIGHT?
The ROOK is worth 2 points MORE than the KNIGHT: 5 points to 3 points. So if it's White's move it would be a good idea to CAPTURE the Rook even though he would lose his Knight in return. He would make a PROFIT of 2 points. |
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In this position the White Rook is ATTACKING the Black Knight.
Is it a THREAT? NO: it is NOT a THREAT because the Black Knight is DEFENDED by the Black King, and the Rook is worth more than the Knight. If White CAPTURED the Knight he'd lose his Rook. He'd win 3 points but lose 5 points in return. If it's White's move CAPTURING the Knight would NOT be a good idea: White would make a LOSS of 2 points. |
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In this position the White Knight is ATTACKING the Black Bishop.
The Black Bishop is DEFENDED by the Black Pawn. Is White THREATENING to CAPTURE the Black Bishop? What do you think? |
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How much is a KNIGHT worth? 3 points!
How much is a BISHOP worth? 3 points! So if White CAPTURED the Bishop it would be a FAIR EXCHANGE. Both sides would win 3 points. So in this position it's not really a THREAT. |
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Remember this:
If you ATTACK an UNDEFENDED PIECE it's a THREAT. If you ATTACK a STRONGER PIECE which is DEFENDED it's a THREAT. If you ATTACK a WEAKER PIECE which is DEFENDED it's NOT a THREAT. If you ATTACK an EQUAL PIECE which is DEFENDED it's (usually) NOT a threat. |
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That's the end of the lesson. What do you want to do now?  Do a quiz on this lesson Repeat the lesson Return to the menu |