The Ultimate Guide To Chess Tactics

Tactics in chess are short-term combinations which can lead to winning material, or checkmating your opponent’s king.

Your performance in tactical situations is extremely important to becoming a strong chess player. Statistics from a tactics training book called The Woodpecker Method suggest that even at master level, the result in 40%+ of decisive chess games stemmed from tactics. Meanwhile, results in lower-level chess games are even more likely to be decided by tactics.

Chess games of beginners and intermediate players will usually feature a clear tactical opportunity at some point. Given this, the winner of the game will tend to be the player who best takes advantage of the tactical chances. Even if you play the opening somewhat inaccurately, you’ll probably still win if you can find a way to win the opponent’s queen in the middlegame!

Stronger players tend to offer fewer tactical chances to their opponents, and they are more complicated. But beginners (let’s say, those rated under 1000 on online chess platforms) can win a lot of games with relatively straightforward tactics. They just need to become better at spotting them and taking advantage of them when they arise.

Seven Chess Tactics Every Chess Player Should Know

One of the best ways to get better at chess tactics is to familiarize yourself with the most important tactical motifs. These are patterns which occur time and time again in chess games.

If you take the time to study these different chess tactics, you will be much more likely to:

• Notice winning tactics in your games, and;
• Offer fewer such tactical opportunities to your opponents.

It will all add up to becoming a stronger chess player, and improving your rating!

Related: Improve Your Chess Tactics, available from the USCF store.

Here is a list of seven of the most important chess tactics you should know.

#1: Fork

Sometimes called the “double attack”, the chess fork is where two high-value pieces are attacked simultaneously. Once one of them moves away, the other can be captured.

In the above example, White can play Nc4+ and Black is forced to move their king. Once they do, White’s knight can capture the Black queen next move, with Nxb6.

With this chess tactic, White has turned a probable loss into a win - because once the Black queen is removed from the board, White will be able to promote their pawn!

Any of the chess pieces can execute a fork - but the knights are particularly tricky. Be especially watchful for knight forks in the endgame!

#2: Pin

A chess pin is where the placement of a higher-value piece results in a lower-value piece in front of it being unable to move. This can lead to the piece which is “stuck” in front being lost.

In the above example, White should play Bf4. With this move, the Black queen is now pinned in front of the Black king. Moving the Black queen away to a safe square is not possible because it would put Black’s king into check.

No matter what Black does, White can capture the Black queen with Bxc7 next. Like in the previous example, White will then be able to promote their pawn and win the game.

#3: Skewer

Chess skewers are where the higher-value piece is in front, and the lower-value piece is behind. Once the high-value piece is attacked and forced to move away, the lower-value piece becomes exposed to attack and can be captured.

In the above example, White should play Rc8+. This places the Black king in check, forcing it to move away from the c-file. Once it does, White can capture the Black queen with Rxc2 next. 

The resulting position will be king and rook vs. lone king in White’s favor - a winning endgame for White.

Related: Chess Endgames - Basic Knowledge for Beginners, available from the USCF store.

#4: Trapped Piece

The “trapped piece” motif takes advantage of opponents pieces which have limited mobility.

Notice in the above example how Black’s rook has very few squares it can move to. If White recognizes this, they can play Kg1, attacking the Black rook. The rook’s only safe square is h3, but then White will play Kg2 - whereupon the Black rook is trapped.

In the position shown, the best that Black can do is give up to rook for one of the White pawns. Even so, White will be completely winning.

#5: Discovered Attack

This chess tactic involves moving a piece away, revealing an attack by the piece which was behind it. Often (but not always) the piece in front will reveal their attack by giving a check, to make the sequence more “forcing”.

In the above example, White has their rook on d1 lined up against the Black queen along the open d-file. The only piece in the way is the White bishop on d3.

To execute this tactic, White should sacrifice their light-squared bishop with Bxh7+. The fact the discovered attack comes with a check means that Black has no opportunity to move their queen away from the rook’s line of fire.

After Black moves their king away from check (either with Kxh7 or Kh8), White will grab Black’s queen with Rxd8 next - a decisive material advantage for White.

#6: Eliminating The Defender

When a piece is under attack and only lightly defended, it can be possible to remove the defender and win material.

In the above position, notice how the Black knight on c6 is responsible for defending Black’s bishop on e7. White can take advantage of this by capturing the knight with Bxc6. With the knight removed, Black is left with no good options.

If Black recaptures the White bishop with bxc6, White will be able to grab the (now undefended) Black bishop with Rxe7.

Or, if Black moves the bishop away from e7, then White will move their light-squared bishop away from c6. Either way - White will remain a piece up.

#7: Checkmate

Checkmate ends the game. Being able to calculate a forced checkmate accurately is one of the most important skills for a chess player.

There are many checkmating patterns that you will come across on your chess journey. One of the most common is the back-rank checkmate, where a king is mated due to the positioning of the three pawns in front of it, such as in the above example.

Black has an extra piece, but White can win the game at once, starting with Qe8+. Black is forced to take the queen with Rxe8, whereupon White will follow up with Rxe8# - a back-rank checkmate. 

From losing the game to securing an immediate win - this can be the power of honing your chess tactics!

Related: 1001 Brilliant Ways To Checkmate, available from the USCF store.

Next Steps: How To Get Better At Chess Tactics?

As you can see from the above list, there is a vast array of chess tactics to learn. And this is only the beginning! More advanced tactical motifs and combinations also exist.

The best way to get better at chess tactics is to make tactics a regular part of your chess training.

Our recommendation for beginning chess players is 1001 Chess Exercises for Beginners, available from the USCF store. (Note: there are also similar tactics training books for club players and for advanced players by the same publisher).

The exercises in this book are helpfully arranged in chapters based on the different tactical motifs, similar to the list presented in this article.

This means that, with the aid of this book, you can identify and focus on the tactics which you feel you are weakest at!

If you solve a few exercises from this book every day, then you will definitely see results. You will become better at spotting winning tactics in your games, and offer fewer tactical opportunities to your opponents. It will surely result in a big improvement in your chess rating!

Check out 1001 Chess Exercises for Beginners, and take your tactical skills to the next level!