FoxyChess › Tactics › Attraction
Attraction
Lure an enemy piece, very often the king, onto a particular square with a sacrifice, where it can then be hit by a fork, a check or a mate.
How to spot it
Decide where you need an enemy piece to be, usually the king, and look for a sacrifice that forces it there. A rook check that must be captured, a queen sacrifice the king has to take: once the piece lands on the square, a fork, a skewer or a mate follows.
A worked example
1.Rxe8+! drags the queen onto e8. Then 2.Nf6+ forks the king and the queen on e8, and 3.Nxe8 leaves White a queen for a rook ahead.
Why it works
Pieces are only safe on the squares they stand on. Attraction (also called a decoy) moves an enemy piece to a square where your tactic works, and you pay for it with the sacrificed piece. Checks are the usual bait, because a check must be answered.
How to defend against it
When a capture looks free, ask why your opponent is giving the piece away. If taking it puts your king or queen on a square that can be hit by a knight or a rook next move, decline and move instead.
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