FoxyChess › Tactics › Discovered Attack
Discovered Attack
You move one piece out of the way and uncover an attack by a piece standing behind it. The moving piece can make its own threat at the same time, so your opponent faces two attacks at once.
How to spot it
One of your pieces stands in the line of your own rook, bishop or queen. Move the front piece and the piece behind attacks whatever is at the end of the line. The front piece is free to do something nasty of its own: give check, capture, or attack a second target.
A worked example
1.Nf5+ gives check and at the same time uncovers the rook on d1 against the queen on d8. Black must see to the king, and the queen goes.
Why it works
Two threats arrive in one move. The opponent can answer only one of them, so the other lands. A discovered attack with check is close to unstoppable, because the check must be answered first.
How to defend against it
Watch for enemy pieces that stand in front of a rook, bishop or queen and point at your king or queen. If your queen is on the same line as an enemy rook with only one piece between them, move it before that piece does.
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