Tactics
The vocabulary of short-term combinations — pins, forks, skewers, sacrifices, and the vivid metaphors chess borrowed to describe them.
Equipment & Setup (20)
Openings & Basic Rules (32)
Tactics (36)
Strategy (36)
Endgame (22)
Arbiter & Tournament (22)
Slang & Culture (32)
A checkmate pattern where a knight and rook trap the enemy king against the edge of the board, with the knight covering the escape squares and the rook delivering mate along a rank or file.
German, from a literary title
A checkmate pattern in which a knight and rook combine to mate a king trapped in the corner, with the knight covering escape squares and the rook delivering mate along the edge.
English, referring to Arabic chess tradition
A checkmate delivered along a player's own first or eighth rank, typically because the king has no escape squares.
Two or more pieces lined up on the same file, rank, or diagonal so they reinforce an attack or threat along that line.
French, from Latin
A checkmate delivered by two bishops on crossing diagonals, typically after the enemy king has castled and its own pieces block escape squares.
English, eponymous
A tactic in which a piece moves out of the way to open a square or line for another piece.
English
A forced sequence of moves, often involving sacrifices, that leads to a concrete material or checkmating advantage.
Late Latin (via Old French)
An attack launched in response to an opponent's own attack, often turning the tables by creating threats that are more urgent than the original ones.
English, with Latin prefix
A move that gives check in reply to being checked, rather than blocking, capturing, or moving the king out of the original check.
English
An early textbook checkmate pattern in which a queen, supported by a pawn, delivers mate to a king trapped on the back rank in front of its own pieces.
Portuguese/Italian, eponymous
A tactic that lures an opposing piece, often the king, to an unfavorable square.
Dutch (probable)
A tactic that forces a defending piece away from a critical square or duty, usually through a sacrifice.
Latin
A piece that is certain to be captured and therefore captures something of its own before being taken, extracting maximum value from an otherwise doomed piece.
English, mock-Spanish, ultimately Latin
A tactic revealed when one piece moves out of the way, unmasking an attack from a piece that was blocked behind it.
A discovered attack in which the newly revealed piece delivers check to the opposing king.
A single move that creates two separate threats at once, such as attacking two pieces simultaneously.
English
A discovered check in which both the moving piece and the newly revealed piece give check simultaneously.
A checkmate pattern in which the enemy king is boxed in by its own two rooks standing on either side, resembling epaulettes on a uniform.
French
A knight fork that attacks the king, queen, and often another piece all at the same time.
English
A tactic in which one piece simultaneously attacks two or more opposing pieces.
A common bishop sacrifice on h7 (or h2 for Black) against a castled king, opening the kingside for a mating attack.
English idiom of Latin literary origin, with a competing eponymous explanation
A tactic in which a piece is placed between two enemy pieces to break their coordination, often exploiting a pin or defense.
Old French / Latin
A coordinated arrangement of attacking pieces that gradually restricts the enemy king's escape squares until checkmate becomes unavoidable.
English
A tactic that exploits a piece defending too many things at once, so it cannot address every threat.
English
A tactic in which a piece cannot move without exposing a more valuable piece behind it to capture.
A sacrifice of material that is quickly regained through forced follow-up moves, unlike a true sacrifice that accepts a lasting material deficit.
English
A tactic that eliminates or diverts the piece guarding a target, clearing the way to win material or deliver an attack.
English
The deliberate surrender of material in exchange for a tactical, positional, or attacking advantage.
Latin (via Old French)
A tactic attacking two pieces in a line, where the more valuable piece is in front and must move, exposing the piece behind it.
English (coined term)
A checkmate, typically delivered by a knight, in which the king is unable to move because it is surrounded by its own pieces.
English (verb root ultimately Old English)
A checking move played by a side that is already lost, offering no real hope of saving the game but delaying the inevitable or provoking a mistake.
English
The material difference between a rook and a minor piece (bishop or knight).
English (with Italian and German cognate terms)
A piece with no safe square to move to, making it vulnerable to being won outright.
English
A tactical pattern in which a rook and bishop repeatedly deliver discovered check, capturing material with each cycle.
A tactic where a piece's power passes through an intervening piece to attack or defend a square or piece beyond it.
English (coined term)
An unexpected "in-between" move inserted into an expected sequence, often a forcing check or capture, before completing the anticipated response.
German