Quiet moves and defensive moves
In short
Not every winning move is a check or capture. Quiet moves that take away escape squares, prepare an unstoppable threat or defend against counterplay are harder to see and appear in your games more often than you think.
By the end you can
- Find quiet winning moves
- Find the only defensive move under attack
The lesson
Not every winning move is a check or capture. Quiet moves that take away escape squares, prepare an unstoppable threat or defend against counterplay are harder to see and appear in your games more often than you think.
Defensive puzzles train the other side: when you are attacked, there is often exactly one move that holds. Finding it requires the same calculation skills as attacking.
Key points to remember
- Quiet moves can be the strongest
- Look for zwischenzugs and prophylaxis
- Under attack: look for the only move
Examples
Show the solution
53... b4 54. Be7 b3
Show the solution
29... Qxe4 30. fxe4 Kg6
Practise it
Solve puzzles on this idea: quiet move puzzles, defensive move puzzles.
Homework
15 quiet-move and 15 defensive puzzles.
More tactics lessons
- Hanging pieces: take them and don’t leave them (Novice)
- Double attacks and forks (Novice)
- Pins: pieces that cannot move (Novice)
- Forks with every piece (Class F)
- Using and breaking pins (Class F)
- Skewers and x-rays (Class F)